The most common pet that people will have is usually a dog. These friendly pets are ones that need a lot of care and attention and are ones that can also be pretty expensive.
Within the UK at the moment, there is a cost of living crisis, and it is important that if you are the owner of dog, you look at what you can do to maintain a healthy, happy friend at a reasonable and affordable cost.
Having a dog can be a life changing experience for people as they immediately become part of the family and the loyalty a dog has to their owners is overwhelming. Below are three main reasons they can be life changing.
Mental Health
Many people will purchase a dog to help with their own mental health. The feeling when you walk through the door and the dog is sitting waiting for you, wagging their tail is a fantastic feeling.
They are fantastic company and are very reliant on their owner for their food, rest, exercise, and healthcare. In order to make sure that the dogs health is in check the many people will take out dog insurance.
This will help reassure you that if anything is to go wrong with the dog’s health then it is fully covered. The insurance policy options will vary depending on what dog you have, what age it is and what specific type of cover you are looking for, but all the information will be online for you to make an informed decision.
If for whatever reason you cannot afford to pay the policy quote upfront, there will be options to spread this over the year in a 12 month payment plan.
Financial Challenges
As stated in the introduction, the UK cost of living is rising and having a pet can be challenging. There are loads of things that you can look at in order to help with these costs.
This include simple things like looking at the food you are feeding the dog. Some people will automatically be defaulting to the branded food types in the supermarket, but this does not mean that it is superior to other, cheaper, foods.
Before making an immediate change on this front, test your dog out on it. Like humans, dogs may not like the change of the food and turn up their nose at it, sometimes even refusing to eat it, therefore it is important that before bulk buying this, you let them try it.
If you are looking to purchase new toys or equipment for the dog, then do not default to going to the local pet shop. Why not look online to see if anyone is selling these second hand?
This could save you a lot of money. Do not compromise on safety or quality though as this could end up in an accident.
Companionship
We have already detailed some mental health benefits connected to having a dog, but it is important to remember that the loyalty a dog shows you is so overwhelming that it is classed as part of the family.
They rely on you and just want you to love them as much as they love you. With this in mind it is also worth remembering that when the time comes to put them to rest, this can be extremely emotional.
You might want to prepare the younger members of your family for what could happen. This needs to be thought about before you go down the journey of even getting a dog as the end of their life can really scar and affect people’s lives.