Initial cost of dog = $350/$100
$35 food/month * 12 months = $420/food for month is not part of intinial cost
You missed my point. As I stated earlier, if you're concerned about the initial cost, you shouldn't get a dog - you're going to spend many times that in the first year alone. If $100 (or $300, or $1,000) is too much...get a fish.
$20 treats/month * 12 months = $240/not part of initial cost
See above.
Chain link kennel, used = $150/fenced in yard,no cost
Not fenced in yard, bordering a major road in town. Need some form of "containment" when I'm not home, and I refuse to leave a dog on a tie out.
Concrete kennel floor (poured by myself) = $350/concrete kennel floor.try and sleep on that yourself
The concrete doesn't bother Sage in the least. And he certainly didn't appreciate the dirt floor it was when I first put the kennel in. When it'd rain for 2-3 days and it'd turn to mud... THAT's why he's got a concrete run. And actually, 90% of the time, he sleeps on TOP of his doghouse. Besides, there's loose straw in his doghouse for a soft spot to lay. I've never seen him use it if it's above -25°F.
Dog house = $100/my dogs sleep in the house
Sage is a working dog, and prefers to be outside. Plus, I'm gone for 10+ hours a day to work. I don't feel it's fair to leave a dog cooped up in a house all day. He loves sitting out in his kennel watching cars go by all day. He's got a 5 gallon water dish, and a 40 gallon stock tank to play in.
Travel crate = $75/why?
Ever had a 70 lb lab go into a full-on gran maul seizure on the back seat of your truck? NOT a pleasant experience, especially once he comes out of the gran maul episode and transitions directly into a peti maul seizure. An unconfined dog in the cab of a vehicle is a BAD thing at that point.
Collars/leashes during first year = $50/30 bucks
Good for you. Sage outgrew one collar, and chewed through two leashes his first year.
Heated water bowl for winter = $100/your poor dog has to sleep outside in the winter? why have a dog?
Because, again, he's a hunting dog. Dogs don't adjust to temperature changes as fast as we do; going from a warm house to a cold outdoors is hard on them. He's got a heated water bowl, his doghouse gets stuffed with straw (plus a heated mat under that). The ONLY time I've ever seen him even slightly uncomfortable with the cold is when it drops to -30°F -- THEN he'll bed down into the straw and push some up to cover the door. He's got a place in my garage he sleeps at night (loose straw he can bed down in) He's a lab. They were BRED for cold temperatures. And I spend 80-90% of my waking hours outside with him anyway - pretty much only come inside to eat or sleep.
I think it's funny how some people have this impression that an animal that has lived outside for thousands of years, all of a sudden has to be kept inside because we domesticated it. Granted, I don't like people that put a dog outside and leave it there - but my dog is outside because that's where *I* am the vast majority of the time.
