Meet Binky the Min Pin

This is Binky. He is our lone surviving dog after we had to put our dog Buddie to sleep a few weeks ago.

Binky looks cute but don't be fooled- he is a little a-hole. He barks at everything, he refuses to poop outside, he once had a chewing compulsion (though thankfully he has finally grown out of it) and no matter how much we take him outside he still tries to run out the door every chance he gets (not smart considering it is winter and he not genetically equipped to rough it in the cold wilderness). We love him though and now that Buddie is gone I am very scared that something is going to happen to Binky.

Today I took Binky to a long overdue vet appointment where he had a checkup. He got a clean bill of health and some Heartguard to last until he can get a heartworm/lyme test in a few months. $115 later I feel good- well good about him being good but not good about dropping $115 plus having to drop some more cash when he goes back for his testing.

I am also going to have his teeth cleaned, of which we have never done before. It will cost about $250 so I am going to start saving up now. Why so much? They have to put the dog under general anesthesia and then they do a complete cleaning, just like a human would get. If I don't have his teeth cleaned it could open him up to complications in his future health- I really believe that the cause of Buddie's liver failure could have been complications from us not taking care of his teeth. I may be crazy but I don't want to take that chance ever again.

I am in no way going to start setting a place at the dinner table for Binky or throwing him birthday parties, but the passing of Buddie has given me a reality check on being a dog owner. Dogs are dogs but they rely on their owners to take care of them and to make sure they are healthy. We made the commitment to give Binky a good life when we bought him five years ago and it will cost a bit of money to do that.

So as a warning to everyone thinking of getting a dog- they are not a frugal thing to have.