Best Money Ever Spent?

 Tough to pick one - if I had to say one thing outside medical expenses I would pick this forum and this is free

I have learned so much on here - I found it when B was about 8 months old and we were on our wits end with him.  He was starting to have medical issues due to allergies (which we didn't know about) and his behavior - oy vey.  On here I learned about managing allergies, nutrition, training, books to read, dog behavior and psychology, appropriate bones, etc etc etc AND I have made friends with some wonderful people.  This forum has made a difficult dog less difficult and extra special.

things I am glad I spent money on: 

Massive elk antlers because I finally have a long lasting safe chew

our invisible fence (yes despite all the back and forth debate I consider this one of our best purchases )

The ramp we are using to go in and out and anywhere there are steps since the TPLO

A huge mountaineering carabiner that we use on a long line at the beach or hiking or at the lake

A leather collar from a farm supply store - called a hound collar it is ideal for us

His Dokken duck for retrieves

A crate

My station wagon aka the dog mobile!  I love being able to take B where ever we want to go

 Tickle Me Elmo - $19.99. Elmo was staple in my dogs mouth for 4 years. It eventually lost an arm a both legs, but it still giggled!

kpwlee

... My station wagon aka the dog mobile!  I love being able to take B where ever we want to go

I almost included my "new to me" truck in my list.  We didn't buy it because of Caleb, but because of the extended cab, Caleb has gone a lot more places with the two of us then he had been.  The first thing I did when the truck came home was to put a towel on the floor behind the seat for the Little Stink Pot.  Since then I've cut a piece of foam to fit, too.

denise m

 Tickle Me Elmo - $19.99. Elmo was staple in my dogs mouth for 4 years. It eventually lost an arm a both legs, but it still giggled!

 Caleb loves his TME!  I boght the first one at a yard sale for Mick about a year or so after they came out (spent maybe $2 on it).  It was still in brand new condition.  Mick never really took to it- it got more use as a distraction during training classes.  But Caleb, oh how he loved it from the beginning!  It was so cute to see him drag it all over the place by an arm (Elmo was bigger than Caleb).  He's on his 2nd one now (the belly material on the first one got worn through from him pawing it to make it laugh and sucking on it).  The current one is 2 years old, and his worn through on the belly from being sucked on.

 I had a lovely manual transmission sporty sedan but that wasn't going to work out.  I bought two different seat belt contraptions for Bugsy and he somehow got out of both of them in less than half a mile then he would be all over the place and especially like to get involved in shifting.  He would have the cover off the seats before we got off our street.  It was a disaster, a hyper giant puppy free in the cabin of a car. So I changed over to the wagon as I don't like SUV's and although it still isn't my sort of drive the ability to have Bugsy with me = priceless

The poop bag dispenser that hangs on the leash, the little gizmo called a "doody dangler" that also hangs from the leash and holds filled poop bags in case we have to do a pick-up when we're nowhere near a trash can, and at the top of the list would be the easy walk harness.

Joyce

 The best spent money would be Jetta's pink baby blanket that she's had for 6 yrs--she still carries it around with her and loves to play tug of war with it.

A close second is the tooth scaler that I ordered from drsfostersmith.com because her teeth are hard to keep clean even with frequent brushing.

 I lost my shirt in the real estate market back in the late '90's.  My Rottie was an older dog by then and we could walk in the hood every night and every morning I would drive us to the bush so that he could run around..  I never wanted to own another home after losing my life's savings.  Then I got my Bullmastiff pup and bought a house with a 10,000 square foot yard and no steps so that he could run like the maniac he was.  Now it has increased in value and I am set for life.  Wouldn't have done it for me...so glad I did it for my boy.  He died of lung cancer and now I have the Bobster.  Again I was not planning on keeping the house, but along came Bob.  Now I am moving into the house of my dreams and without the dogs, I would not have done any of this.   

 Definatly my Dodge Nitro (SUV that the back seats lay flat LOL)...i seriously got it just because of the dogs...ive always had small sporty cars, before that i had a brand new 08 scion tC (think tiny hatchback two door car)...and after evacuating from Hurricane Ike with a senior golden retriever, adolescent beauceron, and 130lb akita oh and 2 people and everything we could pack not knowing if we would have a home to come back to....and before that evacuating in a chevy camaro from Hurricane Rita (only had the golden and the akita and one person that time)....and then the long roadtrips to dog shows all over TX and OK trying to cram dogs (usually they all travel with me to shows if i stay the weekend at a hotel even if im not showing them all), grooming equip & table, clothes, etc in little cars....When i began to seriously plan bringing home a 4th dog (my tibetan mastiff)...i decided I HAD to get a bigger vehicle...  

 I love my car, its very nice and roomy, although id really want to buy a new camaro right now, and would if i didnt have dogs, as long as i have 4, and live somewhere where i may need to evacuate with all of them, or go to shows, i will have to have a vehicle that caters to them..LOL...I gues its kinda like the "soccer mom van" but its the "dogshow mom SUV" LOL.

Beauceron.Akita.Golden

Definatly my Dodge Nitro (SUV that the back seats lay flat LOL)...

No way! Those are SO cool - my sister dated a guy for a while who bought one and told me it was called a 'G Wagon'. I have no idea why he said that, but I always call them G Wagons now and I want one SO BAD. Unfortunately the Chevy Aveo was more my price range LOL.

If we were allowed to include medical expenses, I'd say the best money I ever spent on Pi would be his acupuncture sessions - I wish I would have never given him seizure drugs and used acupuncture instead.

Since I'm not sure if that's 'medical' or not, I would have to say the runner-up would be the 9 million various puzzle toys we own.

For Tiki, it's definitely the Wike - it was pricey, but she loves it and we use it all the time.

My first thought was, with no doubt, Baileys $50 adoption fee.

Second was the $600 we spent on his HW treatment.

But then i read rest of the post 

IrishSetterGrl

 

This is excluding any medical expenses or the initial "cost" of adopting/getting the dog etc..

 So... I'd have to say, my clicker is the best thing ive ever spent $1.50 on. Also, his everlasting fun ball and kong are worth every penny. They are the only toys he shows interest in, and when filled with treats can keep him busy for a while. Im also glad i bought him a weight pull harness. Back in his younger days, when he was bouncing off the walls it was a great way to drain his energy and satisfy his need to pull. 

IrishSetterGrl

Just wondering...what is the best money you've ever spent on something for your dog?

Training classes with our exceptional trainer, no doubt, no hesitation.

This house and the two acres around it:-)) 

Apollo: the Chuck It! Cost: $12. Seeing him in his most joyful state, running, sprinting, barking w/ excitement, retrieving, splashing in water, and- finally- sleeping and snoring like a baby bear, priceless.

Molson: the Cone. Cost $15. It has prevented him from licking and chewing his hotspots so he could get better faster!

Patty: the Dog Coat and Fleece. Cost around $40. She freezes in cold weather and won't even potty when it's rainy, windy, snowy, or cold outside. I throw a fleece and dog coat on her and she's good to go!

And their crates were well worth the money. I use them almost everyday and since we do travel a lot (and bring the dogs w/ us) it's geat that they have a home away from home.

I asked DH and we both agreed, our fence!!!  We rent, so we wouldn't be allowed and couldn't afford permanent fencing on this property.  Instead we got permission to use agricultural type fencing that we can easily remove when we move out.  The entire project cost about $320 and fences in over 2600 square feet.  The yard is much, much bigger but we left a good portion for our neighbors (we live in a duplex) and about 2/3 of the back because it is so low it's basically mud or standing water anytime it rains.

Other good deals I've love are...

• My gold expens, got the nice ones, 4', for only $35 each.
• Precision Pet suitcase crate.  The only true portable/collapsible wire crate.  Also has a nice gauge and is very strong (I stand on it to get stuff out of a high cupboard).
• Bridgeport Equipment original tracking harness - actually used for protection.  This is a great product for the price, many people I know have used the same harness on multiple dogs for 10+ years.  It has everything I need and nothing I don't, plus plenty of room to grow.  Nikon's been wearing his since he was 5 months and it will fit him for life.