u/iamahill

I wanted to post to simply remind people who be considering a service dog that accidents happen. Seemingly out of nowhere when you least expect it.

They cost a lot.

Make sure you have insurance or the resources to cover unexpected trips to the vet.

Thankfully, my puppy is going to be fine. Might not end up as a service dog and that’s okay.

Though the reality is the bill thus far is thousands of dollars. Thankfully I have the ability to pay.

Anyways, just trying to remind anyone that may overlook this. Or overlook insurance.

I’d rather not discuss the literal event right now, my account isn’t really anonymous but I will probably be alright discussing it in the future or privately.

Puppies…

I’m looking into building a very small setup and am in need of a new computer, server, monitors, et all.

I’m curious if anyone would mind sharing what they use, and possibly what they’d buy today if starting fresh.

I’ve been planning on a Mac Studio but the availability and things have me reconsidering.

I’m looking to finally buy some land. After many years of reading and whatnot.

I have been looking at 20-40 acre plots in southern Arizona and Texas. Relatively remote plots.

Lately I’ve debated a smaller test run in the 2-10 acre size in areas that have power and possibly shared wells.

It would be a bit more accessible though I’ll want to move on to something much larger in the future.

Has anyone built a homestead only to end up selling it when “complete” after learning all they can and needing more space to pursue larger goals?

I wouldn’t necessarily have to sell it, maybe rent or just have friends maintain it, but I think a limited trial run could be fun to start.

It’s a patent pending ff lid system. Made by another hobbyist. Uses an interlocking system and filters.

It still needs to be sealed, but is easily done since it’s a solid piece.

I am not affiliated in any way.

Often cost is brought up immediately when new people ask questions. Yet rarely is it actually explained or broken down in an itemized spend over time format.

So here’s my question, how much did your dog cost and continue to cost. Let’s break it down by initial price, veterinary, training and food. All other costs such as toys and lifestyle stuff should be a separate category.

Receipts are encouraged to give validity to the post’s claims. Do remove any identifying details before adding links to images.

Also, how you afford the costs be it personal wealth, subsidy, charity, day job, etc if you’d like.

Format may be something like

Day 0: cost of dog
Day 1-30:
Months 2-6:
Months 6-12:
Months 12-18:
Months 18-24:

As well as your time of self training.

Add in major milestones etc however things make sense. Also breeder, program, trainer, etc

I’m not a good example for this I self train and my budget is a bit high this time around.

Day 0: puppy was $2500, travel across country and car related expenses prior to trip + fuel was approximately $10,000. Sleepy pod for trip home.

Plus A website url and hosting for what will be a website to share her information in the future if challenged.

Day 1-60: post trip was $2,000 for impact kennel and related items, $300+ on food treats that lasted into the next few months (some frozen), $600-800 on veterinary (something around that, high col area), $100+ chews and toys, 2 destroyed apple pencils.

The dog recently cleared parvo vaccines so vet bills should be boring for some time.

She also is almost full grown so will be getting nicer gear for everyday use, as well as car safety and travel related.

Car related gear: kennel $1400, harness $300, car modification for her $200+ depending if an auxiliary hvac system is added for her kennel that’s battery (solar) powered.

I also will be prototyping some dog gear next month or so for her including better footwear. I need her to finish growing first.

My list is a bit crazy. It is not typical. Though these rough numbers are my reality.

Oh, I’m saving money by self training. Though schedule 4-6 hours daily for dog split between morning and evening.

What is your reality?

Occasionally my puppy disagrees with me and decides to be as loud as possible to force my hand.

Usually I pick her up and hold her to calm her down.

A few times I’ve matched or tried to exceed her volume by loudly shouting something neutral to break her out of it.

It works, and it’s not a punishment or scolding. It shocks her I can bd as loud and she reconsiders her strategy.

I hate doing this and only have occasionally, maybe three times?

I’m curious if you’ve had similar experiences and what your process to resolve to them were.

Ps. The puppy is fine and healthy and we are good. It’s usually a valid reason she’s frustrated with me. Often that it’s too hot outside mid day to run and play outside at the moment and I’m working and cannot take a break then and there. She’s by no means mistreated and now having all her vaccines completed we go to the dog park in the mornings at 5:30 am for a few hours to socialize and run and play. Her frustrations in these loud moments are valid, the volume is the issue not her raising an issue and objecting to my answer.

I reached out to Lindt.

Their retail team and VP are being informed.

They were professional and responsive.

I posted a week or two ago about a friend’s new service do from the warrior program in Texas (cant think of their name)

I met the dog last week, with my 15 week old puppy. To everyone ready to scream at me, I understand. Risk was mitigated as much as possible. Both dogs are vaccinated although mine has her 20 week still to do for parvo.

There’s good and bad.

The bad: the dog is overweight possibly obese. The origin is largely a mystery. He is a bit too tolerant of things.

The good. He is a very good dog with excellent disposition. He is very tolerant of annoyances like an excitable puppy. I assume he is similar with kids and people.

Neutral. He appears to be a European black lab opposed to American, he is also on the small side.

The handler was told to expect way more than she was provided. Though it seems that the dog does have the tasks understood. Nothing happened while I was there that required tasking.

I’m not sure how long the adjustment period takes for a dog of his situation and the handler who doesn’t have experience with service dogs. It seems they will take some time to click fully.

At the end of the day, I learned that my friend got used to my service dog of nine years and expected their dog would be just like her because she became their standard for what a service dog is.

My former dog, was pretty impressive to most who met her. She set the bar high for herself. She took pride in being in charge of me (literally at times). To compare a two year old to an old pro is a big mistake. It’s not fair to either dog.

The negative bits are easily corrected with time, and will be. He’s already lost some weight under my friend’s care. She has some work to do as the handler. Learning things that many here know well such as the nuances of behavior and communication with a dog. It will improve.

So for now, the dog is staying. Both dog and human have room for improvement. The dog is in my view trustworthy and fine be for public access. However I have not observed them in a public access setting yet.

We do our best with the information and resources we have. While there’s definitely issues with aspects of the dog’s past I think things will work out for the best.

My friend is having a noticeably improved condition since having the dog. I was actually quite shocked at the impact. That’s what really matters, and for that I’m thankful for the program and the dog.

First off, I’m critical of programs and whatnot. That’s not the point of my post and wish to avoid that bit if possible.

Someone close to me received her dog from them this past month. I haven’t met the dog yet. Though my friend has told me he’s trained for dpt, and the rest is on her to do.

Apparently it freaked out at the hospital. Though maybe it’s not used to new situation yet.

2 year old Labrador.

I plan to support my friend and am able to help with training advice so it’s not a crisis.

But 🤬 is about how I feel about it. It’s one thing to plan to have a puppy to raise then train as I’m doing, but a two year wait for this dog and it basically only having bad obedience?! Said friend wasn’t expecting this.

To be clear I have only what I’ve been told. I haven’t met the dog, I wasn’t involved at all with the process.

I had a feeling the dog would be less than a polished ADI program dog, but this is very disappointing.

Now, professional trainer will need to be consulted, friend is a veteran, there are resources I believe.

Anyways. More of a rant I guess. If you have experience with the group recently (I hoped old drama had passed with them) or recommendations I’m all ears.

Ps. Yes they’re the ones that use shelter dogs. Let’s not get too side tracked on that aspect. It appears this is a Labrador possibly from Germany and decent stock thankfully.

Edit: 1. Thank you for the input! 2. I’m staying vague for the person’s privacy and I apologize that my replies aren’t as high quality as I normally try for. 3. Seriously, thanks for the advice, even the obvious advice because it’s valuable to be reminded. This person is not me, and keeping that in mind is very important. My resources and health are both great these days so it allows me more risk than many others. My style of things is absolutely incompatible with what my friend needs.

Simply put, I truly appreciate all of you taking the time to write a reply or upvote what you agree with.