thinking about a dog

[!@#$%]

whatever the fuck you do, if you get a dog, adopt it from your local shelter

and be a responsible owner. that dog is your for LIFE.

expect to spend at least $500 a year on food, toys, the vet and shit the dog ruins.

 

breeders do not need encouragement, and most cities in the US put hundreds of dogs down every single fucking week... that's millions per year.

so please, do not shop, adopt.

[Fist 666]

My dog isn't even 2 yet and i've spent close to $3,500 on her outside of basic cost.

 

Animal medical emergencies suck, but they're real and you have to be prepared.

 

If money is a concern get a pet rock instead.

[Cool_Hand]

I got a bulldog this summer. Allbiet she is a huge pain in the ass what with her, stubborn, arrogant, chewy, slobbery, crying, shitting, pissing, eating, destroying, farting, digging, jumping and what not.

 

She is great and I am glad to have her. I can speak to that "retainer" of money one should have around in case of emergency. Case and point; one day I came home to find her sleeping on what was left of my foam top mattress, $1500.00 later and now Im sleeping on a new mattress, and coincidentally so is the shit missile.

 

I am still finding foam in random places.

[Gat Bush]

I am one for small breeds. They make you laugh every time you look at their cute fuzzy wuzzy face, and you never wake up angry with a little buddy there to greet you. You never have to worry about them biting some kid in the neck (happened to me as a youngin' by my neighbor's untrained rott) and they are much easier to transport (my midget dog loves riding in bags because she knows she's going outside.) But I also live in a very overpopulated city with vey limited space, so a large dog is not at all practical for my living sitch.

 

Set aside a lot of time for the first few months to train your dog well. It will set the tone for the rest of your relationship (which will be a long time if you are a good owner.) Like everything in life, you get what you put in, so when you are a good owner and put in the work, you will have a good friend for life.

 

Good luck and be a good dog owner.

 

[PickledBeetsOnTheStreets]

[MrChupacabra]

Animals are a serious time/money investment. Even more so for large dogs. Even more so for large dogs that are considered "vicious" breeds. If you can't take a couple days to research on your own (asking 12oz a bunch of basic ass questions doesn't count as research), you probably have no business getting a dog.

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

My dog isn't even 2 yet and i've spent close to $3,500 on her outside of basic cost.

 

Animal medical emergencies suck, but they're real and you have to be prepared.

 

If money is a concern get a pet rock instead.

 

i really. REALLY hope i don't jinx myself by saying this but.

i disagree with the whole "don't get a dog if your worried about money" thing.

everyone said the same shit when i got my boxer going on 6 years ago now. i

said fuggetabahhtit and got the fucking dog regardless. not balling. perhaps i'm

a lucky dog owner. but i haven't had any major financial crisis because of her.

as for yearly shots and check ups and shit like that we've only been twice. 3 times

counting an observational visit cause she got in a tussle with a coyote and her ankle

swelled up. the other time was 2 months ago because i moved cross country and used

a free visit coupon to see if things were kosher. doc says she is the healthiest most agile

in shape 7 year old boxer he's ever seen. moral. TRY HARD TO KEEP YOUR DOG OUT OF HARMS

WAY. FEED THEM NON-GARBAGE. WALK AND EXERCISE DAILY. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY LOVE

THAT LITTLE FUCKER. worked for me and i sure as shit haven't spent any ridiculous amount of money.

 

go adopt a dog man. i vote against pits because of the hassle depending on where you live and no other reason. show it love like it was your own child. worry about other things later.

[theprotester]

I agree that it's a 'maybe' not a sure thing that your dog will need a lot of medical attention - but I've seen people that couldn't afford the veterinary bills for different problems, and it's never going to be easy to have to use the big green needle because you can't front the cash for an operation.

[Fist 666]

and when it gets coronavirus from the dog park that kicks in on the weekend and he winds up with a $1200 vet/pet hospital bill what?

 

just keep winging it? fuggetabahhtit? k.

 

i know there are plenty of dudes on here who live check to check and work shit jobs, i don't know abcs deal, but $1000 surprise bills are facts of life and they can cripple you. Every dog i've had in my life has had at least 1 emergency that cost over a grand.

[mackfatsoe]

DOGS AND RAP

COKE AND CRACK

OJ AND SHROOMS

DOGS AND RAP

[theprotester]

I spend the same amount on my dog. as I do on my car, annually.

[john brown]

i really. REALLY hope i don't jinx myself by saying this but.

i disagree with the whole "don't get a dog if your worried about money" thing.

everyone said the same shit when i got my boxer going on 6 years ago now. i

said fuggetabahhtit and got the fucking dog regardless. not balling. perhaps i'm

a lucky dog owner. but i haven't had any major financial crisis because of her.

as for yearly shots and check ups and shit like that we've only been twice. 3 times

counting an observational visit cause she got in a tussle with a coyote and her ankle

swelled up. the other time was 2 months ago because i moved cross country and used

a free visit coupon to see if things were kosher. doc says she is the healthiest most agile

in shape 7 year old boxer he's ever seen. moral. TRY HARD TO KEEP YOUR DOG OUT OF HARMS

WAY. FEED THEM NON-GARBAGE. WALK AND EXERCISE DAILY. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY LOVE

THAT LITTLE FUCKER. worked for me and i sure as shit haven't spent any ridiculous amount of money.

 

go adopt a dog man. i vote against pits because of the hassle depending on where you live and no other reason. show it love like it was your own child. worry about other things later.

 

CO-FUCKING-SIGN!

 

I had my dog for almost over three yrs now, only took her to the Vet once. Shes as healthy as she can be! Actually, just got back from her daily walk.

 

Adopt dude, he/she will be your best friend.

 

[!@#$%]

dunno, i have a great vet.

the pit ripped her ACL, surgery was $800

another year the chi/jack ate some rubber and nearly died before it was surgically removed, $900

 

we usually avoid dog parks unless they aren't crowded because that shit invites TONS of problems.. i've seen all sorts of moron owners and i like to stay away.

 

other than that the routine expenses have not exceeded 3 or 4 hundo a year for food and toys.. which you can steal. (my current dogs are 6, 8 and 8 years old and i've had 6 fosters in the past 2 years.) i think dogs can be expensive, but that's what mutts from a pound are for.. they won't have all the medical issues purebreeds do, and they will come altered and with vaccines at a minimal adoption fee.. and if you keep your eyes open, i bet your local shelter will eventually have an adoption special or event where the fee is reduced even further.

 

i'm not saying that other people are wrong, and certainly their own experiences speak volumes.. but i don't think it's guaranteed that your dog wil eventually fuck you financially.

 

 

the other thing, is stuff like chipins. i cannot tell you how many times i've seen people raise the money for a dog's medical care on facebook. laugh all you want, but there is a massive dog community on there and people can be very generous.

[!@#$%]

btw, if you are considering what type, you need to research activity levels of dogs and you might also want to look into how healthy certain breed types are.

the most important thing will be how the dog fits into your life. if you want the dog to go hiking with you all the time, you need that active bigger dog.

if you want a dog that's gonna chill and laze around you might think about an old dog

if you want playful and energetic, something small, etc etc.

[Fist 666]

i'm not trying to say its a guarantee.

i'm saying if the prospect of a surprise $1000 or $1500 bill would cause extreme burden on you/your ability to live you might want to think about it.

 

last time my mabel was in the hospital there was a family there that couldn't afford the medicine and tests for their cat, my father in law paid for them, but they would have lost the cat due to hard times had he not been there and been a nice guy.

[shai]

Part of me admires vets but my sole experience made me view them as cold-hearted mercenaries.

 

My ex adopted a cat that suddenly stopped eating for no apparent reason a week after we got it from the shelter. A month and several vet visits to the tune of $1200 later, the cat was being fed via a tube up its nose...I told her to take the poor thing back to the pound and say "Hey, you sold me a fucked-up cat and now I'm out over a grand, what's the deal" but of course I was just being insensitive. The vet had no problem with stringing her along, and she ended up "borrowing" several hundred bucks from me to cover the bill...I never wanted a cat since I have allergies, so paying these insane bills to someone who had no better idea what was wrong didn't sit well with me since I wasn't making all that much money at the time.

 

In the end we broke up, I never got the money back and shortly after I moved out the cat got hit by a car. When she called me to tell me, I said "oh, that sucks...well, maybe it's a better place now" which was obviously the wrong thing because it didn't address her feelings, how could I be so mean, etc. I said "Fuck that, where's my money?" and hung up on her.

 

Live and learn....in other news, I want to meet a chug (chihuahua/pug)-

 

[injury]

thems is cute.

[!@#$%]

one thing i remembered abc

try fostering.

you'll have to apply, but the shelter will pick up the tab on vet bills and often will help with food and shit like that too. most places want a commitment of at least 2 months, and of course you have to be ready to let the dog go when the forever home comes along (or if you decide to keep it, it's a good way to do a 'trial period' without letting anyone down.)

also a good way to test out types of dogs

[injury]

GREAT idea there.

[jbrshmonster]

get a rhodesian ridgeback

 

 

 

 

also if you don't have a huge amount of time to socialize your dog there are certain training methods to get your dog to learn to cope with not being with you all the time. just puttin that out there.

 

hell yeah ridgebacks are awesome. their bark/scream is loud as fuck though

 

[abcs]

you guys & symbols is helpful. Thx for the info.

[Cool_Hand]

so what kind of mutt are you getting?

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

i'm not trying to say its a guarantee.

i'm saying if the prospect of a surprise $1000 or $1500 bill would cause extreme burden on you/your ability to live you might want to think about it.

 

last time my mabel was in the hospital there was a family there that couldn't afford the medicine and tests for their cat, my father in law paid for them, but they would have lost the cat due to hard times had he not been there and been a nice guy.

 

also....wtf kind of asshole vet would tell you to fuck off if you couldn't pay for emergency

surgery?? the vet i have seen in the past allowed you to get billed. though i know some places

demand money up front. shit man. i can't imagine they would offer euthanasia if you brought in an animal that just got nailed by a car

[Fist 666]

I don't remember all the details--but basically the vet explained what they were in for and they knew they couldn't do it--on the spot or in with a bill. based on clothes and car they were poor.

 

vets aren't likely to just do pro-bono work cause its the nice thing to do.

that doesn't make them assholes.

 

back to the point--if a surprise bill would fuck you over, and you had to choose between feeding your shitty kids or saving your pet, you probably shouldn't have one.

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

ahh fuck it. i still say get a fucking dog dude, if your down with dogs.

[morton]

Both vets I went to demanded payment before services. In one of the high dollar bills it was from a pit bull attacking my dog so I do not think the cause of injury interests them much.

[!@#$%]

totally depends on the vet.

mine will allow a payment plan over months to save a dog.

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

thats when you beat the fucking money outta the pit owner for your dogs vet bills. fuck that shit.

just once. just once, i'd like to not be a racist against pits annnd they're owners but it always sneaks up on me.

same thing with the homies dog and what was almost mine. god damn shitty pitbull owners. homies

boxers ear was practically ripped off at the dog park. $1400. and my peach well she was nearly eaten. if i hadn't kicked that

motherfucker and dipped behind a fence with a door weeda been in jail together. or the e.r.

[!@#$%]

pits are awesome

i know from fostering them

[NightmareOnElmStreet]

i believe you. sort of. seen good pits. seen shitty ones. but i feel the same way about mexicans. and white people. and none of it really matters in the end. so fuck it. we're all dying forever alone anyways.