Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Newbie]

The fiance and I are looking into getting a dog. Prices seem pretty good, but just wondering what maintenance fees are like.

What have your experiences been with having a dog. Any unexpected fees/problems?

Thanks for your help

[eamo]

*Touches wood*....

Our 1 year old miniature Schaunzer has been well since we got him as a 6 week old (too young to leave mother, I know, but some Korean pet stores just don't care).

We paid 70k for the dog.
A total of around 150k for the complete course of immunisation shots.
25k about every 4 months for a haircut.
About 15k for 8kgs of food from the internet which lasts about 5 weeks.

Toys and beds and leashes and all that stuff are up to you.

On the other hand, my mate has a Beagle which was sick as a pup costing him over 1 million in vets fees. Roll of the dice.

[bignate]

When your thinking about getting a dog in Korea, money is a concern, however, the biggest caveat that I would now share, after raiseing an energetic, attention craving Cocker Spaniel in a Korean sized apartment, is.... unless someone can be home all the time, I wouldn't do it.....

I love my dog.....I raised him, and finally brought him home to Canada, he is wonderful, gentle, very well adjusted, but he has severe issues with seperation.... While I was in Korea, he had to stay in my apartment while I and my fiancee were at work, that worked out to often times, 6-8 hours a day depending on our schedules....

Although I had a great time with him in Korea, and he made my life so, so much better, and now he has a great life, much better than he ever would have had.....It somehow doesn't seem fair.....

[joe_doufu]

As you know the main problem with having a pet is that it ties you down, you're saddled with it for ten or fifteen years after making the decision, and that can be a real burden if your situation changes or if you want to move. In Korea that problem is reduced. You can simply cook and eat the dog if you decide you don't want it anymore.

[Newbie]

Thanks for the input guys.

Another question: How much does it cost to get the dog on an airplane to head home? (canada)

[Pligganease]

[antoniothegreat]

[joe_doufu]

[khyber]

our dog got hit by a car when she unexepectedly ran out from our park (WAY up on the mountain...)...
broke her leg. Then the silly thing REbroke her leg. She's been in a cast for 2 months now. One more month (to make it safe...)...poor animal.
Our vet was really? cool. We had to go for bidaily checkups at first and those have peterred <sp?> out. We never paid for any of those powders or dissinfectant treatments or anything. Even when they had to go in and reset the bone, we didn't pay for that either.
But that poor damn dog.
All in all, i kind of regret getting her cause no one is around our house for 6-8 hrs and the poor thing is alone now too. We DID get a cat to keep it SOME company but it just isn't enough (Especially as the cat isn't overly "playful" and tends to just run away). In THAT sense, i am VERY much with bignate.... you LOVE that dog and it's great, but you really feel you let it down when it's young.

Right after her operations we had to leave her in a crate all day to make sure she wouldn't run or jump around. Can you imagine? By yourself in a crate all day? She happily went into it every morning though. Until one day when she went in and got so nervous she started to heave...
That's when we cut out THAT shit...and made the sure the doctor slinted her up REALLY well and we let her stay out of her cage.

She HAS developed nerouses frm being alone so much. That makes me sad. We have a jindo mix and it's not really easy to leave those dogs in particular alone...they're quite social

sorry about that...just my own little pity party for my dog.

Anyways, taking her to canada:
no problem.
My experience (and i'd say pretty close to fact):
make sure she's up on all her shots. If you like, i can give you a list of shot types...i have all her certificates right here in my computer desk.
Flying air canada cost about 220$ to put her on the plane.

There is NO quaruntine in Canada. If you take your immunized dog in, you pay money (i think i paid 60$...she wasn't spayed but she was a puppy...4 months: I think a neuterred mature pet is cheaper than "au naturel") and take her right home.
If she DOESN'T have the necessary shots, my RESEARCH (though i don't know of anyone to support this...i DID read this on a government website though) is that you can bring her in BUT you must bring her to a vet to get immunized with...i think it was 3 months of entry and then bring her BACK to a something quaruntine office or something.

Hope that was sOME help

[Bee Positive]

In all seriousness, don't forget that dogs have a tendency to get eaten here.

I'd seriously recommend that you have the right breed.

Also, living in a dog-meat zone might bring your experiment in pet ownership to an untimely end.

I once lived within one to two minutes' walking time of at least three boshingtang joints.

At my new home here in Busan, I thought I was doing better (only one boshingtang restaurant round the corner), until I learned, courtesy of Swiss James's blog, that "yeong yang tang" (link: http://lostseouls.com/blog.php?date=nov-05 ) is also, well . . . dog meat.

Do you really want to own a dog in this country?

Could I suggest a pet rock?



BEE POSITIVE

[kat2]

My husband and I bought a dog here. She was taken away from her mother too young and had problems with ear infections and respiratory (sp?) infections. It cost us a lot of money to have her cared for at the vet. Especially since they made us come back EVERY 2 DAYS! What a pain in the ass. Then we flew here home, which cost about US$700 because we had to fly her out before we did, because most of hte airlines won't fly pets in the hot months(our contract ended in JUne). We are back in Korea now, which we never thought we would do and are about to fly her back over here from the states.
All that said, she is the perfect dog and all the money is well spent. When you are about to go ballistic on your hogwan owner, coming home to a loving dog is a great cure. It also makes it feel more like home. I would say go for it if you are ready to handle the extra hassle of getting it home. ANd no one is going to take your dog and eat it! Unless it is a really big dog, no one is going to care.

[chipotle]

I got my dog over here. As I'm sure you know, it's a big gamble. Even if you find a great pet store, most of the dogs still come from puppy mills. So it's pure luck if you find a happy and healthy dog. I was quite lucky, although my chihuahua did come with the "normal" puppy sicknesses- brought him home and he had worms (honestly, it would have been a big shock if he *didn't* have worms!) He also had a cold which was a mild case of pneumonia- easy to treat with some syrup. I'd also recommend not taking it outside at all until it's done with all of its shots (I think that's where the pneumonia came in, by my taking him out on the first day- learned my lesson after that!) If you want to do it the absolute right way, I'd recommend finding a good vet first and asking if he or she can help you find a breeder- yes it'll cost more, but it's definitely less of a gamble and the vet bills will be quite lower.

In regards to vet bills, the pet store I went to paid for the worm/pneumonia treatment- I'm sure this isn't the norm, but my vet was very helpful and actually called the store for me to tell them he was sick so the shop owner came over to pay for it. According to Korean law, you're given a 15 day guarantee for dogs and if something happens you can either get a refund or trade for a new pup. Unfortunately, animals are just treated as products over here. The rest of the series of shots were anywhere from 27,000-35,000 won/visit depending on what he was due for, and I believe it took 4 visits.

The food I get costs about 10,000 won/bag and lasts about a month. Plus I get the economy-sized packages of "pee-pads" which is another 10,000/month maybe. Plane tickets are about $200 or so and depending on the airline they might even be able to fly right under your seat- I made sure over and over that my dog would be able to fly with me when the time comes! Then throw in the random treats, accessories (clothes, as ridiculous as they may look, are highly recommended if you ever travel with it if you have a particularly small breed), beds, and traveling bag, and you're got yourself quite a bill! In general, as a life-long dog owner, I find owning a dog here is not too different than owning a dog back home, especially if you used to live in a city. Sorry this is so long, but some last few things to consider:

-Before you even begin to search for Fido, make sure you've found some "volunteers" to pet sit if the situation arises. Korea is generally a dog-friendly traveling place, but you never know when you'll need someone to watch the dog for you.

-make sure you always have some "backup" money in case something bad happens and you need to make an emergency trip to the vet

-not sure if you've owned a dog before, but read up on dog training books- I highly recommend Brian Kilcommon's "Good Owners, Great Dogs"- he really knows what he's talking about. The best way to keep your apartment in one piece is to have a well-trained dog.

-if you have a small apartment, make sure you get an appropriate breed. Some dogs are deceivingly small, but need a bit more room to burn off their energy (read: Jack Russell's are not good for an apartment!) yorkies, pugs, or chihuahuas are usually your best bet... and small poodles are awfully smart and great for training.

I'm sorry this post was so long, but as you can tell I'm definitely a dog person. Overall, my experience owning a dog here has been positive, but I've heard may stories of people with constantly sick dogs. Just make sure you're ready for the commitment, both emotional and financial. You just never know what you're getting into when you buy a dog in Korea.

[Chillin' Villain]

I have a dog too, and despite the problems of living in an apartment in a crowded neighbourhood (viz. trying to walk the dog on a sidewalk packed with hakwon twerps), I'm happy to have her.

Things to consider:

1)Pee and poop. Dogs produce both in pretty big quantities. Best is for them to have a routine for walks outside (2-3 times a day), but you can't always do that regularly if you've got a rough work schedule.

2)Hair. My beast sheds so much I could probably collect the hair and make a (disgusting) coat out of it. You notice the hair MUCH more in a small-ish apartment with shiny hardwood floors- you really do!

3)Lonely dog. Really depends on the energy level of your breed, too. Some breeds are pretty content to sit on their asses all day... Mine's a herding breed, though, so when I get home she is expecting 100% energy and attention time. You better not be expecting to nap peacefully after work!

Anyways, I got mine cuz I had a four-hour-a-day work schedule, so I knew I could give her enough attention. Although the first six months have been a trial, I'm happy to have her, and will never give her up.

How could I?
�� (Jjong)

[Newbie]

Thanks for all your help folks, I appreciate it.

[krats1976]

This has been said so many times on this board it's starting to become cliche...

...but I'll say it again:

There are lots of animal shelters in Korea and most (probably all) are over-capacity with dogs that people got because they were cute and cuddly at the pet store or got as a gift with cell phone purchase (or something equally rediculous), then found they were a lot of work. PLEASE find one and check there first. In all likelyhood you'll find the breed you want there too.



As for vets, some are crap, but some are fantastic. My friend recommended me a vet here in Gwangju and he takes excellent care of my 'kids.' He also discounts his already low (compared to the US) prices for me and gives me free stuff every time I come in.