8/27/2006

The TRUE cost of a Bernese Mountain Dog


When I was a kid, getting a dog meant going to the pound and picking out a nice little pooch that didn't bark too much and wasn't foaming at the mouth.

Now, it seems having a trendy dog is as important as making sure you have the latest video iPod or cell phone that doubles as a PDA that also doubles as an electric razor.

Around the Bay Area, you see a lot of upwardly mobile young professionals keeping Bernese Mountain Dogs as pets. Although you don't see many at the dog park, you see them with pretty regular frequency in the back of Land Rovers and other luxury SUVs zooming by on the freeway. Apparently, Bernese Mountain Dogs are the new Golden Retrievers. Everybody wants them.

My wife saw her first Bernese Mountain Dog at Costco in September of 2004. We'd been talking about getting a dog for awhile, and were also in the process of selling my 1 bedroom house in order to buy something with more space for the (gasp) future kids and dogs. At any rate, one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were forking over $1800 to a breeder in Watsonville for one Bernese Mountain Dog puppy: Bernie. Ouch.

Little did we know that $1800 was just a drop in the bucket compared to what we'd end up spending because of him in a one-year period:

$1800 - dog
$600 - getting him neutered, some sort of problem, yada, yada, yada...
$2000 - special eye surgery because his membrane or something like that doesn't close right
$600 - Miscellaneous vet emergency bills
$500 - Stolen food from the counter or dinner table while we weren't looking
$400 - Ruined clothes and shoes
$4000 - Ruined furniture, carpet and sheetrock (wtf!) in new house

Grand total: $9900

Holy mackeral!!! That's more than what my car is worth!!!

Naturally, I think we did what any rational couple would do when faced with dishing out $10K on a dog: get another!

But that's a story for later...

7 comments:

Rochelle Spencer said...

I've read all your blogs but this is my favourite. You've confirmed that this is the dog for us. First and foremost ... thank you!

It's wonderful to read the humorous side of dog ownership that doesn't always pan out the way we thought. Yet, against all the dogs odds you love them both dearly and persevere and love them all the same. It's a testimony to responsible dog ownership (aside from getting access to anti-biodics) - more people should read this blog before they drive their dogs to pounds and animal shelters.

Keep the blogs coming, loving the insight.

Unknown said...

This put a huge smile on my face after a very long and not so great day. Thank you for being such an amazing and loving dog owner. :)

STACEE SEVERINO said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
STACEE SEVERINO said...

LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE :) WE HAVE 4 BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS AND ARE IN THE PROCESS OF LOOKING FOR JUST ONE MORE HAHAHA THEY ARE JUST LIKE POTATO CHIPS YOU CAN NEVER HAVE JUST ONE ;) THIS IS ONE VERY EXPENSIVE HABIT WE HAVE COME TO LOVE

Unknown said...

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gabe said...

Bernese are great family dogs but they do love food and chewing up stuff. They look at you with such love after destroying something you either wanted to eat or put on, which totally makes it ok and worth it. Can't explain why, just love my big good of a dog. But you are totally right, the costs add up. Thing is, people either see a dog as a puppet play thing and don't want to spend the money. Or they see them as family and think, well.. my family member needs medical attention.. cost matters little at that point. Even if broke you try your hardest to get the help your family needs.
Enjoy the big floof and get photos of the destruction and chaos, that's the best/worst part of it.

Unknown said...

Sounds like you don’t know how to train a dog. My Berner is smarter then most people. She was well worth every penny