How much money should one have saved up before buying a dog. I've heard 1500 is the average, but I would've though you'd need more then that...what are youre opinions?
I'm not sure you can really put an amount on caring for a dog, they ALL can cost a lot :) As long as you can afford to feed them, groom them and provide vet care if needed along with vaccines the you can afford them. There never really is a set amount since unforseen things can arive. Hope this helps.
Do you mean in addition to the adoption/purchase price of the dog or including it? How much you need to save partially depends on your willingness to sacrifice in other areas of your life. I found both of my dogs, so I had a total of $0 saved for a new dog and still managed to provide each of them with everything they needed. The transitions, however, would have been much easier if I'd have known they were going to arrive on my doorstep and thus would have had the foresight to save money in advance. I suggest you do some window shopping and figure out how much you plan on spending on all of the start-up stuff (crate, bed, toys, leash, et cetera) and add that total to the cost of a few vet visits and whatever you want to keep in a fund for the emergency vet.
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"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
I have to admit. Oscar was a spur of the moment type thing. We were looking into buying a Dane but not as fast as we did. We picked him out of the litter at 2 weeks old so we had 6 weeks to get things together before we took him home. Those were the longest 6 weeks ever. But we didn't have any money saved up really, just what was in the bank accounts and what was on the credit cards.
"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
