Taking Good Care of Your Dog on a Budget

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Our dogs become part of the family and give us much love and loyalty. However, if money

gets tight it can be a struggle to pay for everything they need, but it would be

like giving one of the children away to get rid of your dog. Ways need to be found to keep the

costs as low as possible, and here are just a few suggestions.

Learn The Basic Care

On area that money could be saved is in the grooming of your dog.

Brush their fur on a regular basis and clean their teeth a couple of times a week.

Keep an eye on their paws to make sure they look healthy and speak to your vet

about how to trim their nails, and how long the nails should be before you do.

Taking your furry friend to be groomed can add quite a lot to the expense

of caring for them, and learning how to do it yourself could help to strengthen the

bond between you.

Shop Around

The easiest way to shop around these days is to look at comparison sites like this site.  

You should certainly do this for things such as dog insurance, as the premiums can

vary greatly for the same cover. Just make sure you know in detail what cover you are

getting, as they do not all pay out for the same things. We were very grateful for our pet insurance with

wee Lilly dog as it gave us the peace of mind we had done everything we could for her.

You should do the same to find a good vet as well. Their fees can be a lot of money

if you do not have the appropriate insurance, and you need to make sure you keep

their costs down.

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Be Clever About Food

You need your pet to have a healthy diet, or you could end up with vet bills later on.

Look out for special deals in the supermarkets and pet stores, and buy the larger packs

if you can. You can get some really good discounts if bags of food are approaching their

expiry date, or if a particular brand is being discontinued.

There are some human foods you can give them if you have some left over, but

it cannot be stressed enough how careful you have to be. Onions are not good for them

and nor are grapes, raisins, chocolate, garlic, milk and other dairy products,

salty foods, citrus fruits, alcohol and several other things. It might be tempting to share

your treat with them, but you could be doing them more harm than good.

Try To Avoid Accidents

Apart from the fact you really do not want your dog to be injured, you need to

avoid accidents because of the cost of treatment. Make sure your garden is safe and

they cannot escape, and when you do take them out always have them on a lead.

No matter how well trained a dog is, if they see a potential playmate across the road, they are

likely to run without giving a thought to any traffic.

Keeping your dog in the family need not cost the earth, you just have to be careful about

what you spend the money on. For example, a dog would be just as happy playing

with an old ball as they would be with an expensive new toy.

This is a collaborative post.