A question first time dog owner or a seasoned dog owner considering a different breed?
I am only writing this blog from personal experience and in no way reflects anyone else’s situation, I’m not even sure what compelled me to write it. I suppose it was the way my dogs behave? One of my favourite charities last time I checked had 350 Huskies in boarding or foster homes.
Anyway.
Top of the list (especially now-a-days).
Financial responsibilities.
This can range from buying dog food, pet insurance, dog accessories, vet bills, dog trainer.
Dog food can range from £1 a tin to £70+ for a large bag of dog food, dry food tends to be cheaper than wet food. The size of the dog and its energy levels will dictate how much your dog eats and drinks.
Pet Insurance again is a mine field, we took our pet insurance a well-known supermarket and was up for renewal earlier on in the year, they increased the premium by £15 a month taking the total to £46 a month, I did a price comparison, and the same company was recommended second on the list. I phoned them up to cancel with my reasoning and they couldn’t compete with their own price! So, I cancelled and took out a new policy cheaper than year one price! Pet insurance premium is known for increasing year on year as your dog ages.
Our pet insurance was worth it weight in gold (cut a long story short) Elsa ate horse poo and was ill with a parasite the total bill was £980, £120 was the excess.
What level of cover does your dog need? Is lifetime cover needed? Soon mounts up… Which company does your vet recommend? I spoke to my vet about who they recommend, and I would have forked out a small fortune with their recommendation.
Dog toys, leads collars training equipment, boredom toys if you are away from home.
Personally, I buy the dog toys in the clearance box, due to the fact huskies love to chew, a £14 stuffed pheasant might only last thirty minutes, but then again it could be a toy your dog will cherish and fall asleep with night after night. Dog tennis balls can be a waste of time dependant if your dog is a chewer, Raven can destroy those in under a minute, but a good official tennis ball £11 for 12 off amazon takes longer to break (Just don’t lose them if you can help it).
A good dog chew can last months, relatively expensive at first £10-£15 but Raven has had hers for over six months.
This is an estimate from the PDSA for lifetime costs obviously dependant if your dog needs ongoing care:
- Small dog breeds: At least £4,600 up to potential lifetime cost of £25,000
- Medium dog breeds: At least £7,000 up to potential lifetime cost of £27,000
- Large dog breeds: At least £5,700 up to potential lifetime cost of £30,800
Your dog will need annual health check £35 from our vet, regular flea and worm treatment, can be available on monthly subscription so you don’t forget to treat your dog.
A dog trainer/behaviourist can cost £20-£35+ per hour, there are also group classes available to keep the cost down.
A lot of dogs are casualties due to covid lockdowns, so dog trainers were limited, no there isn’t enough trainers around, our dogs weren’t “covid dogs” but Raven came into the family the September before Covid hit Elsa was adopted by us during covid, as a result one of her issues is reactivity. Where we got her from said she was socialised, but we believe she was socialised to a select group, I am working with her on this, she is improving month on month.
Basically, there is an abundance of information on the internet, but if you are at your wits end with a behavioural issue, you will need to factor a specialist in you budget.
How much time can you give your Dog?
Different breeds can be left alone for different amounts of time, but this will need to be trained into the dog over a period as your dog may get separation anxiety which could lead to behaviour issues. The Huskies can be left for 4-4.5 hours provided they have had a walk before hand and left with a toy to keep their mind busy, the Pugs can go all day, they just sleep in their bed.
Training time, training the professionals recommend can take as little as five minutes or till your dog starts to lose interest at which point knowing when to stop is important as it not longer becomes a game for them.
Our daily routine compromises of a thirty-minute morning walk with all four dogs, this is slow walk the intention is to get the dogs mind working with the new smells on your route to stimulate the mind then I leave for work. My Partner Elaine mostly works from home, so the dogs generally snug her feet all day unless Raven the Lunatic needs some attention then she takes break. If Elaine is working in the office, then I have drive home around dinner time and we take a walk around the local woods and leave them with a stimulation toy.
Followed by evening walk which can take 40 minutes minimum to 1-2 hours (weather dependant and if there is a pub enroute!)
Following the Walk Raven generally wants to play fetch in the evening and the cut-off time is 20.30 to give her time to settle down.
A good topic which I feel needs addressing is off leash behaviour or the “My Dog is OK” owner.
The reason I bring this up is many hours (possibly) need to go into off leash repetitive training, Raven and Elsa are great when is comes to recall when they are on their together, but throw a distraction in the mix, be it squirrel, another dog etc, suddenly I don’t exist (I’m sure many people understand what I am talking about) the main reason they aren’t successful is my fault, I cannot find many willing “victims” to practice with, the number of people that cross the street when they see my two walking towards them is unreal! So finding training with distractions proved difficult. The old saying is you never let a husky off their lead due to prey drive, but if I can change thousands of years of breeding and behaviour remains to be seen.
But they say the same with sight and smell dogs, beagles, whippets, greyhounds are a good example.
A good saying is, a dog owner has lots of different things that make their day, work, going to the post office, doctors, kids to pick up from school the list goes on!
From a dog’s point of view, that dog only wants the person(s) is has bonded with, you are your dogs world.
Which breed suits me and my family best?
There are no doubt dogs can stop you from doing the things you want to do, just fact of owning one. Unless you can board them, find a doggy day care, or utilise a family member.
My kids wanted to go swimming last Sunday, we said “Yes- but I need to take the dogs out first”.
Certain breeds require less care than others, age can be a factor in this. The huskies (working breed) are two years old and are basically children, require constant attention, Beit food, play, to go outside and potty (or go out to come in again is a good one in winter when the door can’t be left open). The Pugs are the opposite end of the spectrum, they are lap dogs 9yrs and 11yrs old require minimal effort, they are happy with a 20–30-minute walk and know EXACTLY when feeding time is. Those buggers hear the fridge door open and come running!
Please consider carefully which breed suits your lifestyle and living arrangements I say living arrangements as Raven cost us nearly £2000 in fencing for our garden.
Here is a hyperlink to help you research type of dog groups:
Dog Nutrition:
Something to consider and do research on is dog food, be it a supermarket own brand to a top of the range raw diet.
Do your research, we switched food after researching which brand would be best for my husky? People couldn’t get enough of one particular brand, so we tried it, and it sent Raven crazy! Turns out it was full of “E” numbers, and I thought its no wonder Huskies have an energetic reputation with the way she was behaving.
A good resource is:
Age:
Dogs can be 8–16-year commitment, so they can be as reliant on you as kids even more so in the latter years.
A subject I feel needs touching on is the final moments of a dog’s life.
Please, please, please consider your dog’s final moments.
For example, being taken to the vet can be bad enough, from a dogs point of view, visiting the vet they can be scared, meeting strangers in a laboratory style room. If your dog or any animal for that matter needs putting to sleep, and the vet asks you “would you like to be with your pet during the procedure?” Please say yes!
Your dog has been your companion for all its life, to leave the dogs last moments with a stranger, in a stranger room, terrified wondering where His/Her Dad/Mum is. They will need comfort more than any time in their life.
Summary:
These are just some examples of what to consider when owning a dog.
I might make it sound all doom and gloom, but NOTHING is more satisfying than your four-legged friend wagging his/her tail when walking through the door after a rubbish day at work, the 05.50am wake up (as horrible as it sounds) with a dog resting is head on the bed looking into your eyes.
Whether you push your dig around in a pram, take your dog to work with you or go climbing mountains.
Please consider your breed and dedication to your dog.
After all they really are (Wo)man’s best friend.
Andy