- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
I spent a lot. Both dogs are big and older and have joint issues. They take daily supplements. And allergy issues. One dog has had knee surgery.
Their food is exspensive. And there's grooming. And occasional vet visits. (And boarding if you go out of town.)
I don't know what the ballpark figure would be...but it's expensive.
Whatever you do, get pet insurance. That would have saved me $$$.
That said...I absolutely adore having my dogs and life wouldn't be the same without them.
A lot. 
Honestly, it's hard to say. Like you said it varies regionally, and also on the individual dog.
You have dog food and supplies, vet visits every 3-4 weeks until they are about 16 weeks old, spay/neuter, annual vet visits, monthly heartworm and flea/tick prevention, arrangements when you go away, training classes, and then there is no way to count in possible emergency costs.
With 2 labs, you're looking at a lot of dog food, and you can count on regular vet visits for allergies/skin/ear issues (obv. this varies regionally but labs are what we see most often in the clinic where I work!) and for eating things they're not supposed to! I would recommend injury and illness pet insurance for most any dog. Annuals aren't worth covering, but when your dog needs an $1800 cruciate repair surgery it comes in handy!
Sorry if this didn't help at all, but I wanted to shed light that you are right, they are an expensive hobby.
We have a lab mix and here's our breakdown:
$250 per year on vaccinations and heartworm/flea/tick meds (just had this appointment a couple weeks ago and we buy these meds a year at a time)
$45 every 3-4 weeks on her food (so about $675 a year - we buy Blue Buffalo food though so there are certainly less expensive food options out there)
$20 every 2 months on her acid reflux meds (so about $120 a year and obviously most dogs don't need this).
$125 at the kennel every time we go out of town for the weekend (~$40/day - This total cost will vary depending on how much you travel)
~$100-$150 in toys and treats each year (but she destroys toys so we go through them more quickly than most)
$11 for each nail trim/grind (about once a month so about $132 a year - we could do this at home but she HATES it so we'd rather not fight with her - we'll let the pros handle it)
We adopted our dog from a shelter when she was about 1.5 so she already had all of her initial puppy shots, spay/neuter, microchip, etc. Since she is a lab she doesn't need lots of grooming (we just bath her at home in the bath tub when needed) but some breeds would require trims and such with some frequency.
So in total, we spend a little over $1300 + kenneling (which is a variable cost) a year probably on our dog. Obviously if you have an emergency or major health issue come up, that will increase.
The first year there were a lot of one-time costs (spay/neuter, microchip, frequent shots, obedience school etc.) so I'd say in the first year we spent around $1000...but after that the costs go down significantly to probably around $350-400 a year or so (food, toys, vet checkups, occasional boarding). We have a healthy, happy dog though. If your dog needs extra training or has medical issues, obviously costs are going to be a lot more than that.
We just adopted our 5 year old dog in February, and we have spent roughly $2k. However, when we got her she needed all her vaccines, and also had an infection that needed to be treated with meds for several months. We also feed her natural dog food which is a little pricier (about $30/month).
To be honest, I wasn't ever a big dog person. We had a dog growing up but my mom mostly took care of her. But getting our dog has changed my views. I am in LOVE with her. Seriously, I cant imagine not having her. She brings so much joy to our life. And even though they can be expensive, its worth it.
Man, I don't think I even want to know. The first year is definitely the worst in regards to spending money.
Our pup is really spoiled so she gets a lot of toys, which adds up. She's small though, which is good for food costs. Having 2 large dogs is going to be expensive when it comes to food.
Honestly, I don't even think about it...The benefits far outweigh the money negatives. ETA: if I had to take a guess, maybe like $1,000 a year? That's with vet visits, food, toys, everything.
We have a 3.5 year old Jack Russell Terrier, who (so far, knock on wood!) hasn't had any major health problems. Our yearly spending is:
$400-500/year on vet visit/heartworm/vaccines/flea and tick
$46.50/week on dog walker (we both work M-F 9-5, dog walker comes 3 days a week, the other 2 days he goes "visiting" to each of our parents houses - he is a very social dog!)
$30/every 3 months on food
$20/every 2 months on nail clipping - we could do this ourselves, but our little guy HATES to have this done, and after he head butted me and gave me a black eye while we were trying to do it, we decided to let the professionals handle it!
$100-$150/year on toys/treats/new leashes, etc. - Jack Russell's destroy toys, so he needs new things to play with fairly often.
ETA: Obviously, the killer in our dog-stuff budget is the dog walking, but I really feel like that is a necessity if you both work "typical" schedules - dogs really shouldn't go 9-10 hours without getting a chance to go outside and do their thing.
I just thought that I would add that, IMO, the benefits of our dog far outweigh the costs. I never even really think about the costs (I was sitting here coming up with them strictly for your post). She brings so much joy to our lives and we are looking to get a second dog very soon.
@Mrs.KMM: I totally agree. I gagged a little when I added up all the money we spend, but our dog is really one of the best things in our lives, he is just so sweet and loving, and we love spending time with him.
For my healthy 80 pound dog I spend a pretty penny. Her food is $28 a month (and that's the cheapest I've ever seen it - she eats Diamond Naturals). On top of that I probably spend $20 on toys every month to replace the ones she's broken, $10 on treats, plus the cost of frontline and heart guard (forget how much they cost - I buy them 6 months at a time). Then every year she has her checkup and vaccines (I would contact a local vet to see how much that would cost you).
Once she gets older I anticipate the vet bills will increase significantly. If you ever go on vacation you have to consider the added cost of either bringing them or boarding them while your gone. I also thoroughly recommend investing in puppy classes.
This link has a pretty comprehensive list of costs associated with dog ownership (and that's just for 1 dog): http://dogs.about.com/od/becomingadogowner/a/costofdogs.htm
The first year is a lot of one off expenses (getting fixed, first round of shots, supplies, training etc). After that it isn't too bad, probably about $400 for both our dogs for shots/heartguard for the year. The food we buy is kind of expensive ($50 a bag) but worth it because a higher protein diet means the dog consumes less, plus our dog has some kind of allergy and when we switched foods she stopped scratching and chewing. There's the dog licenses which are $25 per dog each year where we live. There are also toys to think about but that varies by dog.
We have it kind of easy tho because I work nights and DH works at home so we don't need a dog walker or doggy day care. If we go out of town my parents or BIL watch the dogs. There is an occasional emergency trip to the vet but they are few and far between.
It depends if it is a good... healthy year or a bad year.
First year, we got her she was sick and so there were quite a few vet visits. We finally treated her IBS with prescription dog food.
On a good/ healthy year, my costs are about $600-800 a year. If she's a sick doggie than closer to $1000 or more.
ETA: Oh, I forgot about boardings and such. Probably on a good year, overall, it is closer to $1000 and on a bad year, it's over $1000.
We have two medium size dogs (55 pounds each)
Frontline: 150
Interceptor(Heartworm Med): 180
Yearly Vet Visit: 300
Groomer (every other month): 240
Food Combined: 550
Toys/Bone Combined: 300
Total for two dogs: $2,600 or $1,300 per dog on average
Well, let's see. Once a year there's an office visit and shots (probably about $100-1 time). Plus the yearly heartworm test which is like $60. Then Frontline and Heartguard every month (probably another $20/month for both...though we only buy them every 6 months to a year). Food...usually we get a little over a month with a bad (so let's say $10/month). Then my dog has $30 worth of meds every month. Plus the occassional bath/grooming and new toys when she breaks hers. And treats. I'd budget in $75 a month....more in the beginning what with vet visits and all. Plus, always keep a little money tucked away in case he/she gets sick.
Definitely under $100/month... probably even under $50/month. But I think it depends alot on what kind of dog you have. I have 2 Labs that require almost no grooming other than an occational brushing, nail trim, and shampoo... and on the other hand I have a Scottish Terrier that needs to have his hairs cut every 2 months and constantly needs to be brushed to keep the knots at bay! Each breed can have varying costs.
A lot of it also depends on how much of their care you can take on yourself, like purchasing your own grooming tools (clippers, brushes, trimmers, shampoo, etc) vs paying a groomer, walking them vs, paying a dog walker, having dog friendly friends/family to care for your dog while you're away vs. kenneling.
Like everyone said, expect to pay the most in vet bills during the first and last years of their life.
Every penny is worth it. Every penny!
Just did some rough math, for food, treats, toys, vet, heart guard, frontline, occasional new leashes/collars/bowls/beds (no vacations or unplanned vet visits) I would estimate about $1200 a year. The first year would cost more, and that's just for 1 healthy dog.
I have two dogs. An Aussie - 50lbs - 2 1/2 years old and an Aussie mix - 35lbs - 3 years old. They are both generally young and healthy dogs so this is for regular "maintenance" type things. They don't go to the groomers since we just bathe & brush & clip nails at home.
This is just me sort of guestimating because I'm at work and don't have the vet receipts in front of me:
Food: $70 about once a month. We buy the big bag of Wellness CORE and every tenth bag is free (I think it's tenth at least....). Obviously you can spend much less if you go with a less expensive brand but I am a dog food snob so this is what we spend. But count on a lot of food for two big labs!
Vet: Each dog has a vet bill of about $300 once a year. This includes rabies shots, county registration, bordetella & distemper vaccines, (maybe another vaccine as well?), heartworm test, general well check, etc. This also includes 6 months worth of flea/tick and heartworm medicine. The other 6 months costs us about another additional $150 per dog. We just don't get the whole 12 months worth at one time because we like to space out the costs.
Miscellaneous expenditures because their mama is a nut who likes to buy them things every time she's at the store: $25 or so per month. This includes treats, frisbees (my little girl is obsessed), balls and the rare stuffed toy (which they shred in minutes). It also includes stocking stuffers and birthday presents. Oh and maybe add an extra $30 for Halloween costumes. ;)
Boarding: We try to have my inlaws watch them whenever possible, but we occasionally have to board them if we're all going on vacation together or something. The place we go is $20 per night per dog. That includes extra playtime though.
I'm trying to think of more expenses but that really might be it! BUT my dogs are little grown ups now so they're less expensive. When they were puppies we also spent money on:
All the initial shots, vet visits, etc. Also, one of my dogs had giardia as a puppy and we had to treat them both and that took a while and cost an extra billion dollars.
Crate - invest in a good one. These can be expensive, but in my opinion, so worth it! Neither of my dogs use their crates anymore, but it really helped with potty training.
Leash, collar, harness, etc.
Training classes
Dog beds, bowls for food & water, etc. Also, we have this huge plastic storage bin that we put our bag of dog food in because I'm neurotic about bugs getting in it.
Toys - because I'm a believer that a bored puppy is a naughty puppy. And I just like to spoil the heck out of them :)
Ok, this has to be the longest message ever. Hopefully it helps some!
We have a black lab. He was actually born with a fatal liver condition that we found out about at 6 months old, and we spent upwards of $20,000+ saving his life.
Thankfully, his surgeries were successful, but he's still expensive to maintain. His special prescription food is $75 a bag (lasts a month), his medications total probably $150 a month, on top of vet visits, grooming, toys, etc.
He's turned out to be a pretty expensive puppy, but I wouldn't change a thing. We're living in my parent's in-law apartment right now because our house downpayment went to him, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! My life would not be the same without him.
A lot. Just in food alone we spend $150 a month for our 2 dogs (so $75 each). And our 2 cats cost us even more than the dogs...but its so worth it 
I have a dalmatian 60# & she eats about a 30# bag of food a month (California Natural). However I get 2 free bags soon cause they have a buy 10, get 1 free promo & that's like $80 of free food! yay :).
I also have to give her a suppliment called D-manose which helps her not get bladder infections & its about $30 for a container, but it lasts a few months.
She's never boarded, I always have had friends or family be able to watch her for me & they don't charge me to do that. She also doesn't play with toys. I've gotten them for her in the past but she doesn't really care. Where I work I sometimes get free dog toys, but there's nothing I can do to get her to play. If it has a squeaker in it, forget it, she hates those squeaker things!
Food & D-manose: $47/month
License/shots/exam: $7/month
Treats/Collar/Leash: $4/month
So overall, about $58/month or $700 a year. She's so worth it though :).
I spend about $1500 a year on my pug.
I think it's good you're thinking about the costs before getting a dog. While cost isn't something that I think about often, if someone can't afford to pay for vet costs, shots, food, etc. then it isn't fair to the dog :)
ETA: Pugs get a bad rap for their health problems, but mine doesn't have any. So that's just a cost for routine checkups, shots, pet insurance, food, grooming etc.
We have two large Pitbulls, both about 50 lbs.
$20 on food a month. We buy Purina 40 lb. bags when they go on sale. One bag holds them for a month but we portion feed twice a day. No free-feeding.
$100 a year on vaccinations, $50 for each of them
$100 a year on rawhides/chew bones
$30 a year on shampoo
Kennel charges vary depending on how long we are gone. For the both of them, it is $40 a night. So for a week, $280
We clip their nails by ourselves, they are used to it and just lay there like bums.
We bathe them ourselves.
I don't think dogs are that expensive or hard to take care of. Honestly, more people have children and they are way more expensive haha.
We have one 50 lb pit bull
We spend about $20 every 3-4 wks on food (we just buy a big bag of Purina One)
Spend $20/month on Frontline (flea/tick meds)
Spend $100/year on Sentinel (heartworm med)
$200/year on his annual vet visit which includes all his vaccinations
We dont ever board him in a kennel (always have friends or family stay at our house to watch him)
Maybe $40/year on dog treats/bones/toys (we haven't bought a toy for him in years because we use Tuffie toys and they last FOREVER)
Total - $820 in a normal year, not including any other unforeseen costs.
That doesnt include any emergency vet visits. This year we spent much more than that on him because we had a bad flea infestation and then he had worms as well so we spent $$ on that visit and in the past we have had to go to the emergency vet several times for various things which is crazy expensive. We also live in DC so things are more costly.
Your dog can survive with very little spending. They don't NEED the best food, treats, or toys. But it feels good to give them those things. :)
I feed premium, grain-free food that costs $50-75 per bag (we rotate to ward off allergies) and I feel good about that. There are some nice benefits (less poop, less stinkiness, better coat).
I'm cautious about medications, but use heartworm and flea meds each month. Vaccinations happen on a schedule (every 3 years at this point).
BTW, what kind of home isn't suitable for a dog? My dog is a city dog and his life is awesome. He meets people and dogs on every walk...and he actually gets walked because we don't have a yard. My FSIL just opens the back door to her suburban home and her dog's outside time considers of wandering around a fenced yard. Some life.
We spend probably around $1000-$1200 a year on both our dogs (50lb lab mix and 80lb purebred lab who is still growing).
That doesn't include the $2500 surgery we dropped on the mix this past January, and the probably $2000 surgery he's going to have after the wedding sometime. He's got hip dysplasia, which is not something we were thinking would be happening (he will be 2 years old in September). He's our 'expensive mutt'.
I wouldn't trade them for anything else. I love having a dog, and it's so nice to come home to something that loves me no matter what mood I'm in.
I have a German Shepherd puppy still in the process of growing ( Around 65 pounds at the moment) We will have owned him for a year this coming October. I found a lot of the fees are for just starting out ( like basic supplies, fees for preliminary vet work etc)
Adoption Fee: $90 ( includes neuter, shots, etc)
Food: Orijen Regional Red $75 per month/ raw ( we feed raw one meal a day)
Grooming: $0 - do it ourselves
Nails: $0 Do it ourselves
Heartworm/flee- 6 months supply ~$150
Misc so far: 200 ( leashes, collars, toys, treats)
Obedience: $170 for a basic class, puppy play class before he was old enough for basic was free every saturday
Knock on wood he has been extremely healthy and low maintenance. our biggest expense is food!
Not a lot! I groom my dog myself, and he looks amazing :) I buy him special food, but it's only about $40-$50 per month. I give him topical flea medicine which is probably like $20 per year. The only thing that costs more than I'd like is shots every year which are about $100. And then his heartworm meds which I can't even remember... maybe $60 per year?! So that's around $760 per year. I can round it to $800 for things like treats (I usually don't buy him any) bones, and randoms.
We spend a lot of money on our little Derby - with the cost of food, vaccinations, day care & boarding, it is likely over $2,000/yr.
Rough estimate: one billion dollars. Billie gets what Billie wants.
On a normal month, I'd say we spend approximately $80ish for food and flea/heartworm medication. Of course, there are months where we spend way more if we need to board them, go to the vet, or anything like that. And, we would spend a lot less if we didn't buy crazy expensive dog food! :)
We were planning to get a puppy (lab, male puppy!) next month for our 3 year anniversary.
Then we decided to wait until we are debt free (except for my student loans). Which should be 6 months or less. But man, we have been waiting for over 2 years! Being responsible is NOT always fun!
We have a Newfoundland dog and here's our breakdown:
$300 per year routine vet care
$80 per month on food (we feed grain free - Acana Pacifica or Orijen 6 fish)
~ $20 per month on his arthritis meds as needed (he gets pills just when he is in pain, this started this year, and he is only 4 1/2)
~$200 in toys and treats each year (but he is giant breed so his toys, and stuff he chews on are BIG which is more expensive)
$60 dollars every second month for a full bath/groom
His neuter surgery was $500 because I waited until he was done growing (recommended by our breeder to reduce the risk of bone cancer), and I have had episodic vet bills ranging from $300 for a skin infection to $2000 for when he was poisoned.
I would guess we spend in the neighbourhood of $2000 per year for his care, averaged over 5 years. The puppy year was more expensive, as he gained 2-3 pounds per week for the first year, so lots of collars, etc that year, plus extra vet trips and such.
Hah - normally I would say approximately 1500 - 1800 a year for food/toys/yearly vet visit for our 85 lb chocolate lab (and yes, he's a big boy, but he isn't fat - he's just a very tall lab heh)...buuuuuuuuuuut he just had knee surgery to repair his CCL.
@bas0587: I'd have been so happy to pay only 1800.00 for that surgery!!! There is only one veterinary clinic in Vancouver (BC) that offers the surgery and it was closer to 4500 when all was said and done - yes ouch.
And honestly - as far as pet insurance goes - it really depends on the plan you have. Ours only ended up covering 1/5 of the costs. We figured it out, and it would have been better to take the money we paid each month and just put it into a savings account instead. But insurance is always a gamble like that. You may need it the first few months that your pup comes home (in which case it would be worthwhile) or you may not need it until your dog is 5 years old, and then they barely cover the costs of the treatment.
But like everyone else said - he's SO worth it! And we'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
And don't forget - pet insurance doesn't cover a lot of things.
If we had our dog insured, the pet insurance would not have covered his surgery...
@PitBulLover: Man - I wish the Tuffie toys worked for us! I've bought a few different ones for our lab mix (levels 9 and 10) and she STILL rips them to shreads.
We got her a toy made out of fireman's hose and it lasted a week.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| MrsOliveBird | 11 |
| aussiebee | 10 |
| janetsnakehole | 8 |
| j_jaye | 5 |
| Rivendeler | 5 |
| simpleandchic | 4 |
| kat2014 | 4 |
| Scottish_lassie | 4 |
| MrsMSmith | 4 |
| Adalita | 4 |
Sorry, there are no users yet.
DH is a dog lover and would like a dog one day. I love dogs, but see them as an expensive hobby. I didn't grow up with them, so I don't have much reference.
We don't live in a home that is suitable for a dog... but I know when we move, that will be one of the factors we'd consider.
I know it can be a regional thing - but how much do you typically spend on your dog?
We'll likely have two large-sized dogs (like labradors), if that helps.