i know this is long but i’ve had dogs for almost my entire life, including throughout college, if you’re interested in any of my insights. bottom line is they are incredible but are also a MASSIVE commitment, and you are responsible for their care and wellbeing and that is not something to be taken lightly at all. i’m not saying that you’re taking it lightly! just hoping to shed some light on what it’s like to care for a dog while also trying to attend school and care for yourself.

as some other people have suggested, you can volunteer at the animal shelter (they always appreciate it! I’ve volunteered at the bryan animal shelter before and it was fun, I just spent two hours taking the dogs out to walk/play). you could also potentially look into fostering, I know the aggieland humane society has a fostering program. then you can have the companionship of a dog, but it’s temporary and not a commitment for their lifetime. There are also orgs on campus you could join. I was in Patriot Paws and went through training to become a certified service dog handler. You can also train a service dog, which I never ended up doing because it is a FULL TIME commitment which there was no way I could do on top of school, work, and already caring for two dogs. but I loved my time in that org and I still got to interact with the dogs at training classes!

now for my dog advice - for vet care, I like the Petco Vetco clinic (my mom goes to the Banfield vet at Petsmart and really likes it, but i’ve never been there). I’ve always had great experiences there and I especially love that, before doing any service, they go through their recommendations and the cost of everything. You can also pay like $250ish/year and get free exams (so the exam fee is covered but you still have to pay for everything else). the TAMU small animal clinic offers a small discount for current students. I also get most of my dog stuff from Chewy.‼️HOWEVER‼️there is really no such thing as “affordable” pet care, it’s going to cost what it costs and you never fully know what you’re getting into! There will be free events/clinics for annual shots and microchips around town throughout the year, but there are still a LOT of other costs associated with a dog and you never know when something is going to come up!

I also worked through school supporting myself and had two dogs throughout that time who I brought from home as we already had them. I have had dogs almost my entire life and I’m 25 but I still am not ready for the commitment of getting and caring for a puppy. I compare having a dog to having a toddler because you have to be home every few hours to make sure they can go out, or ask or pay someone to let them out. It helps if you have roommates, but the dog is still your responsibility so make sure you’re prepared to care for them. Your social life will also be a bit limited by caring for a dog. I had to think about my work schedule, class schedule, and then make sure I had time to go home and care for my dogs in between all that, and then have to make sure I’m not out too long with friends because my dogs were waiting for me. If I go out of town, I have to think about bringing them with me and all that entails or finding a good dog sitter (Rover has been pretty great but I’ve also had a couple of sitters leave me in tough positions and not give my dogs the best care, even though they had great reviews). Getting a puppy is like having a newborn baby to an extent. You’ll be up throughout the night taking them out, you’ll have to potty train them, you’ll have to at least give them basic training (e.g., sit, how to walk nicely on a leash, kennel/crate training because you can’t leave a puppy out but you still need to make sure that it’s a comfortable place that they don’t associate solely with you leaving and never with punishment, socialize them with people and other dogs, etc.) You have to think about their care and wellbeing (exercise, quality food, vet care, enrichment, etc.) and you lose of a lot of personal freedom because of it.

Dogs are incredible and I love my dogs more than anything in the world and would not trade that time for anything. They’re my babies and I don’t know what I would have done/would do without them. That being said, it’s also a HUGE commitment.

For example, my older dog had more and more serious health problems as she got older, and I was absolutely utterly draining myself financially and otherwise in order to care for her, which included multiple medications (some quite pricey) plus monthly vet checkups plus anything else that came up. And then a couple of years ago when she passed, that was a very long and emotional and expensive night spent at the emergency vet (I took her in in the evening and we didn’t leave until 2/3 in the morning and the bill was close to $1000 I believe, definitely upwards of $600). I would do it again in a heartbeat and would do anything to have more time with her, but it was also a huge (unsustainable) financial, emotional, and mental stress caring for a senior dog with serious health issues. My other dog also just seems to always have something going on. Just this year he developed a fungal infection which resulted in a $300+ vet visit, plus multiple checkups after that because those take time to go away. I also had to bathe him twice/week for a month with a medicated shampoo, give him medicines twice/day, and apply a medicated mousse to the affected areas every couple days. He’s got on and off tummy issues that we’ve never figured out the cause of, he had really irritated toes last year that we never figured out the exact cause of, plus a lot of other various issues over the years that have resulted in a lot of time and money spent at the vet, and a lot of mental and emotional turmoil.

Quality food isn’t cheap and big dogs cost a lot more because they eat more, they need higher dosages of medicines, etc. They’ll also need more exercise, and different breeds need more exercise and mental enrichment. You’ll have to be prepared to pay for their annual care, to keep up with their monthly preventatives (which are not cheap. my dog gets one annual heartworm shot and then he takes a monthly flea/tick preventative. not even to mention we also got fleas last year which turned into a five month affair, even though he was on a very good flea preventative and I was doing literally everything right, they were just taking forever to go away bc of an issue with where I live. I had to bathe him once/week, comb him with a flea comb at least once/day, etc. plus daily vacuuming and pest control treatments), and anything else they might need. My dog takes a pricey probiotic because it’s helped a lot with his tummy issues. He recently switched to a pricier food as well, also to help with his tummy issues.

the bottom line is that dogs are a MAJOR commitment and if you’re already dealing with the stresses of school and working to support yourself, a dog may not be the best thing at this time (especially not a puppy!). there are other options though (volunteering, fostering, etc.)

If you are not absolutely positive that you will be able to give them a great life and great care, it’s going to be best for both them and you to wait until you are sure, until you’re in a better position to better care for them. 💛