Permanent up-vote for Best Topic Ever.
Labs are the best - these are my boys, Ralphie (left), and Randy (right). Not trying to be a downer, but the only downside of having a dog is losing one - Randy passed away last month, 3 weeks before his 4th birthday…he was diagnosed with untreatable mast cell cancer in his mouth in June. Sucks SO much.
I have a 7 year old Goldendoodle. The first two years were a absolute nightmare. He chewed up all MY stuff. Hats, shoes, socks and even my cell phone. I seriously thought he had a mental problem and I threatened to give him away. The funny thing is he’s now the best dog I’ve ever had. I love this guy. My wife chose Goldendoodle because they don’t shed and really don’t drool either. They do require hair cuts unless you want to brush them every single day. Ours is about 65lbs, not to big or small. My dog loves running! Absolutely loves it.
The $$$ points made above are important. Budget for surprises. Particularly with active dogs. The normal vet bills are a guarantee. The surprise vet visits are also a guarantee.
Our first Golden was bitten by a rattlesnake in Utah. Double fang wet bite to the face. Almost lost her but thankfully the vet was superb. That might be an extreme example, but poop happens and you want to budget to take care of your fur buddies.
Yep.
Last year we had a bill for almost £9000 for stem cell therapy… thank God for insurance
Excellent point. It’s worth entertaining the idea of carrying insurance as well.
Our Murray Brown tore his ACL when he was about 5 years old. After tight rope surgery, many thousands of dollars, and 6 months of supervised outside time, he was all fixed up and lived a mostly active life until he passed at 15 1/2. He did develop arthritis later in life, which we treated with prescription pain medication (another cost) for the last 2-3 years of his life.
Goofiest, noisiest dog in the world, but also the best. Lab/husky mix, found abandoned in an alley when he was a puppy. Worth every penny to see him get to have a good, long life.
After growing up with dogs as a kid and then having them for the first 18 years my wife and I were together, I can say that I am MUCH happier to be dogless the last few years. No worrying about needing to run home after work to let them out or cleaning up after them.
I have one too!
This is our second goodle. The first we lost to bone cancer at age 10.
This dudes name is Ozzie, he’s a rescue pup that we decided to take home from a really abusive situation.
He was a very scared little boy when we brought him home but a solid base/build/specialty plan and he’s turned out to be the most loving dog I’ve ever had. We even have him trained to ring a bell (hanging on the door) when he needs to go out. Goodles, are super bright dogs!
I can’t see myself not having a goodle in our home.
100% a toller and also the name of mine. Too funny
Dogs are a great addition to a family. Along with that addition comes extra responsibility and expenses. Lots of joy as well as no don’t chew and that and omg! What did you eat? So there is some bad, though the good outweighs the bad IMO.
This was Mr Cutts (English Setter), we had him for 16 years. He was a great field dog/gun dog. He loved going upland game hunting for quail and pheasant. Would hold a solid point till all the birds flushed.
This Blake (Yellow Lab) He’s our current dog which I call the thousand dollar dog because his vet bills keep on coming and I’m out thousands of dollars already. He hurt his rear knee ligament, which has caused him to hurt both knee ligaments and it’s vet bill after vet bill. We still love him and I will endure the pain in the wallet to make him as comfortable and pain free as he can be. So pets can get very expensive too.
Dogs are great and are always happy to see you no matter how they are feeling. They do require lots of time and your love. They return the love with licks and wet kisses. Plus they have humans trained really well to pick up there poop and feed them at certain times of the day.
Our two breeds are more on the larger side, Mr Cutts was 75 lbs. Blake is about 85 lbs and 3 years old. He hurt his hind knee jumping up for a tennis ball, sh!t happens.
Food cost about $60 every 3 weeks. Pick up poop every day and sometimes night. Yeah, sometimes he wakes up at night and needs to go outside to go…
Blake is very very protective especially around larger men. Fairly active for a Lab, but seems to be mellowing out a bit.
Mr Cutts was always on the move and constantly exploring looking to get into stuff. He was the smartest dog ever and always eager to please.
We have a golden and he’s a great mountain dog.
In the summer he can over heat though so I don’t like to bring him on really strenuous hikes.
As long as we exercise him everyday he is very low maintenance (usually 20 min 2x a day). He’s also great with kids. But he’s a little on the larger size ~75lbs so maybe not what you are looking for.
We’ve had labs in the past and they are excellent dogs as well.
I should reiterate the pts made above about budgeting for random vet expenses. We were $3K in after the first year when he needed an emergency surgical procedure bc his face got super swollen and they thought a foxtail was lodged in his mouth.
Love the video!!
Look at all the good boys and girls in this thread!
A good choice would be a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Very low maintenance, hardy, all condition, and very athletic.