How do you see your dogs?

[elliscountyhog]

I recently threw my 2 cents in on a thread i thought needed to be read. Someone asked if there was a way to fix his dog(hog dog) after being shot in the back(not severe i am assuming) because the vet said it would be $400 to have it fixed and he didnt want to spend the money on the dog...Well this is the reply i got from someone else and i am not saying they are right or wrong but simple this is what he stated
"ellis, i wont lie, 400 would be the top dollar i would spend to fix any of my dogs. first and foremost they are dogs.... guess it just depends on how u grew up, ive always seeen dogs as dogs, but i know a lot of people see dogs as people..." 

I dont know if he post on here or not i dont think he does but if so i just wanted to see how other people view there dogs as well. However this was my reply to him on my outlook of my dogs and wanted to see how everyone else VIEWS there dogs..

"WOW! Even if it was life or death to one of your best dogs? Heck i spent $500 on one that wasnt even life threatning just was sick from some bad food. I look at it as if that dog goes out and hunts it [censored] off for ME and MY enjoyment then i will do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure it is healthy and happy even if that requires me to spend some money at the vet to make sure!!!! Yep diffrent outlooks, dont look at my dogs as people but hunting partners, i go hunting with them and they find me hogs on a daily basis and i know how hard i have worked to get them there and how hard it is to find another dog just like what i have.."
Keep it cival please like i stated i am not saying one way is wrong or right just wondering if most view there dogs as just that dogs?

[cantexduck]

 Depends alot on the dog. My lab will get whatever she needs, no question. If I dont have the cash, I will get a loan. She is the only one. Cant set a price for the other ones. Just depends on when and where. 400 is cheap. 1k is where it gets iffy to me.

[Cull Buck]

I would spend enough to fix the dog unless the procedure with major $$$ and the outcome was 50/50. At that point it would be a judgement call.  If was my best dog I would do it.

I just spent more than $400 having semen pulled on my #1 so I guess that gives you some perspective on what I'm willing to spend on that dog.

[BigAinaBuilt]

The day I can't afford to run my dogs is the day I go out, Track, Bay, Grab the hog myself and Then come home and take care of my dogs. There is no price on any of my dogs!

[Circle C]

My hunting dogs are somewhere between livestock and pets...

When it comes to pets, cost is not my concern, their health and well-being are top priority.

With livestock, to me its about the bottom line.  Can this animal recoup the cost in its lifetime? If not, it's time to cut my losses.

With my hunting dogs, I consider replacement cost, and how valuable that particular dog is to my program.  I imagine the amount of money I am willing to spend on a hunting dog could differ greatly based on the individual.  Not necessarily based on what I paid for the dog, but more about that dog's value to me.

[Bump]

I just spent more than $400 having semen pulled on my #1 so I guess that gives you some perspective on what I'm I'm willing to spend on that dog.

Ever thought about doing that yourself and saving the $400? 

I spent $1500 on a dog about 5 or 6 months ago. It was at an after hours vet clinic so it should have been about $500 under normal circumstances. But it was worth it to me.

[raider54]

Im not going to have a dog I dont care about, if Im feeding it it's because he is part of my team. I dont turn a bulldog loose unless I can get to him quick, I feel like I owe him that! When he catches Im going to be there to help him. If he gets hurt Im going to be there to help him! This goes for every member of my team just as if they were my hunting buddies. You can ask anybody that hunts with me, Im going to do everything I can to take care of a sick or injured dog. The day I dont have the time or cant afford to you will see my dogs leads on someone else's box. thats a promise

[Cristina]

I guess it depends on the dog, and what that dog has done. My brother and father spent more than a couple of g's throughout our lead dog Hank's lifetime who unfortunately passed away last year from chronic kidney failure. He fed a lot of mouths, saved a couple of dogs from choking themselves to death and saved my brothers a$$ a couple of times from dog killers. He was what we will probably never have again...but..we always try to do the most we can to save a dog.

If I dont have the cash, I will get a loan.

I know for a fact my brother has always been there to help with vet bills when my father couldnt pay.
After all we all hunt with the dogs and eat from what they catch. He is also fortunate to find a vet that lets us make weekly or monthly payments for surgery and other emergencies costs that may unexpectedly come up.

So overall I guess it depends on the dogs value or sentimental value.

[txmaverick]

If it only cost 400 then it wasnt that bad and someething I could most likely do myself. In the $1000 range it is something I prob cant do and need the vet for, at that point it would depend on the dog, the age of the dog, and several other factors. It is not always about do i have the money but is it really worth the money. By that I dont mean that every dog is not worth the money, but age and health issues come into play. Will the dog lead a full healthy life after that money is spent or will there be problems that cost more and cause a less than full life.

[Black Gold]

If they can be fixed then I dont care the cost......I wont let a dog suffer needlessly either......Animals are animals and never above or equal to people, but my dogs deserve whatever help I can get for them.....

[Bryant]

I was faced with some of these issues a year ago this month when I lost my Abby dog.  I took her to the vet one Saturday morning simply because she wasn't acting normal.  Abby wasn't that old, but she was bar-none one of the best dogs I had ever hunted behind (and no question best I probably ever owned) and I was paranoid about this dog's health.

What I had expected to be a quick trip and some antibiotics, quickly went south when x-ray's showed her lungs were collapsed.  The vet's guess was that she had histoplasmosis although we couldn't be certain until a lung-fluid sample was sent to A&M which could take a week.  Instead of waiting, I made the decision to start treatment (which when completed would run in excess of $1,000) using a very expensive anti-fungal medication.  I was also offered the choice to actually drive her directly to A&M for treatment, but I figured they would do the same as what my vet was doing.  They kept asking, "I don't know what you want to spend...", and I kept replying, "Keep on working!".  Long story short, she died a couple days later.  We believe she was too far advanced once we started treatment but the moral of my story is that I can't put a price tag on the enjoyment that I get messing with these dogs.  If it wasn't them it would probably be a blown engine on my boat, or a torn up hot rod.  I figured out a long time ago, that if it's enjoyable it's probably not going to be cheap!

Let's propose another scenario, because I was faced with this a year or so ago also.  Say the vet says he can fix fido, but he'll never hunt again.  I had a dog get sawed up pretty bad.  He wasn't my best dog, or one I really would even consider breeding but pretty darn good I would say.  I made the decision that no matter what, he had earned the right to live in my kennels even if it meant just coming out to play.  I spent the money (actually ended up around $700...vet even stayed with him overnight the first night) and the dog pulled through.  Long story short, ole Bud is hunting just as hard as he did years ago.  What if I had chosen the other route?

[djhogdogger]

I see our dogs as living, breathing hunting tools that we sometimes get attached to. I take good care of them so that we can use them. I would never abuse one or watch it suffer but when it come to spending an obscene amount of money, it depends on the value that we place on that dog. jmo

[dabutcher]

for me it wouldn't so much matter what dog it is rather than what it's life would be like after the fact.  if the dog would be semi-dibilitated then to me it would be better to put the dog down.  but if the dog could at least be able to live a normal life and not hunt i'd still fix the dog.  whether or not i placed it with an outside home looking for a pet would be another story.

[slimhogdog]

Dont matter how much! They will give their lives for us so the least i can do is whatever it takes. Hell, I'll run my ol' lady off behind my dogs!!!!

[lonewolf]

If I feed it and hunt it I take care of it. I have cow dogs and hog dogs if they need something they are going to get it. I just spent over $2,000 on my border collies leg that he broke. I've had to take dogs to surgeon's in Okc, Ok on my local vet's advise. Long and short of it is a dog ia a dog but if its on my team I'm going to take the best care of it as possible.

[texasboy4456]

i can see both sides of the argument. its a dog and in a way is just a piece of merchandise. however we all know the dogs do much more work than we do and deserve to be taken care of. personally id do anything to take care of my dogs but i understand how the price could be to high for some people.

[Texas_Cur]

I'll do whatever it takes to sustain a quality life for my dogs.... doesn't matter if it will ever hunt again.  They put their lives on the line for me, and I will gladly make the financial sacrifices to back that up.



 

[wcg89]

i would spend the money to get my dog fixed, I like my dogs and get pretty attached to them, especially if I raised them from a pup. I couldn't live with myself I had one of my dogs put down when he/she could have been fixed. I might not like the number, but if your gonna have dogs you gotta expect to have a good vet bill someday.

[shawn]

ill beg, borrow, steal whatever i got to do save a great or even decent hunting dog, same goes for an attatched pet, now if its one im not sure about, i dont know...

[Eric]

I consider my dogs hunting partners... not on a people level, and not an investment either. I have a budget and hunting falls under entertainment. I will pay what I can afford.