Cutting Dog Costs

To expand on last week's post about the True Cost of Dogs, although dogs can be as expensive as human children, there are some ways to help cut costs. Here are some examples of how we cut down the cost of our dogs without sacrificing their health or happiness.

5 Ways to Cut Dog Costs

1) No need for 5 days of doggy daycare! Sure, it is great but in reality you are paying someone else to bond with your dog. Instead, take your dog for long scheduled walks in the morning before work, when you get home from work, and then before bed. On the weekends add in one or more trips to the local off-leash dog park and let them just run their hearts out with a few good tennis balls. This will help exert some of that natural pup-like energy while creating a bond between owner and dog.

2) If it is too cold to take your dog for a long walk, why not play a game of Find It at home by closing your pup in a room, hiding bits of kibble around the rest of the house and releasing the hounds to use their natural hunting ability while exerting energy. Read more about the "Find It" game here.

3) When giving dog biscuits, break them in half or smaller. Although the large biscuits are supposed to be for large breed dogs, we get the small bone-shaped Old Mother Hubbard Old Fashion Small Dog Treats and break them in half - one half for each large Lab. This helps to keep them nice and lean as well as helping to keep your pocketbook fat. Of course, you can use any treat of your choosing but it doesn't have to be big to be considered a treat to any dog.

4) Purchase your dog medications and supplies online. By shopping online, you are able to save a great deal as the companies usually don't have to keep inventory, they only have one or more employee to pay, they don't have to pay rent for their building, etc. The less cost to run their business, the less cost to their customers. We have searched high and low on the Internet for the best prices and found EntirelyPets.com to be second to none. We highly recommend signing up for their newsletter that comes full of coupon codes and Googling the phrase "entirelypets.com coupon codes" to find even better deals when placing your order. By doing so, we not only received free shipping on our last order but 20% off our entire order as well.

5) Clean your own ears and cut your own nails. Now, I know some dogs because very stubborn when it comes time to perform either task but they are usually easier to do in the comfort of their own home. Don't know how to clean their ears or cut dog nails? No problem - just ask your vet to show you how to do both properly. Most people don't know that if you ask to be shown how to do these things, the vet will easily walk you through it and demonstrate - some even give dog owners a pamphlet full of information as well. If you don't ask then how could you know if saving $12 per nail trim is in your future!

Best of luck and Lab smiles!