Where did you get your dogs?

This is a fair question, really it is, but does that mean that everyone who gets a dog should have thousands of dollars saved for "what if" vet bills? I'm considering the possibility of thinking about maybe getting a second dog , but I'm looking at cheapy shelters and passing over the ones whose adoption fee is hundreds of dollars because I need the money I have for supplies, training, vetting, etc. Since I don't have $400 for an adoption fee on top of everything else, does that mean I shouldn't get another dog? I'm actually wondering, not being hostile.

I think it's a really good idea to have *some* money saved, especially after the recent incidences of high-cost veterinary care, at my house. I am putting some money in a savings account, every week. It's just a little money, but it's there just for the dogs.

What if I hadn't had the relationship with my vet when Teenie got sick? She would have died! For bladder stones! I wouldn't have been able to pay for the surgery in full, and I wouldn't have let her live in that kind of pain. She couldn't even move without hurting. It was terrible. She couldn't stand up and walk, because it hurt so bad.

For all of the breeds I've seriously looked into, it's been no more than $1500 for a pet quality puppy. By the time a responsible breeder has approved me and has a litter on the ground, I could have saved that much, without too much trouble. If I were adopting another shelter dog, though, I'd go up the road to Animal Control and pay  $50. IME, a dog with an unknown background is a dog with an unknown background. Doesn't matter if I pay $250 for it from a rescue or $50 from Animal Control....

Xerxes came from a breeder.  I had to put a deposit down and wait about 6 months.  I don't regret a second of it.[]

I didn't get either dog as a puppy (puppies: no thank you, I am not even remotely up to that task!) but both are from shelters. Conrad was from a very high-volume, high-kill municiple shelter. He was a day or two away from his euth date. I think he cost us $50, including a voucher for neutering. We were looking for a shepherd mix, his cage card said "shepherd/shar pei", which is just laughable but anyway, he was very calm in his kennel, unlike the purebred GSD in the kennel next to his who was just pinging off the walls (which is fine for some but not a good match for our household), he was sickly but adorable. He cost us a couple hundred in "start up" costs to get rid of his kennel cough and get all his vax up to date. But then he cost us months of emotional pain, and more money for meds, and all sorts of money to replace the things he destroyed until we used a free dog crate to deal with his seperation anxiety.

Marlowe is also from a shelter, a lower-volume, lower-kill open-door shelter where he was brought in by AC as a stray. He had a very short stay there because I was a volunteer for the shelter at the time and saw him being temp tested even before he was ready for adoption, and snapped him up the second he became available. $75 for adoption including neuter, another $100 in vet fees for check-up and de-worming, and another couple hundred for supplies for him. He is just the perfect dog and very low-maintence when compared to his older brother. But I've still paid thousands for him over the year and a half we've had him. One major illness requiring emergency care is all it takes.

Milo - adopted me from the pound. Turned out to be my first rhodesian ridgeback- age whoknows 10mths-2yrs.
Samson - adopted from rhodesian ridgeback rescue -age 4.5 months
Jem Finch - adopted from the pound - borzoi azawakh mix turned out to be nuts - age adult I forget how many years 5 I thin.
Yoshi- adopted from rhodesian ridgeback rescue - age 8wks
Amrika - adopted from a tech at the vets who took her from a situation. Pitbull/American Bulldog mix. Did not end well unfortunately.

Paula

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

I adopted Emma (18 pounds as an adult) at the local Humane Society when she was 9 weeks old. They said they had no idea what mix she was or how big she'd get. Turns out, conformation and attitude wise, she's a JRT. Her coat's off, but that's what you get when you breed willy-nilly.

I got Teenie from a very strange situation that probably involved some illegal activity. She was dropped off at the place I was working at the time. I paid nothing for her, but I've spent thousands on her medical bills, since then.

Dogs are expensive to keep well. Puppies, in particular, cost a LOT in vet bills, food, and supplies. If you can't afford the purchase price for a well-bred dog, how will you pay the bills on a poorly bred dog?

^ Which is why I'm waiting. I've decided if I do ever decide to adopt a dog, in a few years, I might as well go with the one I wanted from the start - I'm not going to settle for "just an 'okay' dog." For the 'emergency' fund I suppose every time I get money I'll put it in my savings account and use it if she has an accident.

I got my Whippets from top show breeders. One was not very well known at the time but did and still does all the right things. My then uppy got a BOB over top ten specials and a group 2nd at his first show at six months and one day of age. This dog from her is now retired and is ten, and I plan to get another in the future from her. Not only did I get my heart dog, but I got a lifelong friend who has been there for ten years both with regard to dogs and the rest of life. My young Whippet puppy came from a very prominent kennel with generations of owner/breeder handled best in show Whippets. He is not old enough to show yet, but both my other dog's breeder and everyone else who has seen him is in awe and says I have a certain champion.

My 12 year old Golden is a rescue. Our eight month old, the hearing dog in training, was a gamble from a BYB because we wanted a little, red, fast, active, and definitely NOT big overdone show type Golden that would make a good working dog. She was only $300 and is the ideal, perfect service dog puppy. She's healthy with a spectacular temperament and is very pretty.

KJ- I'm not sure quite how old you are but to be honest, if I were in your situation? I'd wait.

It doesn't sound, right now, like your life is set up all that well for a dog, and in a few years you're going to be off to college. While I know folks who have had dogs at college, it's expensive (since you can't live on campus) and really restricts your social life (no spur of the moment not-coming-home nights, no random "Let's go across the state and do X this weekend"0 type stuff. I think you should find a rescue group you like to volunteer with, or, if you're interested in a specific breed, maybe find a reputable breeder and show-person in your area who can use some 'kennel help' and basically apprentice with them to learn about the breed. (You could also volunteer with breed rescue). There are a lot of options. If you put away $25 a month, you'll have enough for the puppy and a vet fund by the time you'reout on your own.
It's also worth a look around, breedwise if you haven't fallen in love with a certain breed yet, and think 'small' not 'tiny'. Join the breed mailing lists, learn about the breeds, and relish the time researching.

I got our Border Collie mix from a farm (a handsome rogue travlin' dog came and swept mama off her feet one day).

My DH (X Chgo. cop) got our dobX from the streets of a Chgo ghetto. 

We got Trudy from a neighboring local breeder who was in a bad car accident (in a coma for 6 weeks) and desparately needed to sell his recent litter.

We got Grace from Illinois Bird Dog Rescue.

Here's my list:
 
Pretzel - purebred doxie bought for $10 from a BYB who put an ad in the paper (I was only 18 - what did I know?)
 
Ruffy - cock-a-poo/terrier - friend of a friend whose dog had pups
 
Bud - lab/cocker - friend of a friend whose dog had pups
 
Max - directly from the shelter
 
Joyce
              

For me, I had made up my mind I was only going to adopt.  So, I went onto my local humane society's website, which was linked to Petfinder.  I found a dog that I was interested in, went to see him, but he already had 2 holds on him, so I looked at each of the other dogs to see if there was one that I connected with.  Something kept drawing me back to one of them and when they brought her out, we bonded right away.  I took her home the next day.  I'm so glad that other dog already had holds on him because she's been the best dog that I could've ever hoped for.