The long warm days may inspire you to look for a new furry family member. While it’s easy to focus on what you’ll get from your new pet (unconditional love, a happy face to greet you, and the inability to stop talking in a baby voice), it is also important to consider what your new friend will mean to your wallet.
Here are just some of the expenses that pets can pack on:
• Price of your pet: Whether you buy your pet from a breeder, or adopt him, there will be some initial price to pay. Knowing how much you are willing to pay will help you decide the type of pet you will get, and where you will get him.
• Food: While puppies are small, they do get bigger. The bigger the dog, the more food they will eat. Something to think about!
• Pet care for when you travel: If you travel, there will likely be times where you cannot bring your pet, and may need to pay for boarding or someone to come and “babysit”.
• Vet bills/Medicine: Even healthy pets need shots and checkups, and with the summer often meaning tick season in Maine, anti-tick medication is often a must.
• Toys/supplies: Here’s where you can get creative! My new puppy is currently in love with an old tennis ball, as well as older toys my other dog has discarded…while the older dog now must have the puppy’s new toy. Bottom line - puppies don’t need the fanciest toys to be entertained, so don’t break the budget there. Instead, invest in necessities such as a quality collar, leash and crate.
• Replacements items: All puppies seem to have something they just MUST chew. When my older dog was a puppy, we went through four remote controls in a very short time. No matter how hard you try, where there are puppy teeth, there will be some damage.
If you think these are expenses you can fit into your budget, then it is time to start the puppy search! And in the end, how can you say no to that face?
-Diana D., Maine Credit Union League
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