Pets
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Average Dog Costs?
in Pets
DH and I are considering adopting a puppy from a local shelter and I wanted to get an idea of overall month to month costs. I am thinking of the crate, food, leash, registration, and eventually the invisible fence plus regular vet visits? The puppy is already spayed, has up to date shots. Are there any huge costs I am missing? Also is pet insurance worth it? Thanks!!
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Re: Average Dog Costs?
Invisible fences are kind of controversial around here, just FYI.
Does the adoption fee cover a microchip?
crate- $50- $150
food- $30-$50 dollars for a 15 pound bag
leash- $10-$20
registration- no idea, we don't have to have our dogs registered in our county
invisible fence- depends on the size of your yard( I do not think an invisible fence is a good idea, they aren't reliable enough i suggest a regular fence)
vet visits- annual exam plus vacc- $300 a year
emergency vet visits- 100-500 a year. we used to not have to worry about this, then we got CRAZY DOBY.....
and we don't have pet insurance
Hmm I don't know about the microchip I will have to ask. That is so they can be found/ recovered in case they get loose right?
I have never had a dog so I didn't know that invisible fence was controversial? What is it about them people don't like? I thought they didn't hurt the dog. I will have to do more research into this one.
First, thanks for adopting!
Next, I agree crate is $50 and up, depending on the size of grown dog
Leash is $20 and up
We also don't have to register, however they have to have a rabies vaccine. I think mine was maybe $20 for a three year shot.
We feed California Natural Lamb and Rice and spend about $50 on a 30lb. bag. I feed my dogs a cup total a day, so two cups. That bag lasts me about 6 weeks. We also feed pretty high quality treats that are $8 a box about every 6 weeks.
I would plan on about $100 in basic vet costs per year, for a check up and shots. In addition I spend $20 a month on heartworm preventative and $30 a month April-Oct. for flea/tick preventative. Keep in mind this is for two dogs, not one.
We don't have pet insurance, but have had two different emergency vet visits one that cost $3800 and another that was only $600. We used care credit, a low or no interest line of credit. It is sort of like a credit card in that is does show on a credit report, but is much more reasonable in interest.
As for the invisible fence one of the most dangerous parts is that something could come in to your yard and harming your pet. In addition, they are not fool proof and do not stop your dog from running out. We walked our dogs until we bought a home with a fully enclosed yard.
I hope that helps!
Registration for spayed/neutered dogs in my city (Boston) is just $6 per dog. Not sure if it varies significantly by location. Other expenses that I would consider are flea/tick prevention, heartworm meds, any costs associated with boarding the puppy when you're out of town (not a regular monthly expense but can be pricey), and the cost of a dog walker or day care if you need it (more on that below).
Regarding the invisible fence, there is a great post somewhere about the pros/cons of invisible fences, so hopefully someone will C&P it here. Regardless of whether you decide to go with an invisible fence or a physical fence, you aren't planning on leaving the puppy outside when you're not home, right? That can be very dangerous (puppy escapes or eats something poisonous, another animal gets into your yard, etc.). I highly recommend crate training both for housebreaking purposes and so puppy has a safe space to be while you are gone. If you're getting a young puppy, she will need to go out every few hours, so I would look into the cost of a walker (or plan to pay a neighbor or something). My dogs get a walk every weekday, which costs abot $400 per month ($20 per day for about 20 days each month), but I live in a city where the prices are probably pretty high.
Thanks for the info, if someone finds the pros/cons post about fencing I would love to see it!
And we definately would not be leaving the dog outside when we weren't there wih her. We are planning on crate training for sure, the puppy we are looking at is 9 months old and is crate trained so it would hopefully be an easy transition. I work 10-3 and my husband comes home for lunch mostly every day so she wouldn't be alone for too long every day.
Also good info on flea and tick prevention. We live in CT where ticks are rampant so this is def a biggie I forgot!
I think everyone else has covered what I would have thought of re: initial and more long term costs. And about invisible fencing-when we adopted our first dog (before I started posting here) we looked into invisible fencing vs. a physical fence (either chain link or privacy). For us, while the initial cost of getting the wiring put in the ground, training, and collar wasn't as much as a physical fence, once we started thinking about how many collar batteries we could go through the cost added up quickly. Plus I realized that in our neighborhood, there are a lot of indoor/outdoor cats roaming about, people who aren't good about repairing their fences therefore letting their dogs get out, and wildlife common to surburbia that not only our dog could pose a danger to but could also pose a danger to our dog. (and don't even get me started on the jerk neighborhood kids who liked to cut through our yard pre-fence) Once we got some quotes for chain link and 4 ft wood privacy fencing we realized that while the upfront cost for a physical fence was more than for invisible fencing, the long term cost and benefits were far more attractive overall so we decided to go with your basic chain link fence (no HOA or town regulations on what kind of fencing we could/couldn't have). Sure its not attractive but its fairly common in our neighborhood so we're not the only ones with it...plus it keeps the indoor/outdoor cats, dogs on the loose, and punk jerk neighborhood kids out of the yard but keeps our dogs (we have two now) in.
Now, it didn't keep our beagle mix from getting skunked through the fence last summer but if we'd had invisible fencing not only would we have still had a skunky dog but we probably would have had to pry a dead skunk out of her mouth. And that would have been real bad
That was very convincing. I am now thinking of the wildlife in our area, it's not totally uncommon to see bears in spring so the physical fence might be worth it to keep her safe!
You didn't mention the type of dog you are getting, so I just wanted to point out that some dogs require grooming often as well. It costs roughly $40 every 6 to 8 weeks for us to have our Scottie groomed. Even if you aren't looking at a breed/mix that requires a cut, you might opt to have their nails trimmed every so often, which runs about $10 each time in our area.
Just something else to keep in mind! And thanks for adopting!
Its a Boston terrier. Would something with short hair like a Boston require frequent grooming?
That was the biggest thing for us-keeping our pets safe. If I though we could sufficiently do that with an invisible fence, we would have probably gone that route but the more we thought about it the better we felt about a physical fence keeping everyone safe over invisible fencing. If bears and other such wildlife aren't uncommon in your area, I'd definitely suggest looking into a physical fence...it doesn't keep EVERYTHING out but it still provides a barrier whereas invisible fencing does not.
Good luck with the potential adoption...please post pictures if/when you bring her home!
I think everyone pretty much covered it... for food we feed Taste of the Wild (high quality, grain free) and it is about $45 for a 30 lb bag. I wish I could tell you how long it lasts but I have never really kept track... maybe a couple months???
One more thing to add about the invisible fence idea - if a dog wants to get out bad enough, they will plow through the shock. And then they won't come back because they don't want to get shocked again. I agree that a physical fence is the way to go.
Thanks for adopting.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
For our two:
Napoleon - Check up and blood work on the first day we got him including x rays and all shots $520.00
Flea treatement for 2 dogs I buy at Costco and has 2 treatments per package $40.00 per box. We treat year round.
Beds $20.00 from Costco. I buy them each a new one every 6 months or so. We have 4 beds total. 2 in living room, 2 in bedroom.
Wellness dod food - $50.00 per bag. Give or take a few bucks with Wellness coupon and any petco coupon. 1 bag a month or so.
blankets, collars, leashes, food bowls, easily $100.00
toys about 20.00 per month. Max destroys them. Treats, about $50.00 per month
Max's 1st year vet visits, Microchip $50.00 First year shots and exams was close to $700.00 including getting him fixed.
max just got an ear infection, that was $220.00 for exam and meds and I had them trim nails on both dogs since they were there.
Napoleons monthly meds $20.00 Max's chlomicalm $82.00
Both dogs got salmon poisoning that was over $4,000.00 in November alone.
And all of this must be paid at time of service with the vet. Except the last ear infection visit I paid about 3 days later.
If your dog gets sick it is not cheap. I am not trying to scare you off, but just be prepared.
Oh, Napoleon had a seizure last summer also and that was $400.00 in August.
I think there are a few more but I have tried to block out how much they cost.
dup
we spent about 1k when we first got coral, and about $700 when we first got duke. that included crate, collar, leash, feeders, food, treats, beds, vet visit, year of HW preventative, year of flea/tick preventative, and a training class. doing dog training asap will make your lives so much better, i promise.
from that point on, we averaged maybe $100/month/dog? half of that was necessary (vetting, HW preventative, food), half was fun (toys, treats).
Have you seen my monkey?
I average between $1,000 and $1,500 a year total. She is a healthy dog (knock on wood).
Our new house as an invisible fence, but I will not be using it. We are having a physical fence installed as soon as the HOA approves it.
We have an invisible fence because our neighborhood does not allow physical fences. While I would prefer a physical fence for all the reasons already mentioned, we have not had any issues with our invisible fence.
We did get pet insurance (Pet Plan) and it cost about $300 a year. We built a plan to cover big costs. For example, our last dog tore both ACL's and that cost around $7,000. So we wanted insurance in case something "big" happens.
Okay, I thought I was the only one here with an expensive dog. I probably spent close to $1,000 on 1st year vet checkups/shots and neutering. Keep in mind I live in NYC.
Then when Brady was 6 months he broke his leg: $3,000. Two months later he swallowed something: $2,500 stomach surgery.
He had seizures: $500 til we got that figured out. $50/week for dog walking. $50 every 2 months for food. $200 yearly vet visits. $300 to get a damn skin tag removed. Yea, it's not cheap.
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Isn't it insane!! Although now that they have both been kicked out of doogy day care I am saving a few hundred a month!
No a Boston shouldn't require clipping or frequent grooming. Just the occasional bath and nail trim, both of which you can do at home if you're willing! I think Bostons are adorable, so be sure to come back with pictures to share of your new pup when you bring her home!