approximately how much would it cost to adopt a husky puppy in Maine?

You should avoid getting either a puppy or even an older dog, if your income is limited. Unfortunately there is no way of calculating the cost of having a dog.

At the outset a puppy will need its vaccinations/shot and worming tablets. In addition to this, there will be other veterinary costs. Perhaps you can afford insurance, however this does not cover every visit to the vets. Even if a procedure is claimable, you will often have to pay the vet when you collect your dog.

You will need grooming equipment, bedding, leads and collars, cleaning equipment and countless incidentals. You will need either a fenced garden or yard to enable you to take your dog out to eliminate. A puppy will need to be taken out at least once an hour during the day when it is being house trained, it will also need to be taken out during the night and immediately it wakes up in the morning. A puppy cannot hold on until you get dressed and you will feel vulnerable taking it out, if you do not have a fenced area for it to use as a toilet.

Although you will be diligent when house training a puppy, there are always accidents on the carpets. A puppy will also chew and possibly damage your furniture; consequently you have to make provision for the cost of replacements. A rescue dog will usually be clean in the house and you might think that he can cope without a fenced area for a toilet. Can you imagine taking a dog for a walk on a lead every time that it needs to urinate?

A puppy is noisy consequently if your neighbours can hear it, they may complain. If you are in rented accommodation, you will be responsible for any damage that your puppy makes and you may be evicted if your neighbours complain about the noise.

There are people who leave their dog alone when they go to work, then they wonder why their dog eliminates in the house. Yes there are dogs which will “hold on” all day, this leads to bowel and bladder problems and more visits to the vets. A dog needs human companionship and socialisation. If a dog is left alone all day, it will be miserable and lonely. In addition to this it could become an aggressive hooligan.

There are ways around this, if you take your dog for a long walk before you leave it, come home at lunchtime and either pay a dog walker or get a friend to take your dog for walks. In all of this, forget your social life because you must rush home to take your dog out again.