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If you have a golden retriever...


Wendi
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We buy a big bag of food that will last a month or a little longer. About $70.00(We get quality food). Vet is only once a year . Add heartworm refills,flea and tick prevention refills, toys, grooming and such I have to say that is probably about right, but maybe closer to $150.00/mo. Some people buy cheaper dog food, may not take to a professional groomer, or buy treats or toys. So it varies. ETA: We put away money each month because our dog is getting older. He actually hurt his paw quite badly a few months back and that set us back $700.00.

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Hmmm...

 

Well, we rarely have him groomed, b/c it's $80, but we have done it twice.

 

We don't buy premium food, so it's about $30 for maybe 6 weeks of food.

 

He does the flea/tick spot treatment stuff (Frontline?) about 6 months out of the year, and that gets pretty pricey; I'm guesstimating it's around $50-60 for 6 vials.

 

He doesn't need most immunizations--Rabies is every 3 years, but he has a reaction, so we are going with a titer next time, which is more expensive. We don't do the kennel cough or bordetella. I'd say he goes to the vet maybe once a year, but he's 9yo now, so that will go up. We do want to get some small moles removed from his skin and have his hips checked, so we expect a visit that will cost about 3-400.

 

Treats are part of the grocery budget and we are not buying the $30 a bag kind. He has a few toys--we also tie treats into bandanas to challenge him a bit, and dd plays hide and seek with him. He usually gets something at Christmas and his birthday. So maybe $50 a year?

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I would say that is a more than ample amount to budget for normal expenses. Both of our Goldens ended up with some serious health issues. The vet bills for each were in the $2500 range. (This is going back 11 years.) I've been considering insurance for our current dog. My sil just spent $2800 trying to save her dog. Unfortunately nothing could be done.

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I'm considering the insurance, too, as I understand goldens are prone to some pricey medical problems. We do have savings for emergencies, but it may be better to do the insurance. I'm just trying to figure out expenses and logistics as much as possible before we actually get the dog. :-) We are excited; I miss having a dog (we had two different dogs when I was growing up). I went for a hike yesterday and saw a few retrievers (labs). I think it will be fun to have a dog to hike with. Dh also wants to take the dog running once or twice a week. And ds wants to play frisbee and fetch at the park.

 

We were talking about where the dog would sleep at night. We plan to have a "crate" and bed downstairs, where we figure he/she will be most of the time with the family. At night, will he/she be lonely in the crate or bed when we're upstairs in our beds? I thought maybe he/she can sleep in a bed in ds's room. Ds is happy with that as long as he/she isn't too noisy.

 

Thanks!

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All of our dogs did well in the crate overnight as puppies, but stopped using them after a year or so. The exception is our puggle. He is a real cuddler and needs a warm body at night. He drove us crazy at night in the crate no matter what we did. We finally let him sleep with us once he could make it through the night without an accident. He was a bit older and partially trained when we got him, so he only lasted about 2 weeks in the crate.

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I always buy a high end dog food or feed a raw diet. It's so worth it in the end. When I had retrievers come through here I allowed approximately $80-90 a month. If it came with health problems it averaged closer to $150 a month.

I did my own grooming.

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Good quality food will make a big difference in a dogs health. With Golden's they tend to have hip and joint problems. Our dog is 7, and though it isn't "old", he is considered a "Mature" dog. Our vet told us to give him 1000mg of fish oil a day and it is supposed to work well for heart health and even joints. And, you have to exercise them. We considered pet insurance. But you still have to pay out of pocket first, and most will not reimburse the full expense. So we opt to have a separate savings account in case of an emergency. And as he is getting older, I am sure the medical expenses are going to start incurring. But, in the end it is totally worth it. We love our dog to pieces and would do anything within reason to make sure he has proper health care.

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