Concerns of a dog owner

Posted by admin | Posted in Articles | Posted on 27-09-2010

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Dog ownership is a life long process. When I say life long it does not mean your life long. It’s your dog’s life long. Our lives may well end before the live of our dog. But that does not mean that our roles are over. You will have to ensure that your dog gets a good owner to look after him after you are gone. A dog is not in a position to look for a good owner. So please atleast do that bit for your loving pet who had considered you as the center of his universe. That is the true and unconditional love that you can give your dog.

I was fortuante enough to come across some owners who were very concern about the background of the potential new owners when they asked our help to sell their dog. These customers due to unforseen circumstances were not able to continue owning their dogs. But they wanted to ensure that their dogs find a good home. You will be surprised to know that they even ask me to take them to the new owners home to visit their dog many months after the transfer of ownership. This is purely due to the fact that they missed their dog so much. I have encountered customers quite the opposite but I feel it is really not worth our time discussing about it here.

Dog owners are not dealing with a possession like their car or house. They are dealing with life animal with feelings. Feelings that go through ups and downs very much like that of ours. So that is why Westerwald Kennel is most privileged in helping the dog owners to ensure that the human-dog relationship is always in harmony. Everything that we do in our daily work is targeted in achieveing that. At first when I was writing this article I wanted to complete in one posting. But as I was organizing my thoughts, I was flooded with many concerns of a dog owner from various angles. Most being salient and sensitive. So I decided that I should break this article into few parts, wherein the first one will address on the general concerns of most owners, which is the financial perspective. Most owners need to be aware of the financial commitment of owning a dog. This mentally prepares the owner nearly a decade in advance and I hope the owner can set aside a budget accordingly.

The most common expenses will be from food and medical treatment. Food usually is a monthly commitment provided you don’t spoil your dog with too many treats. But medical expenses apart from the routine vaccination deworming, you are prone to come across unexpected incidents that would demand you to spend quite a bit. Based on my experience the size of the breed is not directly proportional to how much you will be spending. Let me give you a breakdown of the expenses involved in terms of months and finally years. Assuming you take good care of your and it leaves a healthy 12 years, then prepare to set aside the following figures in dollars and cents. The figures are based on averaged cost based on prevailing current rates.

The financial commitment will be of two types. The first being a one-time and second is recurring. Add this together for span of your dog’s life, will give you a clear picture of your total financial commitment.

(a) One Time Commitment

    1. Price of a puppy                             1 x 5,000 = 5,000.00 (Our breeding)

    2. Puppy vaccination                           3 x 300  = 900.00

     3. Dog kennel/cage                         1 x 2,000  = 2,000.00 (Our design)

     Total for One-Time Commitment                       = 7,900.00

(b) Recurring Commitment  (Yearly)

    1. Dog Food                                          12 x 200 = 2,400.00

    2. Yearly vaccination                               1 x 300 = 300.00

    3. Medical expenses                            1 x 1,000 = 1,000.00

    4. Miscellaneous (Treats/Toys)              1 x 500 = 500.00      

    Total Recurring Commitment                              = 4,200.00

    Total Recurring Commitment for Life of the dog = 12 x 4,200

                                                                              =  50,400.00

 (c) Total Financial Commitment = (One Time Commitment)

                                                                            +

                                                          (Total Recurring Commitment for Life of the dog)

                                                       = 7,900.00 + 50,400

                                                       = 58,300.00

Well that’s alot of money!!!! So are you sure you are prepared to spend that much of money for a lifetime of a dog. You could buy insurance, car, put a downpayment for your dreamhouse, fund your child’s education and many more things with that amount of money. However if you are wise enough to spend it on a dog, make sure you get the one that is really worth this much. And you would know by now, where to get it from!!!

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