My dogs are costing me $850/month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just did the math. I have two dogs, ages 9 and 1; both are large-breed dogs, weighing about 75 pounds each.

$250/month for vet - visits, treatments, meds (averaged over a year)
$70/month for special meds - calming/anxiety drug, glucosamine liquid for dog with hip dysplasia
$130/month for dog food - Performatrin Ultra Limited dry & also cans of wet food to supplement
$200/month for boarding - occasional board for the puppy (adult dog stays with my parents)
$200/month for training - training fees for the puppy

Until I broke it all down, I hadn't realized how much they were costing me. We can afford the expense, but that doesn't mean I love paying that much every month. If the puppy weren't so rambunctious, we could leave her with friends, but for the time being that's not an option. And if she weren't so crazy, we could stop with the training fees as well.

I'd been wondering where much of my money was going, and now I know.

I recommend Costco for pet meds. They discount them, my dog is also on Prozac and it was $20 at CVS, but $6 at Costco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

I didn’t know what that was! I thought it was something to lessen the barking volume.

[Anonymous]

To the no pet people, for some of us, there is an intrinsic value to a dog. In addition to safety. I figure the life lesson cost of a dog is about 1500/yr. But most years, I spend about 700. End of life can be very expensive, though.

With that said, tomorrow when I get home from this business trip, my dog will be really happy to see me. Kid will want to know what I got germ and wife will pst to Facebook that I am home, and how happy she is to see me while actually ignoring my presence

[Anonymous]

I pay $630 a year for pet insurance to cover unforeseen medical issues, and they do reimburse some regular visits too.

I do choose to pay a dog walker but my dog *can* make it through the day if I decide to stop this. OP can you pee pad train?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

Okay. So I work hard, give steadily with my time and money to charitable causes and now I'm not supposed to splurge on something that makes me happy without your guilt tripping me? Have fun with that Debbie downer.

[Anonymous]

Wow. We spend about $60 on food a month and the occasional vet visit. That's it. It can't be over $500 a year, much less, I bet.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure if you looked for a bit, you could lower all these costs, OP.

But you can afford it and maybe don't have the time to investigate, so...

My dog has dry kibble, once a year vet checks, and I walk, groom and train him myself. He goes to his breeder when we're away and she takes care of him for free. The only thing I haven't skimped on are the meds - I splurge on something that's easier to give.

[Anonymous]

You must have insane amount of money to spend that much on your dogs. That vet is ripping you off. What's with the pricey dog food? You know dogs will eat your leftovers? Many people do not even buy dog food but feed dog leftovers. Surely you are not training the puppy for a year?! What with the dog boarding? Monthly? Why does your dog need Prozac? I assume it is Prozac? You know that is just for lazy dog owners?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

Okay. So I work hard, give steadily with my time and money to charitable causes and now I'm not supposed to splurge on something that makes me happy without your guilt tripping me? Have fun with that Debbie downer.

+1. I’m not a dog owner but people spend their money on lots of things that most people see as unnecessary luxuries (big engagement rings, McMansions, fancy cars, private schools that have tuitions higher than the average American salary). The bark box is small potatoes.

[Anonymous]

Your numbers are a little high, probably because of the vet visits, but I bet my numbers are similar. Just some of the big ticket items in the last year.

1) Dog daycare 1-2 times a week ($26 per day)
2) Training ($2000)
3) Boarding while on vacation in the last year ~$1,000
4) Vet visits (dog needed to be fixed, has had issues with giardia and such) probably $1500
5) Food, treats, etc maybe $100 a month. Cow's ears and bully sticks and such are expensive

Adding all this up, I get about $650 a month. Obviously our costs will be cheaper going forward since you don't have to train your dog every year and she won't need to get fixed again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

Oh stop it. Don't be ridiculous. People love their animals. Pets are family. $20 a month is nothing. Plus - a big reason people spend so much on $$ is because for many of us, pets are our kids; we don't have human children so we spoil our animals. It works out great.

I would advise everyone to get pet insurance. It's not cheap but it will save your hide when it comes to vet expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

She types this while sipping on her Starbucks latte...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is some kind of crazy. I have a large breed dog.

Costco huge bag of food. The yellow bag. $30
Heat worm pills. Costco $10 month. Actually less but rounded.

You go to the vet for an annual check up. Maybe $200
So $10 month.

So my dog costs me $50 month.

And you know what they do when you go to work.
The fart and sleep.

What your spending is not what you need to spend.

No flea or tick meds? Does it not go out when you are at work 12 hours a day? Do you never board the dog or do you just bring it to friends and relatives houses? Your dog is farting because of the cheap junk food you are feeding it.

[Anonymous]

I feel you. I have a puppy. I pay $250/month for a midday dog walker, probably $100/month on food, treats, toys between the dog and 2 cats, $40/night for a pet sitter when we go away, occasional walks on Wag (20/each), pet insurance, flea/tick and heartworm, and we just sent the puppy to a training boot camp program for $1500. Plus the vet visits!

Is all of this NECESSARY? I suppose not, but I don’t find it over the top either. My puppy can’t really go all day without a bathroom break and I’d like not to feed him shit food anymore than I feed it to myself. It’s exactly what I see everyone else doing with their dog, as is confirmed here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it $200 a month for an occasional board? Find a new place to board--I thought our fees were steep!

Training will eventually go away as a cost. Can you try a cheaper food? We had to test a few to find one that worked well for our large-breed, but once we did it was a huge money saver. (Ours now eats Costco's Salmon Meal & Sweet Potato grain-free formula and has done really well on it.)

Is the puppy the one with hip dysplasia? If not, I'd look into pet insurance for him/her. If you've got a breed that's prone to joint issues, you might well get good use out of a policy, and it's much cheaper to get for a one-year-old dog.

This is not at all unrealistic for boarding. I've never seen a dog boarding place for under $40/nt for my medium sized dog.

Sure, but that's a weekend away every month. Not occasional. (Totally fine to do that, I should note, but then in your budget you put "one weekend/month boarding, or equivalent" and you aren't surprised to see the $1200 total at year's end, because that's a lot of travel.)