Mental health

A German Shepherd is a beautiful dog to keep @Strawberry1, but they require such alot of care. I don't know how experienced you are with dog keeping. Would your daughter be around to help you with training? They are highly intelligent, but you still need to put in the hard work when they are young.

I always wanted a Doberman Pinscher, but unfortunately, i have run out of good health to have another dog after Gus. Talking of Gus, you could do worse than adopt a Staffordshire Bull Terrier; the council kennels here always have a Staffy in need of a good home. You would be doing a good deed, and saving yourself a small fortune into the bargain.

Dog food doesn't have to cost the earth, but with Gus, i determined that he was going to eat a raw diet, and i see the expense as an insurance policy against future bad health. I simply couldn't have afforded it with a large dog, as raw fed dogs need betweem 2 and 3 % of their body weight per day, depending on exercise levels.

There are plenty of decent quality dry kibble complete foods, but who wants to eat the same thing every day for 1 or 2 months? That's how long some of those massive bags of kibble can last. Like us, the canid thrives on variety in the diet.

When i was a lad, our dogs just got Pedigree Chum and biscuit mixer, but we didn't know then what is common knowlege now. Canned food and mixer, despite containing alot of unnecessary 'filler', it actually works out as expensive as a raw diet.

I could bore on much further, but i've said too much already. I only know what i know through experience. A friendly and knowlegeable pet food wholesaler helped me alot in the past. You won't get service like that in Pets At Home! I say independents like that are worth paying a little extra.