What Is the Average Monthly Cost to Keep a Small Dog?

It depends on what kind of dogfood you get, that'll be the majority of the monthly cost after the startup purchase. It depends on if you're using wee-pads and if you're going to get it groomed professionally or do it yourself. Those are the only expectable costs that I can think of, aside from the upfront purchase of toys, bowls, and a crate. You can calculate how much dogfood you'll need per month based on the weight of the bag and what the serving size is for your dog per day (usually based on the dog's weight). When I calculated the whole cost of every toy and whatnot I came up with about 1,500-2,000 for all the toys, crate, bowls, and food for 1 year using kirkland dogfood. I went onto petco or petsmart website and picked out every toy I would want to buy and added the costs, I'm generous with toys :P I'm still saving up. I would suggest making your own extensive list of everything you would want to buy for the dog, it took me a couple weeks to think of everything (things like shampoo slipped my mind for a while). Then look up all of the prices plus tax. Good Luck!

• Other Questions

Puppy shopping list question :D?

Training is pretty simple, just reward the dog if he or she does what you want it to do, and punish if they do something you don't want to do. Never punish or reward more than 2 or 3 minutes after whatever happened as they might not know what did to get the reward or punishment (by the time you come home and the puppy's sitting in the ruined mess of what used to be your couch, it's probably too late to scold). Always assume when teaching puppies that if they don't obey it's because they don't understand. Be consistent and keep lessons short for little puppy attention spans, but frequent- have at least one 5 minute training session each day.

Generally when teaching sit people find a way to put the dog into a sit position (like pushing down on its hindquarters) while saying 'sit' and then they give a treat. The dog should figure out that sitting when told to gets a treat after a few repetitions. Different dogs learn at different rates and in slightly different ways, so read dog training books and try out the methods- if they work, use them and if they don't, abandon them.

Housetraining- you're crate training which I've never done and know nothing about, but it helps to learn what your puppy does when it's about to go to the loo. That way when you see it doing that, you bring it outside immediately and praise it for going outside. It might be helpful to teach the pup to go on command- that way if you ever need to travel long distances in the car with the dog, you won't have to worry about accidents. Look up 'eliminate on command' and there are a few good websites about this.

I'd say get 8 but not 9, I wouldn't get 16 either until you know whether the dog will respond to that method. 15 doesn't work on all dogs and you don't know whether the dog chews yet. Don't get too many toys until you know what the dog likes. Do you need 14?

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What are some fun smelling/searching dog games?

When your on a walk, what i do is tell my dog to stay (your dog must have a pretty good stay to give you long enough to hide!) and then i go and hide, try closer distances first, then build it up! you could also do this with treats/toys. You could also buy some Large lego blocks, you only need about 6. Get some kitchen tongs (anything big enough to pick the logo blocks so you DO NOT TOUCH them. pick up 5 of these blocks, and make sure you choose a colour block, and stick with it, use it any time you play this game. Pick up the colour block that you have chosen with your hand and hold it for a few minutes so that your scent is on that block and that block ONLY! place it down in a line with the other blocks, but do not touch them. ask your dog to find your scent, you may need some build up lessons, such as getting your dog used to touching your scent block on its own, and then with another block.

You seem like you love your dog! just go out walking, have some fun! play fetch, or just curl up on the sofa. you could also join a dog club, find a club with agility, obedience and rally o, these are all fun activities including your dog!! by the way, i compete in obedience and agility, my dog loves it (between you and me, i think shes in it for the treats!) by the time we are out of the car and i have my treat bag, shes bunny hopping and eager to go! If it makes you happy to see your dog happy, try one of these doggy sports out! she is 7, so dont think your dog is too old!

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Is Iams a good dog food?

Iam's isn't a good food at all. If your parents want an inexpensive dog food, I'd suggest Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Another few that are not the best, but leagues better than Iams: NutriSource, Diamond Naturals, Kirkland (from CostCo).

EDIT: jubei2006, you're entirely correct when you say that cooked grains are highly digestible. You'll have a hard time convincing many people on this forum to believe this FACT.

That said, I still wouldn't recommend ANY of the 5 companies you mentioned. Why? I have fed my dogs Science Diet, Iams, Purina, and Eukanuba foods. I have never been impressed with the results. I didn't see bright, shiny eyes, lush coats, high energy like I do when I feed Natura Products (I use California Natural). When I started feeding the "super premium" foods to my four dogs, I saw ear infections disappear, as well as urinary tract infections and stones. Hot Spots stopped occuring. I saw healthy, shiny coats, and my oldest dog (who I thought was developing cataracts) seemed to have aged in reverse-his eyes became clear and bright, and he started playing like a puppy. Everyone I know who has switched to what I consider a good food (I've talked friends and family into switching to California Natural, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, and Innova) would never go back to Purina, Pedigree, Science Diet, or Iams (the foods they switched from).

Yes, those companies spend a fortune on research. But plenty of that research is to attempt to prove that their substandard ingredients are healthy for our pets. Much of it is spent on creating a product that will utilize the byproducts of real food, and can be produced as cheaply as possible to maximize profits.

I know a dog can survive on one of those brands that I consider "lesser"...but I haven't seen a dog that thrives on it like they do on the super premium foods.

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I am thinking about starting a dog walking service..how much should i charger per dog..what material do i need

That's a great idea! As far as the rate, though, I'd base it on how difficult the dog is. A Great Dane is definitely going to be bigger but probably more laid back and hence, not so hard to walk. Whereas a Jack Russell might be super hyperactive and hard to control. So it'd probably be better to just charge the same rate to everyone - and charge a bit more for the difficult dogs. You could wear a belt that holds a water bottle or two and carry a collapsible bowl in your pocket or backpack. I wouldn't necessarily buy separate leashes as dogs may be used to the ones their owner normal uses. Plus it's just another expense for you.

One thing I would absolutely be sure of is that the dogs have their collars and tags on. I'd also ask the owners if their dogs are microchipped and if not, recommend they get them microchipped. You may even be able to get a bit of extra money for referring them. Ask a local vet if he microchips and if you send people in can you get a dollar or two for referring them. Microchips are wonderful because if the dog somehow works himself out of his collar the microchip inside his body will let know just who he belongs to.

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Have you ever taken your dog overseas with you?

The easy part is bringing the dog on the plane; the hard part is clearing inspections and quarantine. is the government link to getting the correct paper work done in order to import your pet without problems. A microchipped pet is REQUIRED.

As for being a plane - for a large dog like a golden retriever, you will have to put him in cargo. For that, you will have to contact the airline in advance to reserve space. It costs few hundred, depending on the dimensions of his air-line approved crate and weight.

Dogs are carred on a temperature controlled cargo area with other cargo and pets.

We travel often internationally. We have had dogs in cargo and in cabin (our smaller ones). It's definitely stressful, but not traumatizing. For the most part it's just a noisy sleep.

If your dog has separation issues, your vet can help with medications during flight.

You can put feeding instructions and attached food in a bag for the airline personel to feed him if your flight is over a certain time limit (your airline can tell you this. You should put blankets and toys inside for his comfort. You can also freeze water and put the frozen blocks inside the crate's water area so that it won't spill everywhere during loading and will defrost during the flight.

Dogs can or cannot get air sick. If you notice your dog has motion sickness (like in a car), your vet can prescribe medications.

Best of luck! I would seriously be more concerned about clearning quarantine though!!

EDIT: It seems if you are leaving very soon, you will not be able to bring your dog with you without quarantine in the UK. In order to bypass quarantine (can be long and expensive), you will need to have microchipped your pet, given it a rabies vaccination, and have their blood titered for rabies antibody levels. This must be recorded by your vet and your pet must also be treated for ticks and tapeworms. There is a 6months wait between blood titer results and acceptable travel date.

You can, however, bring your dog without the paper work if you would like. This means, however, that your dog WILL need to stay in quarantine.

We have always liked to bypass quarantine, so we have always gotten our paperwork lined up as soon as we can (usually 7months in advance).