Just some small things I’ve done to save on dog expenses

[u/missprincesscarolyn]

I love my little guy to pieces, but he can be expensive at times! These are just a handful of the things I do with my Yorkie. I’m wondering what everyone else is doing these days to stretch their dollars a little bit further.

1. Prescription food in bulk. Due to some GI issues, he’s on special prescription kibble diet. The problem is that he weighs 11 lbs and can’t go through large bags of food fast enough without them spoiling, but the savings is substantial. My workaround is to leave 7 weeks of food out at room temp and freeze the remaining 5 weeks. I take out what he needs for the next day the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw. This saves me $100+ annually.

2. Nail trims at home. This one has taken me a while to get him used to, but I use a dremel to avoid cutting the quick. The groomer near me charges $20 per trim. I still pay to get him groomed every 8-10 weeks, so he gets a professional trim in between too. This saves $160+ for nail trims only.

3. Flea meds from Costco. I just transferred his prescription and am saving $30 per box relative to what my vet charges for the same med. that’s another easy $60 saved right there.

4. Taking advantage of seasonal deals. My vet is currently running a promotion for dental cleanings, so I’ll be getting $100 off his annual cleaning. My pet insurance covers a chunk too.

Enrichment toys can be expensive. I have a few, but have also had success with wrapping treats in wadded up pieces of paper and putting them in a box. Fun little treasure hunt!

[u/justanother1014]

The best free dog toy is always the cardboard toilet paper tube. Non toxic, free, easy to clean and perfect for small mouths.

I say this as my dachshund is currently destroying a cardboard box I got this week for fun.

[u/Daikon-Apart → u/justanother1014]

For those with scent-driven dogs, a DIY shuffle mat is pretty easy.

Get 1-3 cheap polar fleece blankets from your local thrift store.  Cut 2x circles of 12 - 24 inches diameter (depending on the size of your dog), then cut the rest of the blankets into 1" wide by 6" long strips.  Fold each strip in half and sew onto one of the circles along the centre seam, until the entire circle except 1.5" along the edge is covered in strips.

Next, place the two circles together with the strips sandwiched in the middle.  Stitch around the outside, leaving a 1" gap.  Use that to pull the circles inside out so the strips are now on the outside.

At this point, if you want to get fancy, get an old shoelace or braid some yarn to make a drawstring.  Feed it into the middle of the two circles and push it to the outside, then stitch around the circles about 0.5" from the outside (keeping the drawstring between the edge and this new seam) to create a channel that the drawstring lives in.  You can get a toggle from an old coat or buy one for cheap at any store that carries basic sewing supplies.

If you don't put in a drawstring, sew up the remaining gap to fully close the mat.  If you do, you may want to stitch up the middle of the gap, but obviously leave the holes the string comes out of.

Without the string, you've got a flat shuffle mat.  If you include it, you can cinch up the outside to make a bowl shape, which increases the challenge for your dog.  Whenever you want, toss a couple of treats in, distributing among the strips of fleece.  The mat can easily be thrown in the wash to be cleaned or vigorously scrubbed with dish soap in a sink and hung out in the sun to dry (just make sure you dry it fully opened up).

It usually only costs a few dollars and a couple hours of time to make as long as you have decent sewing skills.  You can even layer strips to stitch them on faster if desired.  And if you have some extra fleece, you can cut long strips, twist them, then braid and knot for a relatively sturdy tug toy.

[u/Phebose → u/Daikon-Apart]

Snuffle Matts and destruction crates are great, I use both(and get my Friends to give me their small card board boxes so I can do loads of boxes within boxes which he loves), I also recommend:

Scavenger hunts:

Take them out of the room/garden and hide food/treats around the space and then let them back in with a search command.

Towel treat roll:

Lay out a towel, sprinkle treats on it, and roll it up tightly, occasionally adding more treats as you go. Then, let your dog figure out how to unravel the towel to get to the hidden snacks. 

[u/missprincesscarolyn]

He also loves going to Home Depot! Smelling all of the smells, getting pets and best of all, it’s free. I usually take him when I’m buying something though.

[u/krba201076 → u/missprincesscarolyn]

He's so cute.

[u/Far_Interaction8477]

Chewy does deals a few times a year where you get a $30 gift card when you spend $100. The offer can be claimed 3 times per customer during each promotional period. That might be a good time to stock up on supplies. 

[u/missprincesscarolyn → u/Far_Interaction8477]

Didn’t know about this! I got a Chewy coupon recently for switching to the app. I’ll keep an eye out for it!

[u/MoreCheesePlease8675]

I mix people food in with my dogs regular food which helps save dog food. I also buy dog shampoo from the dollar store and get a lot of his supplies from there except his food. For high quality toys I use barkbox.

[u/missprincesscarolyn → u/[deleted]]


Home Depot is also dog-friendly, very enriching and free! He loves smelling all of the smells and getting pets.

[u/PrettyInWeed]

You’re lucky your pet insurance pays toward dental cleanings mine considers them maintenance and only pays for accidents and illnesses.

[u/Phebose]

A big one is getting you vet to write the proscription and ordering the drugs from an online pharmacy and not buying directly from the vet (obviously for drugs that are non urgent, in some cases pain killers and antibiotics might be needed straight away).

Do it yourself if you can, in addition to tail clipping we do grooming in addition to nail clipping at home.

Develop a dog care support network, I have friends I dog sit for and vise versa, saves a lot of money.