OP again - I've tried cheaper food options, but they go through a lot of food. I buy 2 bags a month of Performatrin Ultra Limited, and because of a pet store loyalty program, I pay $50/bag. That's $100/month. To that, I add $30 in canned dog food, because I buy 12 cans a month at $2.50/can after discounts. I could skip the wet food, but I like to put a few dollops on top of the dry food.

I'm 100% open to good, cheap dog food suggestions! We used to feed them Taste of the Wild and then moved to Performatrin, which is less expensive. I don't have a Costco membership, but I belong to BJ's if there's a good alternative at that store.

The boarding fee will eventually decrease, but it will be at least a couple of years before my elderly parents would feel comfortable with my crazy pup. The training fee could drop now, but I'm about to dig in & start with agility, which I think will be an enjoyable outlet for me and the pup.

As for the vet cost, that $250/month is based on $3,000/year for 2 dogs. Most of that goes to the older dog, who has repeat UTIs and ear infections, plus regular treatment and scans for her hip dysplasia. Regular vaccination appointments are at least $150 as well. Yikes.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

I must know, what breeder does this? That alone would be worth it, to me.

OP here. I work from home, so that means I'm available for both of my dogs, who are office companions. DH and I travel for work about 5 days every month, and that's the $200/board (it's actually only $28/night, but we add a $12/day package for extra pup love & walking & treats). My parents watch the older dog, but the young one is simply too energetic and unpredictable to be around elderly people (my dad is nearly 90).

We groom the dogs ourselves. As for the meds, our older dog (9 years old) has hip dysplasia, and she has anxiety for which we purchase a natural supplement recommended by our vet. The med is called Solliquin, and it's $60 for 45 days. So far, it seems to have helped our dog be less anxious.

We had a dog that lived to be 15, and she had numerous expensive surgeries, including an enucleation. We've considered a hip replacement for our 9-year-old dog, and that will be expensive, but at this point I think we're going to pass. We might go forward with the femoral head osteotomy, though.

The dog is a year old, and according to OP it's a large breed. Large breeds aren't "puppies" for longer than a year. It's been in a professional training program for at least a few months. They shouldn't be paying $200/month for training that isn't working.

This made me laugh! Large breeds are actually quite rambunctious for the first couple of years & take longer to mature. I used to have a 130-pound Kuvasz who didn't chill out until he was 3. Giant breeds aren't fully mature until they're 3, and my 16-month-old pup still has another 15 pounds to add to her frame.

Our young large breed dog is a rescue Malinois/Shepherd. Someone decided to create a designer litter, resulting in 13 puppies, and my sweet but utterly insane dog is one of those pups. Because I'm a responsible owner, I want to ensure my dog is as well-trained as possible. She's been through extensive training, and next we're going to start with agility this fall.

The reason I posted is because I sat down with a financial advisor yesterday to discuss retiring within the next few years, and I had to account for monthly expenses on a granular level. I was surprised to see the numbers!

You set yourself up for this.

I assume the puppy training expenses will end soon so there's a plus.
Can you find food and meds cheaper?

And why so much boarding? Surely, you can find a cheaper alternative. And once the puppy settles down you can drop it off with your parents too.

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

Same here. Rather spend my discretionary cash on my family.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

LOL, my cats have cost me the most out of my whole bunch of pets. A couple of urinary blockages that happen in the middle of the night so only the super expensive emergency vet is open is all it takes.

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.

Boarding 4-5 nights PER MONTH is a lot!

I try not to think about how much our dog costs, and while my wife doesn't always agree i think it's worth it and he's great with the kids:

-$400/month dog walker
-$60/month food
-$200/month boarding (not each month, but across the year @ $100/day)

I think that's about it for recurring expenses, aside from his usual check-ups which seem to run about $300/per visit, but the real kicker for us is unplanned healthcare. We've had 4 major surgeries (to remove items from his stomach) and an MRI to try to learn what is causing a recent batch of seizures. Each surgery was around $5k and the MRI was $2k...we could have put this dog through a year of college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount.

The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here.

Your K-9 Divine place is $44/night according to their website (and $70/night if you use the pick up and drop off) but thanks for playing!

I must be grandfathered in. Oh well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount.

The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here.

Uh puppies, even well trained ones, are rambunctious. Maybe OP is trying to be polite and not foist her puppy on friends and family because they’re just...a lot. There’s a lot of unnecessary judgement in your post.

The dog is a year old, and according to OP it's a large breed. Large breeds aren't "puppies" for longer than a year. It's been in a professional training program for at least a few months. They shouldn't be paying $200/month for training that isn't working.

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.

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

I think I love you! Perfect observation.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount.

The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here.

Your K-9 Divine place is $44/night according to their website (and $70/night if you use the pick up and drop off) but thanks for playing!

Anonymous wrote:

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.

K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount.

The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here.

Uh puppies, even well trained ones, are rambunctious. Maybe OP is trying to be polite and not foist her puppy on friends and family because they’re just...a lot. There’s a lot of unnecessary judgement in your post.

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.

K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount.

The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here.

Anonymous wrote:

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.)

*$2400 total. Not enough coffee today!