Costs of Owning a Dog?

[Iron Brew]

X2 on the crate as NOT jail thing. Never, EVER disciplined my dog using his crate. He loves the crate, he will go snooze in it (10 years later). This makes it great when we are visiting people. It is his safe place to this day (not that he needs one, but visiting pups sometimes "drive" him there...).

[DuckBrat]

Sorry Cant Disagree more. Yes there are troubled pups but I can say I am two for two with one of the hardest headed breeds to work with Springer Spaniels. It took a lot of love some of that tough but I have honed some very good bird/ family dogs from the Humane society. It can work as long you want to work hard at it. Put in a half ass effort and you will get a half ass dog. I am looking for another Springer if anybody knows of a troubled youth. Thanks.
DB

Originally Posted by ex811

Albertadiver...I see you're from Calgary.
Just to clarify for you, there is No SPCA in Calgary. There is the City 'pound' on Portland St and the Calgary Humane Society in the deep SE. Having worked at both places I can tell you that most dogs are there for a reason, they have 'issues', runners mostly. Both places have dogs up for adoption, all adopable dogs are tested for temperment, but you gotta know people didn't want them for a reason.

[rhuntley12]

Originally Posted by Iron Brew

X2 on the crate as NOT jail thing. Never, EVER disciplined my dog using his crate. He loves the crate, he will go snooze in it (10 years later). This makes it great when we are visiting people. It is his safe place to this day (not that he needs one, but visiting pups sometimes "drive" him there...).

This is great advice. I put our dog in the crate a couple times when she would pee on the floor while I cleaned it up and now she sees it at punishment and not a safety place, really regret doing that.

[Devlin]

If you have a dog then as far as I'm concerned you're responsible for providing for it's medical needs so either commit to covering those costs if they arise or get insurance. I got a dog 7 years ago and it turned out he had a congential liver malformation and needed surgery. We ended up laying out $4,500 to get him fixed. The kicker is that we had insurance on him but figured it was expensive so cancelled it only months before he was diagnosed.

Remember a dog is counting on it's owner to provide for him so it's pretty low IMHO to euthanize him because someone doesn't want to spend the money when they probably have a safe full of guns, toys in the garage and a new plasma screen in the bonus room.

[The Fisherman Guy]

Awesome dog ABD! I am sure he will be very happy in his new pack!

Glad to hear the fostering experience was a positive one.

[fishing_flower]

Hey, I'm so glad you are fostering with us He's sure a cute puppy. We are fostering a 4 month old and he has taken to crate training pretty easy as long as I put a few toys in it. I was setting the timer on the stove when we first got him, to remind me to take him for his walk. Now he is telling me he needs to go. That lab puppy is so adorable! Gonna keep him?


lol the website is pawsitivematch.org

Any more fosters or adopters out there?

[Albertadiver]

Well he's been pretty good in his crate the last two nights, but still working on the house training. We named him Diesel, and I think it will be a bit before he knows 'come', 'sit', 'bathroom', and his name. Working on it.

I'm sick with a head cold, so my wife has the night-time duties. I drink half a bottle of nyquil and throw in earplugs!

He's feeling a little more at home I think, and loves being around other dogs, but we have to be careful because he's not due for his next set of shots for a few weeks.

The fostering is a good experiance because I don't think my wife realized how much work a pup is.

So far so good...

[Albertadiver]

Well, another update.

He's not adopted yet, although my wife is wanting to adopt him ourselves more and more. He is getting his second shots in the next few days, and getting neutered etc.

So far he know sit, lay down, and I'm working on come. He's pretty easy going, and loves his kennel. If we leave it out, he goes in there on his own and must feel safe there.

He loves other dogs, but we can't take him out much yet until he gets his second shots. So far, only chewed my wife's shoes.

He's getting bigger, but still working through a few health issues which appear to be relatively minor. His littermates are suffering from distemper, so it appears that we got him away from his siblings before he was infected. The vet checked him out just in case.

Anyhow here's a few more pics.

[Grizzly Adams]

Hey, if you're going to worry about the cost, you shouldn't be a dog owner, Or have kids, for that matter. I just discovered we have an SPCA in Sundre, the other day, though in our case, it's the Sundre Palliative Care Associaton. I would think they should be looking for a new name.

Grizz

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Hey, if you're going to worry about the cost, you shouldn't be a dog owner, Or have kids, for that matter. I just discovered we have an SPCA in Sundre, the other day, though in our case, it's the Sundre Palliative Care Associaton. I would think they should be looking for a new name.

Grizz

Yeah yeah I know the cost is irrelavant if you have a pup, but still trying to make sure that we don't bite off more than we can chew.

I've talked to a bunch of different people off the forum, and on AO, and I think I'm leaning towards not buying insurance and taking my chances, if we do decide to adopt.

We'll see I guess....

[froggy]

i have a yellow lab just like the ones in the pic i spend aprx 40 to 60 a month on him

[cover]

Versatiledogs.com Ps good luck finding a hunting Weim.... they are as rare as hens teeth..the show crowd did that breed no favours ...