Dogs are very expensive.  I will casually read the "dogs for sale" ads in the paper sometimes for amusement's sake.  The other day I found some dogs (I think they were Bearnese Mountain Dogs) for sale for $1200.    Our dogs, bought from a no-kill shelter in KY, were considerably cheaper.  I think they were $85 apiece, and that included bordetella shots and neutering...except that it didn't because they weren't sure if they were neutered before they came under the auspices of the shelter.  And since we have to be certain that they're neutered in order to kennel them, we have to have them have a blood test to ascertain if their, ahem, manhood is intact, just tucked away inconveniently inside their big black bodies.  Hey!  The dogs are both about 50 pounds now!  The two dogs we had before them were about 65 pounds when weighed together.  Friend Husband is very happy that the dogs are getting bigger.

So, you've got these dogs, which have to have food, vet visits, heartworm medication, and shots.  Oh, and a dog license.  Don't even get me started on the dog licenses.  I really don't mind the expenses associated with having dogs because I really love having dogs and I love the dogs themselves.  The two or three months that we had no dogs were very hard for me.  When I got to the point where I was begging SitcomMom to allow me to brush her dog, I knew things were a little awry.  Even when we first got the puppies and they were making major messes everywhere and weren't very loving, I just enjoyed petting them and even smelling them.  There's nothing like the smell of a dog to a dog-lover.

I don't even get totally hostile when they chew things up, although I don't like it when they dive into the laundry room and pick up something to run through the house with.  It's usually a pair of my underwear and I just know that we're going to have surprise visitors some day and they're going to be confronted by a pair of my married lady's white briefs in the middle of the hall.  Ha! 

What I really resent more and more are the stupidly expensive fees for various and sundry things.  Like the prices the vet charges for heartworm meds.  We have now circumvented that by buying from PetMeds.com but that would totally floor me in the past.  The latest stupidly expensive fee (sfe) was $110.10 apiece to have those blood tests to see what their testosterone levels were.  I'm sure that my shock and dismay showed on my face because the vet tech said softly, "Let's just hope they don't show that they need to be neutered."  Indeed.  I was driving home contemplating changing vets.  I don't really want to change vets but these sfe's are driving me crazy.

And speaking of sfe's...I finally got hold of the Health Department in my county yesterday to find out if we could get cheaper immunizations through them.  Of course we can.  So I'm going to call my primary care doctor today and suggest that the next time someone asks for overseas immunizations, that they refer them to the Health Department instead of Passport Health.  We're going to save about $150 by going to the County tomorrow to get our typhus, Hep A, and polio immunizations instead of getting them at Passport Health.  Unfortunately, the County doesn't have the meningitis vaccine in stock right now, so we have to go to PH to get that, but the nurse at the Health Department assured me that they aren't gyping us on that immunization anyway because it's about $100 a pop at the Health Department anyway.    When they have the vaccine in stock.  So tomorrow we're going to drive all over creation getting stuck by needles filled with nasty toxins so we can be safe to go to Africa.  Yes, this is my lovely life these days.  I'm not complaining, I'm just amazed by the sheer number of sfes in my life.

Posted by LoneStarMama

We have a 150lb+ English Mastiff. It's not good when the siding on
your house gets chewed up. Ask me how I know : )

Posted by therobinsnest

Hello! I hope you were able to do all the things you needed to do today. :)

WOW on those honkin' costs for your sweet doggies. Whew! Have you read the book "Newf". It is a really sweet book about this black Newfoundland that rescues a little kitten from the ocean and how they bond. We had never heard of Newfoundlands before we got this book, about three years ago. I'd not had dogs growing up, so getting a dog was something that needed to grow on me. God would have to give me a love for dogs if I was to have one as I just wasn't used to having one around. But, after reading "Newf" I wanted to learn everything I could about that breed. So, every dog show since we have paid special attention to the Newfs. I have hoped that someday we'd stumble upon one in need of a home since then.

But, for now, I am a proud momma to two labrador/English Sheperd mix puppies! I am enjoying them very much (except for the lack of sleep!) and can now officially call myself a 'dog person'...

Praying for you, my friend today. :) ~ Robin

http://www.ianschoenherr.com/books_main.html