My dogs are costing me $850/month

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Someone posted a joke from a comedian in the pet forum: I used to wonder why I saw so many homeless guys with dogs. Then I realized that they were homeless due to paying for their dogs.

[Anonymous]

That’s why i will never own a dog.

[Anonymous]

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

[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.

It seems like you are happy with this. What is your question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s why i will never own a dog.

After this thread, if I get a pet, it's going to be a cat or a hamster. These dog budgets are more than what I pay for my kid to attend private preschool.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Oh and grooming is $95 every quarter. Maybe every 4 months. So less then $30 a month averaged over a year.
And that’s just because I’m too lazy to wash and clip my own dog.

[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.

You're very lucky your dog is healthy. Mine tore her ACL (3k) and got twisted gut. Another 3k. The chances of her tearing her other ACL are 50%.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I have posted on threads about wealth on this forum before. Among things that has helped us to save a lot of money was - no student debt, low mortgage and NO PETS.

The money saved from not having pets goes towards having a weekly cleaner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walker $310
1x/week day care $180-$225

This is not a dog; this is an accessory.

Seriously, I don't get why people even bother. I guess the same could be said of kids too though. If you don't want to take care of them yourself, why have them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walker $310
1x/week day care $180-$225

This is not a dog; this is an accessory.

Seriously, I don't get why people even bother. I guess the same could be said of kids too though. If you don't want to take care of them yourself, why have them?

PP here. The walker comes midday while we are at work so he is not cooped up all day, but we also take him on walks in the morning and at night. Daycare is so that we have one evening a week after work to do laundry, get groceries, etc. Young dogs have a lot of energy.

[Anonymous]

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.