What kind of dog??

Q. I have 2 little sisters and 1 older brother. My littlest sis is allergic to them, so it has to stay outside most of the time. what breed do u reccomend?
My family is always outside, though, and my dad wants one really bad. We have a mini barn for lawn tools, and we are gonna clear it out and insolate it. We will let him in in the winter, her allergies go down then. plz dont say no dog- i am working on my mom
we are all very hyper and would play outside at least 3 hours with it

Answer
Evaluate your lifestyle before committing to a dog. Are you active? Do yuo have time to exercise a dog (they need a minimum of 60 mins a day, and i dont mean running around in a yard!) Can you afford a dog?

Costs:
Dog - $400 on up for a well bred and healthy dog

supplies - $300 to $400 for first go around for crate, collar leash, ID, bowls, food, toys

monthly dog food/toy bills about $50 depending on size of dog

Vet bills - first vet check including shots, flea/tick/heart worm meds, lab feed, etc about $200 depending on vet

Annual grooming vet bills of $400 or more depending on dog

And that's the bare minimum. Im sorry but if you have a family member that is allergic and can't take allergy medications, don't get a dog. Some do fine outside but most outside dogs develop socialization issues. You can't bring them in and out with the seasons and expect them to be fine. At least not all of them.

Play with them and walk them daily.

Consider poodles (hypoalergenic) or similar breeds if you must have one.

what size crate for golden retriever?

j.w.

I'm about to buy a soft crate for my dogs agility classes. I was wondering what size is good. She isn't a huge golden, she weighs about 60 lbs. There are 2 sizes:
36 inches L x 24 inches W x 27 inches H
42 inches L x 28 inches W x 31 inches H
I will be moving this around a lot so I would go for the smaller one but I want her to be comfy. Thanks!

Answer
If it were up to USDA, the dog would have to have enough room to invite over all of his friends, have a BBQ, go for jog, play some frisbee, and have about 5 area codes. Here's reality:

Varikennel #100 21"x16"x15"H,
Actual CrateWeight: 7 Lb
Cats, Toy Poodles, Yorkshire Terriers, Chihuahuas, Shih Tzus

Varikennel #200 27"x20"x19"H
Actual Crate Weight: 15 Lb
Beagles, Shelties, Min. Poodles, Cockers, Lhasa Apsos

Varikennel #300 32"x22"x23"H
Actual Crate Weight: 18 Lb
Springers, Border Collies, Bull Dogs

Varikennel #400 36"x24"x26"H
Actual Crate Weight: 23 Lb
Boxers, Dalmatians, Collies, Airdales, Setters, Aust. Shepherds, Dobermans

Varikennel #500 40"x27"x30"H
Actual Crate Weight: 27 Lb
Afghans, Retrievers, Pointers, Shepherds, Rottweilers

Varikennel #700 48"x32"x35"H
Actual Crate Weight: 44 Lb
Irish Wolfhounds, Newfoundlands, St. Bernards, Mastiffs, Greyhounds

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What crate should I get for my female siberian husky?

dog crates 300 size image

StarNo5

She is 3 months old, I really have no idea how big she is going get since she is my first husky.
Anyone here have any suggestion how big of a crate I should get for a female siberian husky?

Answer
Joie is the only one who has given you something close to a correct answer.

My Siberian females do fine in a 300-400 size crate. You DO NOT need to go any bigger, certainly not 48"!!

For a plastic crate, this will do:
http://www.dog.com/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=380121%20MD
Go with the 36"L x 24"w x 26"H

For a wire crate, choose something with similar dimensions.

Good luck!

How much do you spend on a dog in a year?

Q. How much money do you spend on a dog in a year including treats, food, collar, leash, vaccinations, etc.?
I want to get a dog and I want to know to make a good estimate.
I want to get a medium or large dog. I'm looking toward a Border Collie or a Golden Retriever girl. I want to buy less popular food, not the really expensive, high class stuff.
I don't want to spoil the puppy to death but I do want a decent amount of toys and treats for her. I would like to get her in a kennel if I could. I would want one leash and one collar that can be adjusted and could last for a good amount of years. A dental bone or two also.

Answer
First of all, It takes more than $300 to get started, whether you adopt or buy an animal from a breeder. Most animals are not up to date on all of their shots and are not nuetered or spayed. Shelters usually give the first round of shots (Distemper/Parvo/Coronavirus) and you are required to take the animal back for three more rounds of the vaccinations listed over a period of twelve weeks which will cost you anywhere from $15-$50 for each vaccination (for a grand total of $45-$150) and a rabies vaccination that will last one year which will cost about $30-$50. In addition you will have to pay a vet fee for that visit that could cost between $45 and $75 ( a grand total of $135-$225) depending on which vet you choose. You are now required in most states to have a chip put in your dog and register it through Homeagain, which is smart anyway because your dog get's lost you'll want to find it. That will cost you about $50- $100 depending on what services you choose. In addition to that, you will have to register your animal with the state/city where you live ($30-$60).If you get a puppy, you will have to buy a new collar about every three weeks because it will either grow out of it or chew it up, that will cost you about $20 every time you get a new one, and you could be doing that for about a year so that will cost you well over $300 for the year. Food will cost you too. If you feed your dog cheap food, which I don't recommend, you could get away with paying about $10 a month ($120 a year). But, you will pay a fortune in vet bills because your dog will not be healthy ( it would be like you eating Mc Donalds and nothing else for the rest of your life, don't believe me, watch the documentary "Supersize Me). So if you feed your dog the best (like I do), which would be something like Science Diet (properly balanced nutrition), you are going to spend anywhere from $40-$80 a month depending on the size of the dog you choose and how much it needs to eat. That will cost you $480-$960 a year, and dogs usually live about 15-18 years (you do the math). You will probably spend about $40 a month on bones and treats if you are going to spoil it the way you claim (that is another $480). And I'm sure you will need to have it's nails clipped every month which is about $20-$30 ($240-$360). and you need to allot for at least $1000 a year or more to pay for emergencies. Vets want upfront payment for emergency prcedures and even if you have Pet Insurance (about $100-$300 a year) you will still have to pay up front and receive reimbursement later for only a portion of the vet cost. If you get a puppy you will need a crate which is about $50 and puppy pads for training which is about $40-$80 a month because you will go through them fast. So your grand total will be between $2,050 and $3,865
But this is on the higher side, and will only be for the first year, then it will go down about1000 dollors, moaking a new grand total of around 1000 to 2000
I hope this helps :)
â¥~~~â¥~~~â¥

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How much does a puppy cost without any vaccinations yet?

dog crates 300 size image

annie

I'm thinking of adopting this puppy at 6 weeks but I need to know how much I'll be spending on vaccinations. Which vaccinations are required? Which vaccinations aren't? Does the dog need to be spayed/neutered?

Answer
I am not going to lie, if you want to be a good pet owner.. it is expensive. You will need to get a minimum of 3 round of shots for him this year, than a round a year after that. If you got to a shot clinic, each round will probably cost between $30-50, as someone mentioned earlier. If you go to a vet office, it will be more like $75-100.

Further, food isn't cheap.... around $30 a month for a high caliber food. I assume you also want to buy your pup toys, a crate, leashe, etc.

If you get your pup spayed or neutered at a clinic, it will probably cost around $100. If you go to a vet office, between $300-400. I suggest going with a spay or neuter unless you have a good reason not to (personally, I am waiting until my pup is full grown, but we watch him constantly so he can't reproduce). If you don't spay a female, she will menstruate and you will need to buy doggie diapers.

In addition, you need to buy monthly heartworm and flea/tick prevention. This is very important. If you don't give your dog heartworm protection, there is a HIGH probability he will get heartworm and that is fatal (or very expensve to treat). The cost depends on the size of the dog... around $20 a month. Plus, every year your vet will make you test him to make sure he does not have heartworm (around $30)... it is a good thing to test for anyway.

Finally, unexpected expenses come up all the time. My dog got an ear infection this summer..... it cost $100 to treat. My dog ate something he shouldn't have when he went outside to relieve himself (caused a bowel obstruction) this past December and it cost $1,000. Granted, these are not everyday expenses and most people don't have dogs that get bowel obstructions. I am just trying to inform that dogs can get very expensive.

My dog is the first dog I have had "on my own" as an adult- not through my parents. My mom and dad told me dogs were expensive, but I had no idea. I love my little guy and would never trade him for the world.... he is hard work and expensive though.

This is maybe more information than you bargained for.. just thought you may want to know some of the other potential costs. Good luck!

How to keep an escape-artist dog in her kennel?

J

One of my dogs has recently become quite an escape-artist. She has a big plastic kennel with metal door. She will paw at the top latch until it unhinges and then push the door until the bottom latch comes out too. I reinforced the middle of the door with a carabeener, but that too was unlatched within 5 minutes!!!

We never leave her in the crate for more than 5 hours, and most days she usually is not in the crate. The only reason I crate her is to prevent her from getting into something dangerous when we are gone. We had a scare where we thought she ate a battery that was missing...$300 later she was fine, but our wallet was not! She usually does fine if we just leave her to roam the house (with bedroom and bathroom doors closed), but I still worry about her ingesting something dangerous.

I have included a pic of the kennel door below- just click on the link.

Thank you for any helpful suggestions!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45757821@N05/8689618086/in/photostream
@Oppial: Thank you! She has my heart :)

@Heart: That is a very good point! She recently pulled/strained a muscle in her neck & it resulted in a fever. Vet prescribed muscle relaxers, and now she is back to normal again. I do wonder if she pulled a muscle trying to get out of her kennel. It's either that or when a friend of mine was being a little too rough with her for my liking.

Answer
It doesn't matter the size or shape of the kennel. What matters is how they perceive it. It is obvious that she associates the kennel with something negative, what you have to do is reverse that. For starters you should not put a dog in a kennel with pent up energy. She had a lot of energy to be working on the kennel. You have to drain the energy away before you put her in for the day. Take her for a long walk, run, bike, rollerblade. If you don't have time in the morning you should get a treadmill and have her do that in the morning for an hour before you leave for the day. Once she is exhausted from all that exercise she won't ave the energy to want to escape.

Second, does she stay in the kennel while you are home. You should practice when you are home that the kennel is a place to rest and relax. After you exercise her take her to the kennel to lay down but don't close the door. Doing this will condition her that the kennel is not a place to be confined but as 'her' place. When she starts feel more secure close the door but don't lock it, leave it a little ajar so she knows that even if the door is closed she can get out.

In time doing this will help with the escaping. You should also train her that just because something is on the floor she in not allowed to touch it and that includes food. Condition her that the only thing she should put in her mouth is what you give her.

I hope this helps

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