re: How much money do you spend on your pets per year?

70 pound lab mix in good health but I still seem to spend more than what others are reporting.

Monthly bath/grooming at the vet $360
Dry food and treats $360
Heartworm/flea pills $360
Annual shots and checkup at the vet $200
Dental checkup and cleaning every two years $220
Boarding for ten days a year $250

Sure adds up fast!

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Also, I work long hours and Kevin a puppy alone for 12+ hours at a time is not going to make a good, loyal dog.

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Yes, that would be a very poor experience for a puppy or young active dog, you are doing the right thing.

one bag of food every two weeks
$937

Vet bills, had one tooth pulled, plus annuals and confortis
$900

Toys, frizbees, etc, $75

Roughly $2,000/yr for my Mutt and my wife's Pomeranian.

Then you have the cost of stuff they destroy. Like the chewed up Spanish cedar entryway they chewed to pieces.

eta: boarding when on vacations also runs about $300 a year.

While the giant is very active for a large dog it is more laid back than a mini.

There are some physical things to watch out for. They are prone to get cysts on their backs which while not life threatening can be gross. They are also prone to ear infections. Our first two seemed to always have ear infections. We have two currently and it's interesting that the one with natural ears has never had an ear infection while the one with cropped ears gets the infections. You'd think it would be the other way around.

Our rescues haven't had too many physical issues but they have had mental issues from mistreatment. We've worked through most of them but our male does have a fear of strangers. Our first rescue died at 8 1/2 and we believe his life was shortened because he was malnurished over an extended period of time as a puppy. He had a wonderful personality.

I'd say that the giants overall have tremendous personalities. They are eager to please and play longer and harder than most breeds I've seen with some notable exceptions such as Irish Setters (which are like they are on speed constantly).

Giants are also very mischevious. Our female is constantly getting into things and is a notorious counter surfer. We can't leave anything edible within reach (which is a long reach) and had to rearrange our pantry. We've come home more than once to find her face covered in cake or brownie mix.

It's an expensive breed but I've rescued three now and if the Giant Schnauzer rescue league has a dog and I want it I just have to say the word. They have a pretty decent screening process so if you are thinking about getting one I'd recommend you get a rescue. It's a great thing to do and you end up paying a $300-$600 fee for the rescue instead of at least $2000 for a dog.

There are vets in baton rouge that will allow you to use online ordering if you want to. When we ordered online and put in our vets info she called and told us she sells the same meds for cheaper than what we were paying online. It worked out well for everyone.

5lb mix. Maybe $450 a year. $20 bag of food every other month. Vet maybe twice a year @ $75 each visit. I stretch 6doses of flea treatment out over the year. Not giving any in dec thru feb since no fleas then. Groomer every other month at $25 a visit. Outside cat Maybe $100 a year. No vet visits and a little food each morning. Butt worms and a little hunger keeps it after the rats and mice which earns its keep.

I wud say about a dime. To 1200

2 dogs that cost me nothing. My daughter is a Vet that costed me 200 grand. Can I add that cost?