The Economics of a new Puppy

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Bacchus01
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The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

Ok, we are picking up a new puppy tomorrow. First time we've had a dog in 10 years. Kids are old enough and we've settled to a point that having a dog started to make sense, and our 8 year old has been begging for one since he could walk and talk. Wants to be a Vet some day. We'll see.

Anyway, tomorrow we pick up our new designer mix Australia Shepherd / Poodle, i.e. Aussiedoodle.

We know all the basics of having a dog and did a lot of research.

But I'm curious what people are doing now that things like Amazon have come on so strong. Where do you get your pet food? Pet supplies? Best sources out there? Do you Amazon Prime your food? Kirkland brand from Costco? What are the "must have" new tools/toys for owning a dog?

He's going to be a medium to large dog, probably 50-60 lbs based on past litters. Looking forward to it.
livesoft
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by livesoft »

Our local stores do not have our dog food, so we get it online from whatever is the cheapest place.

My dog doesn't play with toys, so no toys for him. I'm not sure what "pet supplies" are. We have a couple of brushes that are many years old ... probably bought at Petco or Amazon. My dog doesn't have a crate nor bedding. He sleeps in various nooks and crannies around the house.

So I suppose other than a brush, there is no "must-have" that our dog needs. (OK, water bowl, food bowl, collar, and leash, too.)

OK, dog food is kept in its bag in a covered plastic tub. About 10 days worth is placed in a smaller plastic container on the counter. That container is filled when empty. If the big bag is empty, then order another one which arrives within the 10 days. So kibble stays "fresh" and roaches stay out of it.
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ajr22
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by ajr22 »

Although I really want to, my only comment will be that I won't comment on "buying" a dog.

Just rescued a pup seven months ago. She was crate trained from the rescue group and while I was always against crates, found the dog to love it and us to love it as well. Frozen Kongs with peanut butter will be a great way to keep your pup busy.

I find Amazon is much cheaper than anywhere else for dog toys/training leashes.

I buy the higher-end Nature's Domain Kirkland food from Costco. I'm not a vet or nutritionist, but from what I can tell it is just as good, if not better, than anything like a Blue Buffallo etc.. Many of my co-workers use Chewy.com for their food.

Dog treats are the best value at Costco. 12 Bully sticks will run you $28 at Costco-the same quantity will run you LITERALLY over $300 at Petco ($14/stick and less than half the length so really $28 a stick). The Nylabones and rawhide is also a great value.

Out of pocket costs pale into comparison to the time and convenience "cost" of taking care of the dog-but I would not trade it for the world!
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by JBTX »

Several years ago our young teen daughter finally wore me down and we got a yellow lab mix dog. She’s about 65 lbs. got her from shelter. She is a sweet dog, but in retrospect was probably a mistake. Daughter contributes very little to care. I do all the work. My wife doesn’t much like dogs. Dog sheds everywhere, need to vacuum our new dark wood floors almost every day. In some ways a dog is like a toddler in that if you leave food around she will get to it and we are kind of sloppy about it.

As to expenses, you may want to invest in getting it trained. I think we spent about $1000. Seems like a lot but a lot of it the guy did at his own home after training with us wasn’t progressing very well. She minds me very well but ignores everybody else’s commands because they don’t use the training. I’d highly recommend crate training.

When we got her there was a while where she preferred finding carpet and peeing and pooping. Drove me nuts. Finally after a while we got past that but that was stressful.

Normal dog food isn’t too bad in terms of pricing. We use a local place that is supposed to be better quality. What kills you are vet bills. Just a healthy dog vet visits will set you back between $500-$1000 per year. Then if anything goes wrong even more. She developed a skin condition and now takes medication daily that is about $2 a pill. Luckily we can half it and it still seems to work.

My cousin my age has a yellow lab and overfed the dog. Seems like many of the feeding dosage recommendations are too much. That dog got fat and now has diabetes and he has to get back to it every few hours to give it insulin shots. Dog is 14 years old. My brother had lab and he blew out a tendon in his leg. Not sure how much that cost.

Then there is costs of kennels or dog sitters if you go on vacation. Typically $20–$40 per night.

Good luck.
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catdude
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by catdude »

Don't know if you're willing to take advice from a cat guy, but I'm another vote for Chewy.com as an online source of pet food. They have free shipping on orders over 49 bucks.
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JBTX
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by JBTX »

ajr22 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:22 pm Although I really want to, my only comment will be that I won't comment on "buying" a dog.

Just rescued a pup seven months ago. She was crate trained from the rescue group and while I was always against crates, found the dog to love it and us to love it as well. Frozen Kongs with peanut butter will be a great way to keep your pup busy.

I find Amazon is much cheaper than anywhere else for dog toys/training leashes.

I buy the higher-end Nature's Domain Kirkland food from Costco. I'm not a vet or nutritionist, but from what I can tell it is just as good, if not better, than anything like a Blue Buffallo etc.. Many of my co-workers use Chewy.com for their food.

Dog treats are the best value at Costco. 12 Bully sticks will run you $28 at Costco-the same quantity will run you LITERALLY over $300 at Petco ($14/stick and less than half the length so really $28 a stick). The Nylabones and rawhide is also a great value.

Out of pocket costs pale into comparison to the time and convenience "cost" of taking care of the dog-but I would not trade it for the world!
When you mention crate training some people will almost get nasty about it. However growing up with a shepherd I recall once they were used to it they would often go to it and stay in there even with door open. It’s a place of safety. Thus I was for crate training our current dog, and like the shepherd she often goes there on her own.
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Bacchus01
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:35 pm Several years ago our young teen daughter finally wore me down and we got a yellow lab mix dog. She’s about 65 lbs. got her from shelter. She is a sweet dog, but in retrospect was probably a mistake. Daughter contributes very little to care. I do all the work. My wife doesn’t much like dogs. Dog sheds everywhere, need to vacuum our new dark wood floors almost every day. In some ways a dog is like a toddler in that if you leave food around she will get to it and we are kind of sloppy about it.
This is a risk for sure. My wife is the one that had to be completely on board with it, and she's driving the boat now. I love dogs, but told her with my schedule my ability to contribute is pretty limited. But she's convinced!

As for shedding, we tried to find one that is supposed to not shed much. Again, we'll see.
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Bacchus01
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:41 pm
ajr22 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:22 pm Although I really want to, my only comment will be that I won't comment on "buying" a dog.

Just rescued a pup seven months ago. She was crate trained from the rescue group and while I was always against crates, found the dog to love it and us to love it as well. Frozen Kongs with peanut butter will be a great way to keep your pup busy.

I find Amazon is much cheaper than anywhere else for dog toys/training leashes.

I buy the higher-end Nature's Domain Kirkland food from Costco. I'm not a vet or nutritionist, but from what I can tell it is just as good, if not better, than anything like a Blue Buffallo etc.. Many of my co-workers use Chewy.com for their food.

Dog treats are the best value at Costco. 12 Bully sticks will run you $28 at Costco-the same quantity will run you LITERALLY over $300 at Petco ($14/stick and less than half the length so really $28 a stick). The Nylabones and rawhide is also a great value.

Out of pocket costs pale into comparison to the time and convenience "cost" of taking care of the dog-but I would not trade it for the world!
When you mention crate training some people will almost get nasty about it. However growing up with a shepherd I recall once they were used to it they would often go to it and stay in there even with door open. It’s a place of safety. Thus I was for crate training our current dog, and like the shepherd she often goes there on her own.
We will crate train.
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Bacchus01
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

ajr22 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:22 pm Although I really want to, my only comment will be that I won't comment on "buying" a dog.

Except you did :)

Appreciate the rest of the post.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by JBTX »

Bacchus01 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:45 pm
JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:35 pm Several years ago our young teen daughter finally wore me down and we got a yellow lab mix dog. She’s about 65 lbs. got her from shelter. She is a sweet dog, but in retrospect was probably a mistake. Daughter contributes very little to care. I do all the work. My wife doesn’t much like dogs. Dog sheds everywhere, need to vacuum our new dark wood floors almost every day. In some ways a dog is like a toddler in that if you leave food around she will get to it and we are kind of sloppy about it.
This is a risk for sure. My wife is the one that had to be completely on board with it, and she's driving the boat now. I love dogs, but told her with my schedule my ability to contribute is pretty limited. But she's convinced!

As for shedding, we tried to find one that is supposed to not shed much. Again, we'll see.
The most likely result is you two will take care of it. Kids make all kinds of promises but they don’t follow through and we didn’t have the stamina to enforce it.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by delamer »

When I was looking into changing homeowner’s insurance recently, one question that was asked consistently was whether we had a dog. My assumption was that it would have increased our premium if we did.

So something you might want to investigate with your insurer.
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health teacher
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by health teacher »

10-12 years is a LONG time.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Traveller »

Australian Shephard owner here - be forewarned that Aussies (and I suspect the doodle flavor as well) are extremely smart and active. We walk our dog a few miles a day and he has tons of outdoor space to play. If you don't keep active dogs sufficiently exercised, they will find something to do to entertain themselves (which usually involves destruction of your stuff). Super smart, very trainable and a great all round dog.

He is crate trained and we love it, as does he (especially when traveling as he has a comfortable and familiar place). He will occasionally retreat to his crate during the day if he wants a nap and the usual spots are a little to loud with people / vacuum / whatever.

We exclusively feed him Kirkland Natures Domain brand from costco. Very high quality food without the bad fillers so common in many pet foods. Not sure what we spend on the dog as it gets commingled with everything else, but he is extremely healthy and our total vet bills plus flea and tick meds probably total $400-500 per year. That plus food and a few groomings a year is about all the expense (so far and he's 8 years old).
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by dm200 »

We do not have a dog :(

My wife has a "character flaw"; she does not like dogs.

In my observations in recent years, the huge expense (potential but common) so may dog owners today incur are treatments, surgeries, etc. that run into the thousands of dollars. The biggest way to be economical with a dog is to refuse to pay more than a few hundred dollars for such surgeries or treatments.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's. I know lots of folks (including us) that had dogs, but never heard of anyone spending a lot on these things.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by corgimom11 »

Chewy.com has very good customer service. They often have good deals on treats in particular that I like to leverage (e.g. buy one bag get one free). I buy most of our treats at Costco (dog biscuits & their rawhide chews are good deals), but Chewy is good to get a bit of variety every once in a while.

I started branching out a bit from Chewy lately and find myself ordering food & toys from Amazon as they've become a bit more price competitive with my Prime membership.

Also, heartworm preventatives, once he is full size - it's much more cost effective to buy 1 year in full vs. the smaller packs. You can also get your vet to do a prescription and order it online which makes it a lot cheaper. Flea preventative, I moved away from Frontline and to a product called PetArmor that I get off Amazon/Costco. It works the same for about 1/3rd of the price.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by JBTX »

dm200 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:04 pm We do not have a dog :(

My wife has a "character flaw"; she does not like dogs.

In my observations in recent years, the huge expense (potential but common) so may dog owners today incur are treatments, surgeries, etc. that run into the thousands of dollars. The biggest way to be economical with a dog is to refuse to pay more than a few hundred dollars for such surgeries or treatments.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's. I know lots of folks (including us) that had dogs, but never heard of anyone spending a lot on these things.
Because they didn’t. The dog either survived it or died.

I always said I’d never spend big bucks on dog surgeries procedures. Luckily it hasn’t happened yet. But when dog becomes member of the family it becomes a different deal.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by mrc »

We have 5 fur logs right now, and have had dogs in the house for 35+ years.

We use chewy.com for food because local big box pet stores don't carry our brand, and the boutique shops that do charge a lot more. We have one on Science Diet available only from the vet.

We use valleyvet.com & healthwarehouse.com for Rx medications including heartworm. Ebay and other online stores for non-Rx medications. I do all the vaccinations except Rabies myself.

The only meds we buy from the vet are antibiotics b/c we don't want to wait for a mail Rx. The markup on medications is steep, and we have enough annual and emergency visits that our "billables" are still good.

Just got an extra Flex retractable lead, the originals have lasted for decades.

Some dogs don't care about toys, or food. So play that by ear as you get to know your dog.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

health teacher wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:53 pm 10-12 years is a LONG time.
We had a dog before. We know.

That doesn't change it being a long time of course.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by dm200 »

JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:18 pm
dm200 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:04 pm We do not have a dog :(
My wife has a "character flaw"; she does not like dogs.
In my observations in recent years, the huge expense (potential but common) so may dog owners today incur are treatments, surgeries, etc. that run into the thousands of dollars. The biggest way to be economical with a dog is to refuse to pay more than a few hundred dollars for such surgeries or treatments.
Growing up in the 50's and 60's. I know lots of folks (including us) that had dogs, but never heard of anyone spending a lot on these things.
Because they didn’t. The dog either survived it or died.
I always said I’d never spend big bucks on dog surgeries procedures. Luckily it hasn’t happened yet. But when dog becomes member of the family it becomes a different deal.
Or was (todays term) "euthanized". Back then, in the country, it was a gun shot. Low cost.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by DanMahowny »

Chewy.com indeed.

And there's nothing wrong with "buying" a dog. The dogs I have owned throughout my life cannot be found at a shelter or rescue group.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

DanMahowny wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:27 pm Chewy.com indeed.

And there's nothing wrong with "buying" a dog. The dogs I have owned throughout my life cannot be found at a shelter or rescue group.
I understand the stigma of it and frankly it makes sense, but we bought one any way. I think you have to take the user in mind. Some people are just really good at taking in pets from a shelter and some aren't. I applaud those that are. We aren't. At least at this stage of our life.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by praxis »

JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:47 pm
Bacchus01 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:45 pm
JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:35 pm Several years ago our young teen daughter finally wore me down and we got a yellow lab mix dog. She’s about 65 lbs. got her from shelter. She is a sweet dog, but in retrospect was probably a mistake. Daughter contributes very little to care. I do all the work. My wife doesn’t much like dogs. Dog sheds everywhere, need to vacuum our new dark wood floors almost every day. In some ways a dog is like a toddler in that if you leave food around she will get to it and we are kind of sloppy about it.
This is a risk for sure. My wife is the one that had to be completely on board with it, and she's driving the boat now. I love dogs, but told her with my schedule my ability to contribute is pretty limited. But she's convinced!

As for shedding, we tried to find one that is supposed to not shed much. Again, we'll see.
The most likely result is you two will take care of it. Kids make all kinds of promises but they don’t follow through and we didn’t have the stamina to enforce it.
The obvious point is that you will pick up the yard. My kids didn't do it. My wife didn't do it. Plan on it. Get a pooper scooper and plan on it. The bigger the dog, the bigger the job. We had a small 30 lb. Shiba for 15 years. We loved him. But I was the care giver in every respect. He lived outside. Always. and ate dry food. and got high vet marks for health. Dogs are wonderful members of your family. But they don't come free.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by health teacher »

Bacchus01 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:18 pm
health teacher wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:53 pm 10-12 years is a LONG time.
We had a dog before. We know.

That doesn't change it being a long time of course.

I wish I could go back and tell 22 year old me this!
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by JBTX »

praxis wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:42 pm
JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:47 pm
Bacchus01 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:45 pm
JBTX wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:35 pm Several years ago our young teen daughter finally wore me down and we got a yellow lab mix dog. She’s about 65 lbs. got her from shelter. She is a sweet dog, but in retrospect was probably a mistake. Daughter contributes very little to care. I do all the work. My wife doesn’t much like dogs. Dog sheds everywhere, need to vacuum our new dark wood floors almost every day. In some ways a dog is like a toddler in that if you leave food around she will get to it and we are kind of sloppy about it.
This is a risk for sure. My wife is the one that had to be completely on board with it, and she's driving the boat now. I love dogs, but told her with my schedule my ability to contribute is pretty limited. But she's convinced!

As for shedding, we tried to find one that is supposed to not shed much. Again, we'll see.
The most likely result is you two will take care of it. Kids make all kinds of promises but they don’t follow through and we didn’t have the stamina to enforce it.
The obvious point is that you will pick up the yard. My kids didn't do it. My wife didn't do it. Plan on it. Get a pooper scooper and plan on it. The bigger the dog, the bigger the job. We had a small 30 lb. Shiba for 15 years. We loved him. But I was the care giver in every respect. He lived outside. Always. and ate dry food. and got high vet marks for health. Dogs are wonderful members of your family. But they don't come free.
I assigned the waste pickup task to my daughter and that failed. So I started doing and eventually I just stopped. There’s just going to be dog poop in the yard in certain places. What I didn’t realize is that sometimes dogs will eat their poop.

In Tx the weather is a bit severe to leave outside all of the time.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by epictetus »

we use Newman's Own dog food and we buy it through Amazon
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Fallible »

Ask your veterinarian who will know the dog's needs. Probably there will be several good alternatives at various prices, and from there it may come down to what the puppy likes best.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by mega317 »

The cheapest places I have found for my food are Chewy and Amazon. Usually identical price but occasionally one will have a discount. And 5% off Amazon some quarters from my credit card.

I had a good experience with Allivet for heartgard which requires a presciption. Although I will just use google shopping and buy from the cheapest place each time I need a reload. Costco for flea prevention.

I highly recommend a dremel for nails.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by CardinalRule »

Chewy.con is good, although we also get things from Amazon. For those who do not know, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com earlier this year.

We have a four-month-old pup and we also like taking her shooping at the local Petco and PetSmart. It is an exciting and fun learning experience for her. :happy
corgimom11 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:11 pm Chewy.com has very good customer service. They often have good deals on treats in particular that I like to leverage (e.g. buy one bag get one free). I buy most of our treats at Costco (dog biscuits & their rawhide chews are good deals), but Chewy is good to get a bit of variety every once in a while.

I started branching out a bit from Chewy lately and find myself ordering food & toys from Amazon as they've become a bit more price competitive with my Prime membership.

Also, heartworm preventatives, once he is full size - it's much more cost effective to buy 1 year in full vs. the smaller packs. You can also get your vet to do a prescription and order it online which makes it a lot cheaper. Flea preventative, I moved away from Frontline and to a product called PetArmor that I get off Amazon/Costco. It works the same for about 1/3rd of the price.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by CardinalRule »

We got Nationwide pet insurance through payroll deduction at work, also.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by mouses »

dm200 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:04 pm We do not have a dog :(

My wife has a "character flaw"; she does not like dogs.

In my observations in recent years, the huge expense (potential but common) so may dog owners today incur are treatments, surgeries, etc. that run into the thousands of dollars. The biggest way to be economical with a dog is to refuse to pay more than a few hundred dollars for such surgeries or treatments.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's. I know lots of folks (including us) that had dogs, but never heard of anyone spending a lot on these things.
The reason they did not spend a lot was (a) they let the animal die or suffer, or (b) vets knew less about how to treat various diseases.

Yes, an animal with a serious disease can run up substantial bills. If one can afford it and it is best for the animal, I think it should be paid. I have not figured out the ethics of adopting an animal when one does not have the resources to pay major bills, but I lean towards adopting anyway since otherwise many of them will be euthanized unless they are in no-kill shelters.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by mouses »

I buy my cat's food by the case through VetSource which I get to by a link in my vet's webpage. They ship like the wind, 2-3 days and it's in my doorstep. In my one experience with chewy.com they used insufficient packaging and things arrived in a damaged mess.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Spirit Rider »

delamer wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:52 pm When I was looking into changing homeowner’s insurance recently, one question that was asked consistently was whether we had a dog. My assumption was that it would have increased our premium if we did.
My experience is that only dangerous and/or biting dogs cause increased premiums.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Cunobelinus »

Costco for Nature's Domain food.

You can often use secondary markets (e.g., FaceBook buy/sell/trade pages) for heartworm or flea&tick, but Amazon or Costco is reliable for this.

You're buying an expensive beast (cost > rescue dog adoption fee). We decided on pet insurance for our beasties, nominally some $30-35/month. One is only 4 years old, but he has used his insurance enough for the next few years of premiums already. In this case, it worked out in our favor.. except, you know, for him getting really sick and now having a lifelong condition.

My experience with Aussies and Doodles is that they're really high energy when really young, and then just high energy when they get older. If they're not getting their energy out by running around and being engaged at a park, they'll run around and engage in the house or the yard by digging or chewing on things (general rule).

Our beasts don't necessarily care about fancy or expensive toys. One generally enjoys chasing whatever you throw, and the other enjoys chasing the other dog. One doesn't chew on toys but a few minutes a week, the other noms on a water buffalo horn for 2-3 hours a day.

The ChuckIt "sticks"' are pretty awesome though. Can throw the ball much further with far less slobber on your hands and stress on your limbs/joints.

We just used individual kernels of food instead of treats, which ended up being considerably cheaper. Making the dog retrieve for 1-2 kernels of food until they get through half of their breakfast/dinner worked out really well when we did it. Our dogs are food driven, so they're happy to have any food.
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Cunobelinus »

Spirit Rider wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:55 am
delamer wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 4:52 pm When I was looking into changing homeowner’s insurance recently, one question that was asked consistently was whether we had a dog. My assumption was that it would have increased our premium if we did.
My experience is that only dangerous and/or biting dogs cause increased premiums.
Hasn't come up for me, as far as I can recall. Growing up with huskies and shepherds, never heard of that.

Dogs with real barks, not the chihuahua yippy barks, tend to deter would-be intruders*. I might think households with dogs would have a lower rate of forced entry and ought to have a lower premium on account of that.**

*small-sounding, yippy barking dogs may just make enough noise to deter would-be intruders too.

**I have no data to support this, nor do I work in the insurance industry.
Swansea
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Swansea »

Kirkland food gets good reviews. Check into Dog Food Advisor for up to five star recommendations.
Do not give a puppy "puppy" food. It makes them grow too fast and stresses the bone structure before it is fully developed.
The rescue groups I work with recommend crate training. The all wire crates are best. No toys/blankets allowed until the chewing stage is past.
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Bacchus01
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

Swansea wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:53 am Kirkland food gets good reviews. Check into Dog Food Advisor for up to five star recommendations.
Do not give a puppy "puppy" food. It makes them grow too fast and stresses the bone structure before it is fully developed.
The rescue groups I work with recommend crate training. The all wire crates are best. No toys/blankets allowed until the chewing stage is past.

We never crate trained with our last dogs, but plan to on this one. I’m curious on your no toys in the crate. I’ve seen just the opposite advice. Give them chew toys an for sure and maybe a comfort blanket. But not a fluffy mat as they’ll tear that up.
scubadiver
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by scubadiver »

scubadiver
Last edited by scubadiver on Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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parsi1
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by parsi1 »

The kids have been asking for a dog for years, we finally caved in and bought a 2 month old Maltese puppy. I was out of the country at that time so the family went to Petsmart and spend close to $450 worth of dog relate items that most of them are sitting there unused ( will probably never use).
The kids realized dog is too much trouble and it takes too much of their time away from Netflix and Youtube so after a month they completely lost interest. My wife is exactly opposite, she is acting like she has a new child. I am the one that gets up in the middle of the night and let the dog out (2am and 4am).
I buy all the dog food and toys from Walmart, no more Petsmart. The dog is crate trained and he loves his crate. Whenever he gets tired or sleepy he goes to his crate.
We are still working on potty training. A couple of times a week we have accidents but I have heard it may take up to a year to train a dog.
We are also working on his chewing and biting habits.
This is the first dog I ever owned and I am amazed how smart dogs are. But I have a feeling training a dog is long process and require a lot of patience.
pshonore
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by pshonore »

Totally agree with the Costco "no-grain" dog food. About 1/2 the price of other places. Also agree with crate training, but never for punishment, only for control and great for housebreaking as most dogs will not soil their space. Don't buy flea and tick stuff from the Vet. Get it online. Not sure if annual checkups are necessary, especially for younger dogs. Common shots should be on a 3 yr cycle after puppyhood, although first rabies shot is good for one year and is a must. We've found great toys in TJMaxx although I have to confess I bought our Setter a good sized teddy bear in Costco last week for $10 and he loves it. As far as "buying" a dog, it appears some of the rescue groups charge a hefty sum to let you adopt and are bringing dogs in from out of state which I don't like. I'm not a big fan of designer dogs either.
LawyersGunsAndMoney
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by LawyersGunsAndMoney »

The things that I would strongly recommend investing time and $ on are:

1. Crate Training: It makes housebreaking so much easier and less stressful, and having a dog that is used to/likes going into her crate makes travel easier and safer, and makes boarding at a facility (if needed) much simpler and often less expensive than paying someone to dogsit at your house or cage-free boarding elsewhere.

2. Puppy socialization classes: The window for dogs to be properly socialized closes within the first few month's of a puppies life, and it is exceedingly difficult to socialize older dogs without having to pay an expensive behaviorist.

3. Ongoing socialization: See above. Would recommend going out of your way to get your dog continued experience interacting in a safe environment with other friendly dogs. An example - my small dog (we live in a city) is well-socialized and my parent's larger dog (they live in the suburbs) isn't. It makes visiting my parents for the holidays and bringing our dog incredibly stressful as we have to keep them on leash inside the house to prevent their dog from attacking my dog, and have to monitor them constantly when they are in the fenced yard.

4. A few paid sessions with a positive-reinforcement professional trainer early-on. I cannot recommend positive reinforcement clicker training highly enough. Especially with a very smart and active breed like yours. Not only is this a better way to train and bond with your dog (vs. negative reinforcement training), but for very active and energetic breeds a 30 minute training session will tire them out more than an hour long walk or romp in the yard. I'd pay for a few in-home sessions with a reputable trainer (you can find some here https://www.karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer) to teach YOU how to train your dog, and then go from there.

5. Puzzle Toys. These are fantastic for smart, high-energy dogs and, like training, will help to keep them stimulated and tire them out (a tired puppy is the best puppy). I have a few of the Nina Ottosson toys (you can find them on Amazon) as well as a bobble toy that I used to feed my puppy when he was younger.

The training and socialization may be more of a time and $$ commitment than you were anticipating - but they are a wise investment to raise a puppy that is well-trained enough to go with you on trips/adventures, and gives you far more options if you need to board the dog on vacations etc. later on in her life.
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SmileyFace
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by SmileyFace »

DanMahowny wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:27 pm Chewy.com indeed.
+1 We found their prices beat (by 20 to 30%) local pet stores and unlike the risk you might take from buying on Amazon (specifically from 3rd party merchants) the food hasn't expired. We buy high-end food (your mileage may vary with cheaper brands).

Its the unknown expenses that become expensive - I know some folks buy pet insurance to help defray the unknowns - we never did. We now are paying for blood-tests and insulin and needles for a diabetic dog.
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fizxman
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by fizxman »

For food, check out reviews on Dog Food Advisor. Also, sign-up for their recall alerts. If a dog food or treat has been recalled, you'll get an email letting you know.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

And for fun, here's a picture from my Christmas afternoon.

Image
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SmileyFace
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by SmileyFace »

fizxman wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:42 am
And for fun, here's a picture from my Christmas afternoon.
Quite the pack of great looking dogs! Are they all yours or did the extended family all bring their dogs over to play?
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fizxman
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by fizxman »

DaftInvestor wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:44 am
fizxman wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:42 am
And for fun, here's a picture from my Christmas afternoon.
Quite the pack of great looking dogs! Are they all yours or did the extended family all bring their dogs over to play?
Only the small black dog on the left is mine. The three Huskies belong to my sister-in-law and her husband, the small white one in the back belongs to my brother-in-law and his wife, and the black one in the front is actually being trained as a service dog for vets at the local prison. My mother and father-in-law get him on the weekends to take him out on the town for socializing.
StlIllini
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by StlIllini »

We have a three year old Aussiedoodle. Another vote for chewy.com!

The economics of the pup is a difficult one to answer as I review year end finances and expenses :-( :dollar. It was an expensive year at the vet :oops:
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DanMahowny
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by DanMahowny »

fizxman:

Love the picture of your pack. Fantastic. Merry Christmas.
Funding secured
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FireflyGlow
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by FireflyGlow »

So many great comments but I'll add mine. I have a tiny 4.5 pound Yorkie Chihuahua that my ex-spouse begged to bring home 2 years ago. The ex-spouse is gone now, but the dog is still here. I like her (the dog, that is). She eats the small dog food from Costco. It's only about $15 for a large bag and I have to buy a new bag every 2-3 months. When I travel for work, my ex-spouse watches her so that saves on dog-sitters, which run about $25 a day and I live in a low cost of living area. I hear that in a HCOL area, this may run $40-$50 a day. My dog has a few toys that I bought a Walmart but she doesn't play with them too often. She also has a brush and a nail clipper.

Dog grooming can be expensive also, maybe try to find an individual in your area who does it, as opposed to a company like Petco.

Small dogs are notoriously hard to potty train. My dog still sometimes has accidents in the house - maybe 2x a month. Not a big deal. Larger dogs are much easier to potty train and seem to pick it up quickly.

Agree on the crate training. My little dog doesn't mind her crate at all. We call it Her Little House. When I leave for work in the morning, I tell her to go get in Her Little House and she immediately does it.
Swansea
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Swansea »

TNL wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:25 am So many great comments but I'll add mine. I have a tiny 4.5 pound Yorkie Chihuahua that my ex-spouse begged to bring home 2 years ago. The ex-spouse is gone now, but the dog is still here. I like her (the dog, that is). She eats the small dog food from Costco. It's only about $15 for a large bag and I have to buy a new bag every 2-3 months. When I travel for work, my ex-spouse watches her so that saves on dog-sitters, which run about $25 a day and I live in a low cost of living area. I hear that in a HCOL area, this may run $40-$50 a day. My dog has a few toys that I bought a Walmart but she doesn't play with them too often. She also has a brush and a nail clipper.

Dog grooming can be expensive also, maybe try to find an individual in your area who does it, as opposed to a company like Petco.

"Small dogs are notoriously hard to potty train. My dog still sometimes has accidents in the house - maybe 2x a month. Not a big deal. Larger dogs are much easier to potty train and seem to pick it up quickly."



Agree, my german shepherds were house broken in very little time.
DetroitRick
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by DetroitRick »

Congrats on the new puppy. We got a new puppy in September and are enjoying the process ourselves right now. We're long-time dog owners and, up until recently, successfully managed a dog with chronic long-term health issues. So, based on old and new experiences, we've found a number of useful websites and places to source food, supplies and meds:

Amazon (usually great prices on treats, toys, supplies, crates). Just got a phenomenal crate from them at an astoundingly low price. Often great for small stuff too.

Fosters and Smith (drsfostersmith.com) long-term prescriptions, supplies, treats and toys. They also sell food, but we've not used ourselves (selection seems good). Good service, long-term reputation.

Chewy.com Haven't used ourselves, but we know enough happy users to strongly recommend.

Should you ever need to source meds locally, Goodrx.com often provides great pricing on Rx's from local drugstores. You can look up each RX on their website and print a coupon to present (no cost). A few coupons are only valid for human use (it will say so on the coupon, if applicable), but we've only encountered this one time and have saved a massive amount of money this way in the last few years for our last dog. We have an established relationship with a great vet and they have always worked with us to source meds wherever it made sense.

While I wouldn't hesitate to buy the food online, we recently had a small local pet store chain open up near us. They carry the food we wanted and have been stellar with information and advice (not all stores are, of course, and frankly we've found this to be a rare skill), so we're trying to buy more through them now. Getting advice on food from various websites can be a real trip - all the hype and hysterics as with human food times 10. Some breeders can give really good advice in this regard, especially if they follow their lines as they age (some dogs simply do better on one nutritionally similar food than another). Some vets can also be a good source of food-related info - actually that led us to our current vet, who consistently gives reliable and understandable nutrition advice.

Enjoy your pup! It can be a blast.
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Bacchus01
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Re: The Economics of a new Puppy

Post by Bacchus01 »

scubadiver wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:51 am To the OP's question, we get our dog food at the local privately owned pet store. It's a couple bucks more per 30lb bag than pet smart, but I actually get to meet the person who is making that money off me when I buy it.
Bacchus01 wrote: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:30 pm I understand the stigma of it and frankly it makes sense, but we bought one any way. I think you have to take the user in mind. Some people are just really good at taking in pets from a shelter and some aren't. I applaud those that are. We aren't. At least at this stage of our life.
Got a good laugh out of this. How the heck does someone "get good" at taking pets in from a shelter? As I type this, the dog we rescued 13 years ago is lying at my feet under my desk. Admittedly, we had a rocky start with him. Among numerous other things, he chewed up the book my wife got on dog training when we first adopted him. He's pretty smart as far as dogs go, border collie mix of some sort, and apparently has a wicked sense of humor. Anyway, we kinda figured out what he needed after a short while and mostly managed the behavioral issues. Time, compassion and speaking with other dog owners goes a long way towards "getting good".

Scubadiver
I’m glad you got a good laugh. I laughed at the holier than though comments.
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