Kids can benefit from pet economics

By Steve Rosen
Knight Ridder Newspapers

This topic has caused me lots of grief on the home front. I'm talking about dogs.

For the last couple of years, my kids have been lobbying for one. Big dog, small dog, any kind of dog.

Nothing against nice fluffy puppies, but I figure that the last thing we need in our three-kid, on-the-go household is a pet to feed and care for. I'm busy. My wife is busy. My kids are busy.

Besides, we own six tropical fish, which make for fine companions. Sure, fish need food and water, but they don't cost much to buy and don't need to be walked, groomed and taken to the vet. Cleanup is minimal, too.

My kids, of course, are unimpressed with such reasoning, which is why I expect the puppy pleas to continue with the holiday season and birthdays on the horizon.

As parents, we know kids who want a pet — whether it's a gerbil, snake, cat or dog — will promise us anything. Perhaps your kids have used the "I want a dog and you can take part of my allowance" line.

How should you respond?

Try running your children through a few lessons in pet economics. After all, owning a pet can be expensive.

For example, Bill Cleveland, a dog breeder in Shreveport, La., estimates that raising a puppy will cost about $2,000 the first year to cover food, vet bills and other expenses.

"The cost goes down after that," said Cleveland, who raises service dogs for people with disabilities. "But you are still looking at (spending) at least $500 a year in food, if you get decent food."

Vicky Collins, a financial planner in Dallas, suggests holding a family meeting to go over the money issues.

If your kids want a puppy, for example, assign each child the responsibility of finding out the costs of food, shots, annual checkup costs, even boarding costs if you will be vacationing and leaving the pet behind.

Your kids should also check into the breeds they are interested in, whether they want a dog from the pound or a purebred, and the differences in prices. You might also assign an older child to research the pros and cons of pet insurance for unexpected injuries or illnesses and make a recommendation to the family, Collins said.

For help researching and talking over these and other issues, check out the Web site of the American Veterinary Medical Association at www.avma.org. It has a kids' section designed to teach responsible pet ownership. The Humane Society of the United States, at www.hsus.org, also has helpful pet care information.

Once the costs are determined and you've decided who will be taking care of the pet, you should be ready to make an informed buying decision.

And if your son or daughter promises to help pay for the pet?

"It sounds kind of cheap in a way," Collins said, "but it's really a smart thing to do. Kids need to know what things cost, and they need to learn how to be responsible for upkeep. Better to learn this lesson with a pet vs. a house, car or other high-dollar item."

But if you require your kids to help pay for a pooch, perhaps they'll learn another economic lesson — that six fish might be a better deal than one dog.