Unfortunately for all of the struggling college students out there, puppies will always be cute, even when the bank account is busy being empty. We see a fluffy canine prancing on the sidewalk and can barely contain ourselves from reaching out to ruffle its furriness.
Should I get a dog?
Unfortunately for all of the struggling college students out there, puppies will always be cute, even when the bank account is busy being empty. We see a fluffy canine prancing on the sidewalk and can barely contain ourselves from reaching out to ruffle its furriness.
However much we’d like to bring Sparky home after looking into those big, sad eyes, getting a new companion is a decision that should never be spontaneous. Dogs have a habit of coming with their own frustrations: heartache and
financial upheaval.
Really, the easy part is buying the dog. Saving up a finite amount of money is relatively easy to do, especially if you plan on visiting the Humane Society for an adult cuddle-buddy to bring home. It’s all the unexpected, unplanned and absolutely unfathomable costs that later arise which will ultimately kick you in the pants.
Puppies are especially prone to surprising owners with these hidden fees. If you’re not looking to have a sprayer or aggressive dog, you probably want to get the beast spayed or neutered. Veterinarians are also excellent at explaining how your fur-ball is likely to die horrifically if you don’t pay for an assortment of tests and feed your new little darling the highest-quality food.
Then there’s training the dang thing. Oh sure, you don’t need training courses, you can train your own dog. After all, you vaguely remember teaching your childhood pet to roll over and could even get her to stay if you held out a treat.
Alas, much like children, dogs will always be individually unique, and you usually don’t want to wait until yours has developed an irreversible barking problem before paying for some basic training classes. These can cost anywhere from an easy $25 to hundreds of dollars for behavior correction.
Again, these are all pretty predictable costs. It gets trickier if you fell in love with a pal that likes to eat whatever it finds on the ground. A trip to an emergency pet hospital will usually cost at least a couple hundred dollars, just to get in and out; add to that any medication or treatment and your pet’s medical care can suddenly be in the thousands.
Many prospective dog owners disregard these possible costs, or assume it won’t ever happen to them. This leads to even more trouble if a dog does get sick and there isn’t anything budgeted to pay off sudden debt, or worse, to not have the extra few hundred dollars it takes to save your best friend’s life.
An easy way to potentially cut thousands of dollars of costs by paying for a puppy is to get an adult dog, especially if you go somewhere like the Oregon Humane Society. Even then, random expenses can come up for any dog.
Perhaps after an unusually long day you come home to find that your lovable friend has panicked and eaten your door frame. Or maybe it just acted out and peed on your couch. Either way, it doesn’t take a dog much time to
cause tremendous amounts of damage.
Even dog toys are expensive, and you’re going to need the nice ones if you get a chewer. Holes to hide food in, scores of squeakers and bizarre shapes characterize a variety of dog toys that your dog may eat in two hours or never even find interesting in the first place.
The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association estimates that you’ll spend more than $1,000 a year on your new pal, but other sources estimates that it’s more like $1,100–3,500. That’s $90–290 a month you might easily pay for a new friend.
Still, dogs are great companions to keep you warm during the treacherous nights of “dead week.” Anyone thinking of dressing up a sweater in new-pet hair should research local vet costs, save up some collateral and consider getting an
adult dog.
