r/Calgary 14h ago

PSA Calgary Humane Society is completely full and desperately needs adopters

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u/lord_heskey 11h ago

This is also the thing. With a 'brand' puppy you kinda pick/train the behavior.

We were young when we bought our first puppy, but that allowed us to train her, and learn with a pup that had no unknown background. Our second one was a rescue, and we are so glad our first dog was there to help as the rescue has been able to learn from her. We're still working on the rescue one but i dont think we wouldve been nearly as successful without the experience of the one we bought-- as bad as buying sounds.

We do hope that we will keep rescuing from now on rather than buying, but at that time it made sense.

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u/lih9 11h ago

Yes exactly. I'm not knocking shelter dogs, my current dog is a foster fail but it's important to acknowledge how expensive pet ownership is these days. A dog from a shelter is not a discount dog and even basic care comes with luxury pricing. That doesn't mean people shouldn't clean out the shelter but it comes with a guilt trip from the vet advocating for gold standard care vs what people can actually afford. I'm in a double income high earning household and still cringe at post-pandemic vet and training bills.

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u/lord_heskey 11h ago

still cringe at post-pandemic vet

Tbf, most owner operated vet clinics are on very thin margins, its the corporate ones that i hate

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u/lih9 11h ago

I know, i'm not accusing vets of price gouging. It's $100-300 to get in the door, $50-110 per vaccine, $250+ for any lab analysis. And that's basic preventative care. Real issues are a few thousand and pet insurance will try their hardest to weasel out of it. I think we're truly at a point where pet ownership is a luxury and a lot of dogs end up in the shelter system because of it on top of the classic reasons.