The Price is Right
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Whoever said that agility was cheap?
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You can’t do agility without a dog. You think the dog is the cheapest bit? HA! If you want to amuse your vet, rescue a mutt from the M25 and name him 'Freebie.' There is no such thing as a low maintenance dog and even the most routine health care can be expensive. Or are you going to let your dog become infested with fleas and worms? Victoria Horsley of the NCDL points out that the cost of keeping a dog will depend on size and breed, but estimates that basic expenditure will be something like this. (See right) Not too bad? You are in the majority if you are single pet dog householder, but you are in the minority if you do agility and have only one dog - 74 per cent of respondents to the Agilitynet Survey 2000 had two or more dogs. And the more dogs you have, the more you spend. Your vet may give you a discount for having your pack of hounds microchipped at single consultation, but don’t count on it.
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The Basics |
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| Food | £5 - 15.00 per week | |
| Pet insurance | £10 - 15 per month plus £50 excess to pay for every condition that has a claim made | |
| Flea treatment | £25 for six months | |
| Worming treatments | £8 for three months | |
| Vaccinations | £50 for initial course and £25 each year for boosters | |
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Boarding kennel fees |
£5 - 9 per day | |
| Training classes | £20 enrolment and then £3 per week | |
| Grooming/clipping (if necessary) | £30 around three times a year | |
| Damage to home or possessions | £various | |
| Toys | £15 per month | |
One-off Expenses |
 And
when you are totalling how much you spend on dog food, don’t forget those little gourmet
treats for training – poached salmon, Camembert cheese, or braised liver.
Not a dried up Bonio (1.2 kg box £2.29).
Celebrate a good run and buy your dog an ice cream cone.
No matter how hard you try, you will never been able to win enough dog food at show
to feed your dogs throughout the year. You have too
many dogs and half of them are on special diets.
Training |
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| Initial price of buying or adopting dog |
Free to various |
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| Neutering |
£80 - £140 |
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| Microchipping | £10 - 25 | |
| Collar, Lead and ID tags |
£20 |
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| Bedding |
£15 - 50 |
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Be honest. You bought the video camera to film your dog’s contacts, not the family get together at Christmas. Don’t lie. You choose that wristwatch not because it was stylish but because it had a stopwatch mode. It all adds up. In fact, training fees are getting so expensive that in order to finance your dog’s education you buy a complete set of agility equipment and set up your own private club. At least that will get the A-frame out of your back garden and you can have a lawn again.
Transport
How I envy those agility handlers who drive to a show with just one
dog. Through the window Shep or Fido is quietly asleep
on the back seat (on the wrong side of the tubular dog guard £23.99) re-charging his batteries
for the next run. But the more dogs you get, the more
difficult it is to keep the mud and dirt off the upholstery.
You no longer offer friends a lift to the pub (no room with all your training clobber
and too much dog hair). You upgrade to an estate car and
then a van because you need a motor that is roomy and reliable. The AA (basic membership £42) is sick of towing you and your dogs back home from
motorway service stations.
You need a large van not only to transport all your dogs safely around the country, but to store waterproofs, wellies, and spare vet beds (someone is always sick). The custom made cages (approx. £500) you order for the van will stop your terrier perching on your shoulder to point out passing pheasants. You become a snail that carries his home on his back and you pack everything, just in case. You may be seriously over drawn at the bank, but you won’t starve if you break down in the Peak District.
There's
no business like show business
Well, that’s why you do all that training.
When you begin your agility career, you attend only local shows.
Who in their right mind wants to get up at the crack of dawn? There are still engagements in your diary for weekend trips to the cinema or
museums.
As your commitment to agility grows, you book more shows and start to buy envelopes and stamps in bulk. The Agility Aid Organiser (£7) lists all the qualifiers you want to attend and helps you prioritise your entries. You subscribe to The Eye (£21.00 per year) and The Voice (£21.50 per year) so you can see how you are doing in the league tables.
Can you really justify the expense of a computer just so that you can download schedules? Choosing between an agility show or your sister’s wedding is a major headache. You start booking your holiday so you can attend weeklong agility extravaganzas. No matter, the weather will be good and your friends at work will see your tan and think you have been to the Med, not Ipswich.
You
may have saved yourself the cost of a foreign holiday and kennelling fees, but don’t delude
yourself. With entry fees averaging £2 a class and the
amount petrol you are using, you could have circled the globe.
And when you can’t get to a show in a single journey, you book a B & B (£15-£35) the
night before.
When the proprietors refuse to let your six dogs sleep in the bedroom with you, you consider buying a caravan (Caravan Club membership £27.50 per year). You can save a little bit by offering to ring party at shows in exchange for free camping, but I’m so sorry. You will have to do a lot of pole picking up if you want to recoup the price of you caravan.
Clothes
- You are what you wear
Are you one of these people that can wear a sweatshirt with a
different club logo for each day of the week? If I bring home one more fleece (Result Active Fleece £17.50) from a show, my
husband has threatened to lock me in the wardrobe. Mind
you, it’s bursting with all my other agility clothes, and he’ll never get the door shut.
No matter what the weather, I have something appropriate to wear on my head or on my feet. I have shoes to wear when the ground is dry, wet or lumpy. Did you really want Dita Terminators (MRRP £34.99) instead of those kitten heels? But, what the Hell. You’re going training instead of whooping it up at the work’s dinner dance. Once again, you can do your best to qualify for the big finals and get a sweatshirt or fleece free. But you will have to take what you are given and you won’t be able to choose your favourite colour.
Miscellaneous
costs
Look carefully at the categories where Victoria Horsley has use '£various.'
She means the items that can be potentially the most expensive.
I had a dog that destroyed my settee in the time it took a kettle to boil.
And my latest puppy was allowed home only if I promised to replace it with a new one. This pup has chewed through two leads, two collars and a Halti in the space of ten days. The only time I get any rest is when I lock the dogs up in their cages (Barjo Folding Kennel 24 x 18 x 20 inch £40.50 and Vet Bed 20 x 14 inch £7.95). I suppose the next step is to build outdoor kennels with runs. It’s really a question of semantics. You don’t buy 'toys' (Exelpet Fun Ball £3.99), but 'training aids.' How many rubber bones has your dog dropped in the river? Ever loose one of those balls on a rope up a tree? Do you buy new squeaky toys when the old ones stop squeaking?
Economy
drive
How far will you go? Your house is probably the most expensive
item you will ever purchase. The last time I moved I told the estate agent I wanted a garden
big enough to throw a ball and set up a dog walk. I described the ideal location as near a
motorway so I could get to shows easily.
In the end, almost every item on the household budget is agility related. Few decisions are made without considering how they will affect the dogs. I know that there are lots of short cuts and savings that can be made, but as I get older, I crave my creature comforts more and more. I’m tired of getting in the passenger side of my car because the driver’s side is stuck and I wonder how much it will cost to get a TV for the caravan.
I confess that every penny I earn is spent on agility. You may think I’m a nut, that I’m blinkered, or that I’m wasting my time. Well, you don’t know what you’re missing and you couldn’t even begin to imagine what a good time I have with my dogs - they’re worth it! So, come on down. The price is right!
About
the author...
Mary Ann Nester is a member of
APDT. Born in the USA, she came to Britain in 1972 as a student. She has pursued a mixed career
- fruit picker, gymnastic coach, keep-fit instructor and academic librarian. In 1997 she set up
Aslan Enterprises, a dog-training school named after her first agility dog.
Running Aslan, a lurcher dog, at agility competitions got Mary Ann hooked on the sport and Bounty, a German Shepherd Dog, and Tam, the Border Collie were soon added to the household.
Mary Ann's most successful dog to date has been Brillo Pad, a Miniature Poodle who took her to Olympia and Crufts. Brillo also competed in the Draw Challenge on National Lottery Live!, winning Mary Ann the privilege of pushing the button that released the evening's lottery balls in front of millions of television viewers.
Daz, another miniature poodle and most recent addition, was bought for competition in the Mini ring, but grew too tall! He has proved that size doesn't matter. He entertained the crowds at Olympia as one of the 'fun dogs' and has strut his stuff in the ABC competition (Any Breed but Collie) at Crufts. She and Daz placed second in The Agility Club Midi Dog of the Year 2001.
Mary Ann is a member of the first British Team to compete in the FCI World Championships 2001 in Portugal.
She has recently moved to Northamptonshire and writes regular articles for both The Agility Eye and Agility Voice as well as Agilitynet.
From Jane Gemmill
Such a true article! When my daughter
started agility I said 'I hope this isn't going to be as expensive as the pony hobby.' No no,
they all said - no special clothes needed! We now have seven dogs, one caravan, one camper van
and several pairs of running shoes.
(30/05/02)
From a first timer...
After reading this I may not now be taking Murphy, my
pointer/collie cross, to our second agility training tonight! It's like the health warning on a
packet of cigarettes, I may not know what I'm getting into and it will be too late when I have.
(12/03/02)
From
Di Poingdestre
Having just read Mary Ann Nester article about the expense of having a
dog - which was excellent and so close to the truth, can you add that if you live in Jersey -
you also have the added cost of getting to the Mainland so we can enter the shows.
For one vehicle and two adults on the boat - it will cost us £300 at Easter and £400 at August. Also if we brought the caravan back with us that would be another £250/£300 on top. At least the dogs go free.
We work all year - so that we can enjoy and afford our trips away. (01/03/02)
From Liz Stedman...
Loved reading your article. I am sending it to a friend who has just
started agility so as she will know what she's letting herself in for.Although I suspect she
already knows, having heard it all from me.
I well remember a couple of years ago meeting a stall holder who was surprised to see me although the show was less than an hours drive from home. Apparently a few years earlier when embarking on my new hobby, I had remarked to him, as my obedience trainer, "oh I will only do local shows".
When he reminded me of this I replied 'but this is a local show, I now travel 2-3 hours to get cold, wet and disheartened!' I started with a Standard Poodle which necessitated changing my Mini to a VW Polo and then, as the three Vizlas were added, I had to get the standard agility car, Vauxhall Astra Estate. The 3-man tent became a trailer tent and then a small caravan. (25/02/02)
From Penny Cockerill
What a hoot! I laughed out loud. It is all so true and I can see just
How I am going to end up - no retirement in the sun but a motor home to tour the UK shows!
(22/02/02)
From Sam Butchart
Thank goodness there was not a calculation at the end! Loved it
but... the really sad thing is that I can relate to the whole lot. LOL.
(22/02/02)
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If
you are like most of us, you probably never admit to yourself how much money you spend on
agility. The final sum would send you into epileptic shock. I would rather have my dogs than a
Ralph Lauren wardrobe, and you can keep the Costa del Sol for yourself – I’ll spend my holiday
at Dogs In Need. These days I make few purchases that are not dog orientated – whether they be
a pair of shoes or a new car. Agility is not a hobby It’s why I go out to work! Mary Ann
Nester calculates the real cost.
Food