New England B.S. Thread

Dogs can get expensive. That's really the worst thing I have to say on the topic. I love my two dogs and if I still lived alone, I'd probably have more.

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a visit to your local shelter together, find a middle-aged dog that's well behaved and house-broken and give that little fella a good home. Then take some obedience classes together, doesn't matter if the dog is already trained or not, this is more for you. Find ways to include the dog in as much as you can on weekends since that will be the most time you have available with it. Daily walks after work are nice too. You have a couple of excuses to not go through with it, but the fact that you're asking indicates to me that you're still considering it. I vote yes, do it.

 

It gets really expensive. My male gets tumors removed to the tune of $2k+ per year. My female has one medication that's $180/month. Plus all the vet visits, emergencies, boarding, and food. Luckily you live with your SO but I can't stay over at my boyfriend's without planning and boarding

 

No family / no pets / no significant other = no problems here

 

= only have to worry about my tenants destroying the apartment*

 

Fire up the mustang this morning. Bam! Cloud of white smoke and a horrible sound under the hood. Alternator shit the bed. So had to rush to get it out so I could make one stop across that bridge. I hate my ford.

 

I have 5 dogs and am a former dog trainer.

1-Do not get a dog if you can't be with it everyday and let it out more than once every 8 hours. If you have a good day care where the dog can play all day, I would say that's a good option tho. But that's lots of $$$ and that was an initial concern of yours.

2- Unless you have a dog park in your apartment, or have a decent walking area near you won't take the dog out much, and he will be hyper and antsy, destroying your apartment or acting out. Not a good idea.

3- A dog is there 24 hours a day, not something to just cuddle when you feel like it, or for temporary happiness. Yes it is way easier than a baby, but it is still work. Is she willing to sacrifice her weekend fun because of it? Don't get a dog if you have any thought that you might end up wanting to get rid of it.

Wait until you are ready for a dog and feel good about it,don't force it or you and the dog will suffer for it. Have her volunteer at a local dog shelter. I worked for one in NC and believe me, she can get her fill of dogs without having one lol.

 

What year?

 

This is actually a great suggestion but, at the same time knowing her she would find one that she couldn't let go and it would end up home randomly...

I'm glad that a lot of my concerns were echoed by the dog owners on here; makes me feel better that I'm not 100% being an off-base asshole

 

My purebred Labrador, Madaket, was horrifically expensive. Let's see if I can put a finger on just a select few of the expenses... basic veterinary costs on a yearly basis before any issues was somewhere around $400 easy. If you want the ability to kennel her or doggie daycare, you have to choose "all of the above" when the vet asks what vaccinations you want to perform. One time she got into a tangle with a porcupine... that was a good $600 bill on a random Friday night. When she was about 4 she developed chronic ear infections. Over the course of 14 months she had to get 4 seperate surgical procedures at a cost of $1300 a pop. That doesn't include the antibiotics and special ear drops I had to give her which were hundreds at least twice a year. Another random day out of the blue she ate an entire bottle of Tums anti-acid, like the size you buy at Costco with 5 lbs of Tums tablets. Had to get her stomach pumped- another random $400 at the pet ER. Another day, while at vacation at my dads on the coast, we had a clambake and she ate the carcasses of about 25 discarded lobsters from the trash. Shells and all! That didn't cost me anything it was just fucking hilarious so I wanted to mention it LOL! But she was having trouble shitting for an entire week and made my drive home with her absolute HELL. As she got older she had to get on special food because she developed bad joints and it was a good $50 a bag, once a month. I'd say with all costs an average yearly expense was around $3500, nothing to sneeze at.

When I got divorced I got the dog thankfully, but anytime I wanted to go away I had to kennel her and it was like $40 a night. The money isn't even the worst part of that, it's having to leave her there. As she got older it actually made me enjoy going away less and less, because you could tell she didn't like spending nights in the kennel. And if she ever passed while she was in the kennel? I'd fucking lose it, 100%. When she did finally pass I decided not to get another because it's a big commitment.

 

^^^^
This is why I advocate getting mutts from the shelter over a purebred. Unless you are using a purebred dog for the purpose it was bred for, they're a waste of money in my opinion. They typically have many more health issues than a mutt, and a lot of the purebred dogs I've come across are number than a bag of rocks. Plus, if you adopt you're saving a life, or at least rescuing them from dog jail.

 

Course, she was my best friend ever...

 

plug for agency we adopted through. They make sure all is well and pay for many things if needed. Biscotti had over 2k i think just in her leg surgery plus visits all paid for. http://fohari.org/ I would have twenty dogs if i could. Was never allowed as a kid and finally have 2 and love em to death. They have gladly welcomed the baby into the pack as well.

 

I can see your point and I know it's amazingly selfish but I would never own a rescue or ever get a dog that wasn't a puppy, regardless of breed. I have too many friends with problem dogs that are because they were not raised/trained right. I hate to say that but it's true. My girlfriend is in a nightmare situation. She rescued a Borebal Mastiff that is horrifically dog aggressive. 130 lb dog, she's had 5 of them, so she knows what she is doing with them, but this one takes the cake. So no kennel, no one can take care of her, no doggie day care... just years of no going on vacations unless the dog can go and never spending a night away unless the right people are available to watch her.

I want to be the one to train a dog correctly, and once a dog is 6 months old some things are too late.

 

Shrug. The mutts I've adopted have almost always been puppies, with one exception for an older dog that we knew the owners and why they had surrendered him. Just because you get them from a pound doesn't mean they can't be puppies.

 

I'll echo what everyone else said. I love dogs but they are certainly more of a lifestyle than just a pet. I didn't even get a dog until my wife and I moved in together and figured out our schedules to confirm we could even properly care for one. Lots of our vacations are camping and visiting family so that works well for us. My family all have dogs so it's no big deal to bring my with us. Every once in a while, if we need to go away, we leave our dog with other family members who have and like dogs.

From the expense perspective, you have to be prepared for them. My dog is very healthy and vet bills are at least $300 a year, usually closer to $500. He has a sensitive stomach so his food is $40 for a 35 lb bag and he goes through one about every month. When he was a puppy, my wife had never owned a dog before so she insisted on the pet insurance. That's about $10-15/month but, when he was 6 months old, he blew out his knee and the surgery was $3k. We had to pay a low deductible and that was it so it's paid for itself big time.

In short, I don't think you're being unreasonable. Pets are a LOT of work and can be a lot of money. If both people aren't committed to it, it's not fair to the dog.

 

Totally agree I would consider rescuing a puppy but my labs aremy best friends and I can take them anywhere off leash and never worry about if they will listen to me.

 

I have dogs I bought as a puppy from a breeder, and I have a couple we adopted. They are all great animals and while the adopted ones were adopted as puppies....not really a big difference. If you adopt an older dog though you need to put in the time to forge a bond and get on the same page, or you will probably be arguing with a dog the rest of its life. I have no problem people buying from responsible breeders, but I also 100% get people who push for only adoption, and I understand that even more after volunteering at a shelter for a year.

Either way, if you get a dog, love that dog and be nice to it and everyone wins!

 

I'm gonna disagree on the older dog thing. I reached my girl as an adult and she's the sweetest easiest dog in the world

 

True, there are some awesome ones out there, especially coming from senior homes. I guess I was referring to the theoretical "crazy dog" that someone might get from a shelter if their worries actually came to fruition.

 

Absolutely!! Don't get me wrong, it's totally by chance. I just have two very close friends with very difficult dogs. Both are sweethearts to people, but one is so dog aggressive that professional trainers said stop paying us, there is no hope, the other has such separation anxiety it's heartbreaking and dangerous for the dog. Both of these people are dog people to the core and they both will tell you they would never rescue again.