Super bargain-hunter and her pug snap up £500 of freebies

Expert bargain-hunter Anushka Fernando has treated her pet pug Bertie to £500 worth of freebies, and she insists you can take advantage of almost £100 worth of giveaways right now for your dog too.

As anyone with pets knows, the little furry blighters can be inordinately expensive. In fact, the 8.5 million pet owners in the UK spend around £10.6 billion on their pets every year - which works out at around £1,252 each.

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Bertie recently needed an operation to correct a spinal condition, and after forking out £6,000, Anushka decided that something had to be done to bring the cost of pet ownership down. She entered competitions, applied for samples, and took advantage of freebies, to get £500 of treats for Bertie. This included over £200 worth of dog food.

There's still almost £100 worth freebies up for grabs:

1. Free microchipping - worth £30
The Dogs Trust is a brilliant charity that has been taking a roadshow around the country, allowing people to get their dogs chipped for free. You can check the website to see when it will be near you. Alternatively, you can check if a vet near you is taking part in the scheme.

2. Free Tails dog food - worth £27
This is a bespoke food tailored to your dog's age, breed and health needs - and Tails are giving away 2 weeks' worth of food for free. All you pay is £1 postage. At the moment, along with the deal you also get a £40 voucher for a pet-friendly holiday

3. Free Happy Dog puppy starter pack - worth £15
This freebie from Happy Dog includes puppy food, dog poo bags and some money off vouchers, so could be the freebie that keeps on giving.

4. Free Happy Dog 1kg bag - worth £5
If that's not enough of a freebie from the company. You can also go online and print out the voucher for a free 1kg bag of dog food.

5. Top Collar Treat box - worth £5
You can get a box of luxury Top Collar treats, if you pop along to the Facebook page and comment on the offer with a picture of your dog.

6. B.One Perfumed Dog Shampoo - sample
Apparently it'll make your dog smell great, after just a brush, so may be worth a try if your dog is forever rolling in things.

7. Little Chompers pet food - sample
Again it's just a sample, but this dried food makes for useful little treats too.

8. Wafcol dog food - sample
It may only be a sample, but it's a free meal for your dog. Just visit the website and complete your details. However, it's worth being aware that you'll have to wait a while for delivery because this has been a popular offer.

9. Husse dog food - sample
You can request a free sample of this healthy Swedish dog food through the website.

10. Nature's Harvest - sample
This is a healthy, natural, gluten-free dog food, and you can get a sample through the website. They ask that only those seriously considering buying request a sample, but there's no compulsory purchase afterwards.

As Anushka found, if you have any time on your hands, it's also worth trying pet competitions - especially if you have a cute animal on your hands. GoCompare, for example, is currently running a competition on Twitter to win a hamper of goodies to 'posh up your pet'.