Cutting down pet expenses

[kav122]

Okay, so I very possibly could be WAAAY off-base here, and by NO MEANS do I want you to think that I am BLAMING you--at all. Just my two cents.

I watch the Dog Whisperer a lot and sometimes the pet that is anxious (a common theme on his shows) because he/she is feeding off of the anxious energy the owner has. For example, you might be nervous leaving your dog alone, your dog feeds off of that energy and anxiety levels rise. I have a yellow lab and I can TEND to be an anxious person myself. I can honestly see a change in her when I am more anxiety-ridden than when I am relaxed.

The plus side is that taking a walk relaxes most of us! Dogs and humans alike. My dog is high energy, too, and when she gets really nervous and fidgety (if dogs can fidget) she goes out for a run. We play really really hard. You don't have to spend all day, just really get her going for about 30 minutes. Every time she tries to relax, I throw her ball again. When I see her really slowing down then we go in. My grandfather always said "a tired dog is a good dog." Yeah! For labs anyway! Hehe!

Also, my dog has preventative care and insurance plan and I had any problems. Her shots are all covered in the plan and ER visits, etc, that I have never had to use. It is 16.95/month at PetSmart.

At home, I give her a little bit of vinegar in her water (in the beginning it was just a drop until she got used to it, now it is probably up to 2 Tbsps.). The vinegar makes her coat shiny, keeps her healthy (I think) and keeps ticks/fleas away (we lived in TN before and she has NEVER had a flea or tick in 6 years!)

And one last thing, I heard on the news this morning that they tested a whole bunch of doggie/cat toys for lead and didn't find any on the ones they tested, but they DID find it in the ceramic bowls with painting on them (for the food and water). The vet suggested metal/stainless steel bowls.

Once again, I hope that you don't think that I am implying YOU are the cause, because I understand that a lot depends on the dog's breeding, temperment, history, etc. etc.

Good luck!!

[Rebecca]

kav-

no offense taken at all - I agree with you (and Cesar!) that I've ended up in a little "dance" with Dash - he's anxious that I'm going to leave, I get anxious about that, he picks up on that anxiety, and around we go. That's why I finally hired the trainer because everything I had read about the condition (and did) was having no effect. I mean, he has improved a little bit, but he still has a long way to go.

I did check into the doggie daycare, which, unfortunately was $25 a day. He gets 3 walks a day, for a total of about 2 1/2 hours (and still has a ton of energy, gotta love those terriers).

[kav122]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

kav-

no offense taken at all - I agree with you (and Cesar!) that I've ended up in a little "dance" with Dash - he's anxious that I'm going to leave, I get anxious about that, he picks up on that anxiety, and around we go. That's why I finally hired the trainer because everything I had read about the condition (and did) was having no effect. I mean, he has improved a little bit, but he still has a long way to go.

I did check into the doggie daycare, which, unfortunately was $25 a day. He gets 3 walks a day, for a total of about 2 1/2 hours (and still has a ton of energy, gotta love those terriers).

oh, that's good (that no offense was taken). WOW, though! 2 1/2 hours is a long time!!! I wish I had that much time to give to my dog every day! I am just wondering though, if the walks are taking a lot of time, but not letting him expel enough energy. I live right in Mpls, so there is a leash law. Fortunately I live right down the street from an off-leash dog park and right near a park (where I can go after dark and no one ever sees me with my dog off the leash shhh!). I know if my puppy had walks, she would still be a raving lunatic, so I am wondering (I know labs fetch, but don't know about terriers) if there was something you could do to make sure your dog could run, jump or swim and get rid of ALL of that energy in much less than 2 1/2 hours?

[purplefdu]

*ducks head* I personally think Mr. Milan is a quack. I have been following Karen Pryor Karen Pryor Clickertraining | dog training and cat training info, books, videos, events since I got my first dog in 1997. clicker training is quicker and more effecive because the dog makes the choice not you. Our current trainer is a Milan fan and my puppy has learned crap in the 6 weeks of class. He has learned that if he misbehaves he gets more treats though He already knew sit/down/head down/bed/on/off/back at 4 months. We haven't gotten past that in class yet, and on/off is agility. He normally takes an hour to learn and a week to ingrain a new command. And you can use kibble for training. You can make the anxiety worse, but you can use an anxiety scale to teach your dog its ok to be alone. It could takes ages to get through, but its the same thing they do with people. Raise the level until uncomfortable slowly...my eldest needed it but got through in one weekend and now just chews his bone when we are gone. Same with the youngest.

I have spent ages researching kibble. Yes its not as good as BARF or raw diets, but I don't have the time and money to feed that, and thus a super premium, as opposed to a value or even premium food is my answer. we are looking at moving to a super premium organic in the next few months when I get a job, but raw isn't in the books right now. We supplement with Missing Link and veggies and gibblets and grains. My 11yr old has perfect coat, never had fleas, and his hip problem is gone. He is a large breed, so 10 years is his life expectancy. If kibble kills don't tell him as he's not hurting from eating it.

[Xin Lu]

one thing that saves a lot of money is to groom your pet yourself. My doggy likes to get in the shower with my mom and get shampooed and cleaned. Then one day she decided to give the doggy a "treat" by taking him to PetCo to be groomed. After the grooming my dog was soooo sad that he acted dead. I'm not sure what kind of abuse he was subjected to at that horrible store!! So my mom has resumed washing the doggy herself.

[lucille]

Originally Posted by Xin Lu

one thing that saves a lot of money is to groom your pet yourself. My doggy likes to get in the shower with my mom and get shampooed and cleaned. Then one day she decided to give the doggy a "treat" by taking him to PetCo to be groomed. After the grooming my dog was soooo sad that he acted dead. I'm not sure what kind of abuse he was subjected to at that horrible store!! So my mom has resumed washing the doggy herself.

Our dog doesn't like going to the groomer. She's afraid of vacuum type noises and gets stressed by lots of noise. We sent her to the groomer, ironically, at Petco and she was not a happy camper when I picked her up. The groomer was not enthusiastic about possibly having her back but refused to tell me why. So we got one of those shower heads that has the flexible hose that runs up to the head so it can be used as a hand held shower. So the dog gets a shower massage and Dr. Bronners magic soap (lavender).

[purplefdu]

Weird our Petco groomers are ntohing but good, not that I use them but the girls are great with the dogs. Plenty of pets are afraid of the groomers and vet though so it doesn;t surprise me. Both my boys get washed in the tub or under the hose and I clip them myself. Not always the prettiest, but it gets the job done.

[Rebecca]

purple-

actually, I also think in some ways Milan puts dog training back 100 years...I mean, when the Humane Society doesn't back him there's a problem...I can't stand it when he does that alpha roll.

Anyway, I think my majority of pet expense now goes towards the food (I feed Merrick). If I hadn't lost my cat due to the food tainting, I now I wouldn't be such a freak about it. even though intellectually I know it can happen with any food brand.

I did cut back on the $50 a month groomer. I don't have a car so I can't get to a PetCo, I have to use one of those boutique groomers. My dog looks like he got a haircut by a blind person

[Megan]

Originally Posted by purplefdu

I have spent ages researching kibble. Yes its not as good as BARF or raw diets, but I don't have the time and money to feed that, and thus a super premium, as opposed to a value or even premium food is my answer.

My cats and I are fighting an ongoing battle when it comes to this. They hate the super premium foods that I've tried. They sniff at them and refuse to eat. I had them on a premium food that they happily ate, but the company discontinued the "flavor" that they liked and I had to switch. Salmon = happy cats. Chicken = turned up noses. My current solution is to feed them the premium food with a sprinkle of another premium food on it. The closest Petco is a trek for me, so I was buying large quantities of food at once. I cannot afford to let large amounts of food go to waste.

And yes, I realize this indicates just how spoiled my pets are. But I want them to be happy and healthy and live good, long lives. And if that means a song and dance with the food, so be it.

[hermione]

We have been cooking for our dogs since they were puppies. I know some people don't have the time to cook for their pets, but if you do, it can save you money because buying good dog food can get expensive. Our dogs subsist mainly on a diet of rice, pork, chicken, potatoes, carrots, yams, peas, skim mozzarella string cheese, eggs, bananas, canola oil, peanut butter and sometimes oatmeal.

You can save time and money by making up a large pot and refrigerating portions that will last for several days. We purchase large pork shoulders usually at $.99/lb., the 10 lb. bag of potatoes, 5 lb. bag of carrots, 20 lb. bag of rice, 5 dozen palette of eggs, yams at around $1/lb. and can feed two 50 lb. dogs for around $70 a month. It may cost a little more than some dog foods (though about the same or less than the very good brands), but it will save you a lot from vet bills in the long run. Chemicals, additives, by-products and other things contained in pet foods can cause kidney disease and cancer, which can cost you as much as $1,000 or more a month when your pet is older.

When our 16 year-old cat developed kidney disease in 2003, we read the book The Nature of Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein, D.V.M., a holistic veterinarian about his experiences in treating animals holistically. Chapter 3, "It all starts with food", convinced us to never feed commercial pet foods again to any of our pets. After we read this book and started cooking for our cat, his health and appearance changed drastically. His hair which had become dull with age, became soft and shiny again, and though his kidney disease was quite advanced, he did not appear sick at all till the end when his kidneys failed altogether.

Our society is brought up to think that dogs should only eat dog food and that human food is bad for them, but our dogs have never been ill and have boundless energy. We've written some articles about cooking for your pet, if you are interested in learning more about it. There are foods that are harmful to pets though, and we have compiled a list of List of Common Food Toxic to Pets. If you do decide to start cooking for your pet, it is recommended that you consult a veterinarian about supplementing your pet's diet with vitamins, which are readily available.

A couple of other money-saving pet tips:

* Regularly cleaning their teeth yourself can save you a lot of money in the long run. We brush their teeth with baking soda and use a tooth scaler to remove buildup. Dental chew toys also help a great deal. We like the Nylabone Galileo chews, which do a pretty good job of removing plaque from the molars.

* Instead of buying expensive and chemical-ridden dog shampoo, we use baby shampoo, which does a good job of getting them clean.