Cost Break down of Gun Dogs

[mtaylor]

Hello, i recently have recieved a promotion at work and  it looks like we are going to be finally moving into a house, which means getting a dog!!!! Before I jump into it blindly I am trying to figure out costs associated vet, cost of pup, training supplies, ect. I have been able to nail most of these down except for cost/month of dog food. I have looked at multiple sites (gun dog mag, purina, blue buffalo, kirkland) and some give me a price of about $1-$1.50/day. Is this close? Or is this the perfect example of buying top quality dog food plus adding wet dog food?

What is your experience with dog food cost / month. I am looking at getting a pudelpointer.

MT

[AspenBud]

I feed my two English Pointers about a bag of Fromm Gold a month. Figure $45.00 a bag and break it down from there. More active dogs will eat more.

But food is the least of your concerns monetarily.

[addicted2hunting]

Ya cost is impossible to break down like that.

Are you gonna train it yourself?

Birds, birds and more birds...... easy to spend 50 a week in birds if you don't have a loft with homers.

Pudelpointers are excellent, I got my first last april. I will never own another breed.

A friend of mine has 2 and another guy on here has one.

My friend is on the forum just not as often so feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions on the breed.

cedarwoods is the best breeder I feel.

Food is definitely the least of your worries.

pet insurance is great to have for a hunting dog...

[salmonchaser]

Food is the least of your worries, Barb wire, that'll cost you, chasing a crippled chukar over a cliff, that will cost you, porcupine, yep. Neighbors slug bait, oh yeah another vet bill, eating grizzly poop, full of rotten salmon, that might cost you a new carpet. Rolling in same and getting on the bed, New comforter. Extra landing and take off in a float plane with standby time to give her a bath cause she rolled in grizzly poop again, that gets expensive.
That was the first year.
Have fun.

[mtaylor]

Wow salmonchaser Ihad no idea of the hidden cost! There is alot that just comes that you do not think about. Addicted2hunting, i have been looking at all breeders and i will probably get mine from Bob, I am not on the list yet, but we are still looking for a house in the Tri-Cities so possibly next year. I will train it myself, I work on a farm so we have plenty of pheasant, quail, and tons of pigeons I have been trapping all fall. I would like to possibly get a coup and raise a few homing pigeons but that has to come after the dog.
Aspenbud thanks for the  info, thats exactally what i was looking for!!

[addicted2hunting]

yeah im about 60 bucks a month give or take in food on mine.

Yeah Bob is a great guy and turns out some great dogs!

[salmonchaser]

Been hearing good things about pudel pointers, interesting breed. Take the plunge you won't regret it. I'm pushing 60 with only one regret. At 35 I needed a dog at let the job, and other things interfere, two years ago come Valentine's day, I got back into it. I wasted all that time, don't be like me.

[netcoyote]

After having my 11 year old English Setter in the field every year but last, I'd say, by far, the greatest expense is vet bills. A good dog is going to be a hard charger in the field and that can often mean injuries. Like others have said, barb wire, sharp sticks, critter encounters (just narrowly missed a porcupine encounter), hornet stings, you name it. Because they are high strung they are always looking for a snack which may mean getting into bad stuff. My setter chowed down on a box of tylenol one night which cost be a late night emergency visit to a 24 hr vet...cha ching!  Another time we were in the field by a stream and I noticed something hanging from his mouth...HS! it was a fishing hook attached to a leader and the other end was down his throat. ER clinic again and that was a $2000 check before they would even look at him. Turned out to not be quite that bad but you get the point.
My setter is retired now, his last season was spent recuperating from a torn ACL. Again, it's part of the package. I'm glad to have had the experience and don't regret a minute of the adventure. Debating now if I want to go through it again with a pup. We'll see.....

[10Key]

Like others said, food is the least of your hard costs. Training supplies, fuel to get to training grounds and to hunt and vet bills (shots, fixing if applicable, check-ups, etc.). Those are the costs you need to quantify.

If you plan on buying a pup AND plan on being in the field a decent amount, I would seriously consider pet insurance...saved our bacon many times.

[mtaylor]

I have never heard of pet insurance. Where do you get it?

[h2ofowlr]

I do all my own training.  That is priceless!     Vet wise, we are not as regular as we should be, but probably $130 per dog a year unless you have a dog with lots of issues.  Food wise my two labs go through 80lbs a month,  $60 a month.  I usually go through two bails a month on cedar chips for the kennel $20.

[lokidog]

If you have to ask, find a friend with a dog....   

They can be relatively "cheap" or the $$ can roll out.  We don't even keep track of food costs as it is like groceries for part of the family.  Training/vet costs on the other hand, can reach up there.

I have never heard of pet insurance. Where do you get it?

Look online.  Whether or not it is worth it is questionable.  I don't think it is, but your evaluation may be different.  I have also not had a dog over ten years, so insurance might be more worthwhile as they age.

[birddogdad]

pet insurance!!!

I have a dog now that has chronic allergies. Developed at a little over 1 year of age. 2000 in initial costs for allergy studies and initial meds.. now its around 100$ / month for life with visits around $300 a year...... If I had insurance BEFORE she developed it would have been covered... Could have ended INS at any point... my recommendation after this adventure is start with it, let the dog grow and develop then turn it off, if you want to roll the dice... so math on this is around 1500$/year over the life of pet.



I love my dogs and could never part with one over some affliction like this, if you can then maybe not necessary, however it is a piece of mind...

[dreamunelk]

Kind of like doing a cost break down for a wife.   It is an unknown.    

[RadSav]

As far as food is concerned, price can vary tremendously.   I am a firm believer of getting the best food you can for your dogs during the first two years.  With GOOD nutrition during those years you will reduce a lot of the growing problems as they age.  Much the same as nutrition during the developmental years of a child.  You will reap the savings in their golden years with reduced vet visits and fewer major troubles.

Once the dogs hit three, if you are having issues affording the good stuff you could probably come down a little on food grade.  Assuming the dogs will eat it after being spoiled on the good food!

The wife and I figured we could not afford kids and dogs!  When we realized the dogs will never ask to borrow the keys to dad's truck...we went with the puppies instead   It was a good move for us!

[Ruger]

For my recommendation on dog food it would be to feed a high quality dog food, yes you will pay more but the benefits will far out weigh.

1. Don't feed as much per serving
2. Better ingredients
3. Better health for dogs
4. Better coat for dogs
5. Less poop to pickup

We are on Merrick dog food now, have tried tons of others but this works for us.  I would say you can pretty much plan on spending $60 per month on dog food +/- $10....

[addicted2hunting]

My insurance is 50 a month. And covers a ton! It's trupanion. My pup is 10 months and we have easily spent 2k in vet visits. He is very tough and fearless so that has translated to some accidents. Especially when you have downed barbed wire from old fences... He has a scar now from mid chest to his groin. A hard charging dog will certainly get injuries just as an athlete gets injuries.

[Copperwood]

I average a bag a month per dog. A decent bag of food is between $30-$60 a month. I feed Natures Domain (Costco) and I had had great results. I do not feed puppies puppy chow unless they look like they need to put on some weight. I feel the same way about wet dog food. It's not really necessary. Don't forget to figure in the initial costs as well ( crate, kennel run, bed, shots etc). That's really exciting though. Make sure your pup comes with a health guarantee and health certs of the parents. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.

[skinzner]

I love my pudelpointer, awesome around the house and everybody she meets. My dog goes through a bag of food a month, im also feeding costcos natures domain about $35.00 a bag.Got my dog from Bob and hope to get another in a few years.

[Shannon]

I have two from Bob. My next will be from him also.
I feed Purina Pro Plan 30/20 year around because I keep them active year around. I use to feed Taste of the Wild but switched because I couldn't find it in the states that I hunt a lot so I switched. I figured someday I would forget,lose, or ruin the food I took and would like to feed something readily available.

[Happy Gilmore]

Don't ask don't tell policy