- Out the house for the majority of the day but could go for a walk before work and immediately after work. Would therefore be looking at a breed of dog happy in it's own company?
I do not think you should get a dog for this reason alone.
Legally you are not meant to leave a dog alone for longer then i think its either 4 or 6 hours.
I dont wish to sound rude, but we recently filed a RSCPA complaint against a couple a few doors down who leave there 2 German Sheppards locked in the house for 14 hours a day. Such beautiful dogs, confined to a house, its just not fair.
If you disregard what i say, then the costs for my dog (Labrador 4 years old) is around £35 a month for high quality food. He is fed on Skinners field and trial duck and rice and nature diet all 3 flavours. He's a very healthy 30kg.
We currently pay around £8 a month for pet insurance, first thing to check is if the insurance pay out per condition or per year. If its per year, thats worse as your only allowed a set amount for all conditions, where the per condition is as it sounds.
Vaccinations are around £30 every year up until 3 years old, then there is a lot of controversial research to suggest that vaccinations should then be every 2 years. Massive links to cancer and other diseases are linked with over dosing dogs every year when they don't need it.
When at the puppy age, they will require the starter vaccinations, which is around £60 ish.
Castration is around £60 also, with additional costs for pain medication.
Bare in mind that each vet charge different costs so this is what we pay.
With regards to a breed, i'd go with a Working Labrador. They are very clever, extremely good with kids, very owner friendly, easy to train and i just feel they are the perfect size too.
Don't go for something like a collie or a beagle, the collie is extremely intelligent and will become bored easy unless entertained and that normally leads to destructive behaviour and owner aggression, the Beagle is a hunting dog and requires an experienced owner to handle, as soon as you let it off the lead, if it gets a scent its gone.
I'd also stay away from Springer Spaniels, they too are extremely energetic dogs and require a lot of exercise.
On average and medium sized dog requires 1 hour 30mins to 2 hours of walk a day.
The quality of food is directly related to the smell and health of the dog.
Have a read of this
http://burnspet.co.uk/pdf/burns_health_guide_sm.pdf
Its a brilliant document produced by the owner of Burns pet food and he is also a practising vets. It explains a lot of conditions and problems with dogs fed on a poor diet.
So if you feed really low quality food like pedigree chum, your dog will smell and feel greasy, feed it on something like burns or skinners and your dog will never smell. You do not need to bath your dog if fed properly, just take them swimming and that cleans them naturally.
Know your dagerous dogs:
American Pit Bull Terriers
Dogo Argentinas
Fila Brazilieros
Japanese Tosas
I personally feel the dangerous dogs act needs to be changed, i know people wont like this but i personally feel Staffordshire bull terriers should be on that list. I feel there should be amendments to owning dangerous breeds for example rottweiler, Dobermans, Akita's, Ridgebacks and a few others, restricting them to experienced owners and not allowing children to walk them.
I also think there should be a minimum age for walking a dog, i dont agree that a 6-10 year old could hold a Labrador if he wanted to pull and i also feel dog owners should be required to take a course before owning a dog.
Explaining the dietary needs, exercise required and a general teaching of how to handle, look after and treat a dog properly.
Oh and i also feel the Kennel Club should be completely abolished.
, alternatively get a cat which is perfect for our busy lifestyles.
