re: Surprised at the cost of dogs

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It’s a big expense up front but you definitely get what you pay for. We messed up and got a shelter dog last time. Never again. Just bite the bullet and buy a good one.

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I have a pure bred dog that when she is with our family (and extended family) she is the sweetest thing you ever met. If anyone she doesn't know tries to pet her, she will nip at them. She was bred by my neighbor and I got to watch her with her litter for a few months before bringing her home and she was by far the sweetest and most personable puppy in the lot. We exposed her to all sorts of people and places as a puppy and she was sweet to everyone until she was about a year old. My son who was 5 at the time had a friend over that tried to ride her like a horse and she hasn't trusted strangers since. She also has a predisposition to dislike my sons friends in general now.

Meaning that dogs have personalities and its a little bit of luck to get one with a good personality. You can increase your chances by picking certain breeds but I have also met some psycho Labs before so nothing is a sure thing. And you also can't always control how they react to trauma. My dogs trauma was fairly light but its all it took for her to switch to distrusting new people.

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We messed up and got a shelter dog last time



this is an extremely poor take and shouldnt be listened to.

i wont shite on your for wanting to pay money for a purebred animal from good stock but there are plenty of great dogs in shelters needing homes.

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Everybody has different experiences. Both options have positives and negatives.

However it is undeniable that you are more likely to have issues with shelter dogs than a purebred from a reputable breeder.

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We messed up and got a shelter dog last time. Never again. Just bite the bullet and buy a good one.

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This is rather small-minded.

Someone found ours as a stray in a field, mutt across the board. She came with built in recall, intelligence, not a barker and well tempered.

Can shelter pets be great, of course. But it takes mental gymnastics to not accept the fact it’s more of an unknown risk with what you will get

If you wanted to try and find a fast human baby, you would look for two fast parents. It betters your odds

Dogs are no different

Limiting the variables gives you better odds, always

I tried going the adoption route. Filled out the paper work, they did a phone interview and asked about spay/neuter and I believe my answers were not what they wanted. They also asked what I would do if my dog had a 5k or more emergency and how would I pay for it. I answered for 5k or more I may have to put the dog down which didn't go over well with the person on the phone.

I have dogs now and it runs 300-500 a year for vet, another 80 a month for medicine, another 75 a month for speciality dog food. That's normal, paying 5k+ for an emergency, like what kind of vet visit is going to run that much. Keeping my dog over the weekend at Cypress Animal Hospital in Ascension was only 1600. So I'm struggling to know exactly what would cost 5k or more that wouldn't impact quality of life.

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No tell me how much the semen costs, insemination costs, vet visits/x-rays of litter, having the babies, possible c-section, breaches, etc.

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Most breeders aren't doing all of those things.

Even for a top level dog, a stud fee isn't going to be more than a grand and more likely under $500 for most dogs. They're dogs, not thoroughbred horses. Artificial insemination is ~$125 at the vet. C section is going to run a couple grand. So, assuming a breeder does all of these things, they're still pocketing upwards of $15000 for 2 months of work. And most of these breeders do it as secondary income. My BIL and aunt have both bred dogs, my BIL bird digs and my aunt agility competition dogs. Breedings dogs is not how they pay the bills.

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So I'm struggling to know exactly what would cost 5k or more that wouldn't impact quality of life.

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Here are a few common examples:

Torn ACL on an overweight dogs (most dogs are overweight)
Foreign body/Obstruction- your dog eats something it shouldnt
Severe pancreatitis- your dog eats something it shouldnt
HBC
Dog attack
Heat exhaustion
Respiratory failure
Bloat- not preventable unless you do a gastopexy

Some more severe than others. Just about all of these dogs can survive if caught and treated in a timely manner. All will run you a couple thousand minimum at any emergency vet

In Portland every dog seems to be some ugly deformed rescue with behavioural issues.

I get so happy when I see an attractive purebred or designed breed nowadays.

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Folks that pay for a mutt are crazy. Mutt = silver lab, golden doodle, labradoodle etc etc etc

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Uhhhh....all dogs are mutts