My dog is 4 (small dog). I would say a little over $200/mo, average. Here you go:

$50/mo - pet insurance (goes up every year. I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this. My dog is high risk for a certain type of injury for which surgery could run over $10K).

$45/mo - vet plan (covers all visits/shots, heart worm meds, and a dental cleaning each year, I think dental cleaning out of pocket would be around $300-400)

$100-150/mo - day care, 1-2x a week (I also work from home 1-2x a week - when he was younger, I did have a dog walker every day which ran around $300/mo).

$22.50 - food (food I buy is $45 and lasts about 2 months)


Of course boarding is more expensive but I don't take long vacations regularly.

Anonymous wrote:We recently got a puppy ( corgi) and so far the monthly expense is:

Insurance $50.00
Food $60.00
Cleaning Supplies ( puppies can be messy) $25.00
Grooming $65.00
Walker $0.00 ( DH works from home).
Meds ( Heartworm and ticks) $35.00

I am not counting treats, toys etc. We are fortunate that we can afford the expense, she is worth every penny and more. I love her so much and I was not a dog person.

The emotional benefits to our family can’t be quantified.

DP here: where did you get your corgi? How old are your children? How has the experience been? Do you have other pets? How old was the corgi when you got him/her? Are they smart?

Anonymous wrote:I spend around $1000/year on vet bills for general wellness visits + 1 "issue" per year (some years she ate something, sometimes its kennel cough or a limp). Every few years she gets her teeth cleaned with is another $500.

Food is $25/month for a tiny dog (she only eats 1/2 cup a day) Obviously more if the dog is larger.

Dog walker is $100/week because we work full time. It was fine before daycare drop off/pick up started, but I feel guilty leaving her over 8 hours.

Obedience classes for a pet are $200-300/session (you'll probably need at least a couple). I got bit by the training bug and love it, so I pay $50/week for dog sports classes, but that's obviously not a necessity!

Grooming is $80 + tip for a 20 lb dog. I don't have a traditionally groomed breed, but I send her every few months to help with the shedding.

The behaviorist we had to hire when the dog growled at the baby and we panicked was $200/hour. Again, hopefully not necessary, but well worth it for us!

You clearly have too much money to waste if you were prepared to spend $200 per hour on a behaviorist because the dog growled at your baby. I hope the behaviorist screwed you for as much as they could.

Bumping so this thread will pop up next to the cost of having a cat thread. Seeing as how the cat costs thread leans toward about $700 a year for a cat, it looks like dogs are way way more expensive compared to cats.

Anonymous wrote:I spend around $1000/year on vet bills for general wellness visits + 1 "issue" per year (some years she ate something, sometimes its kennel cough or a limp). Every few years she gets her teeth cleaned with is another $500.

Food is $25/month for a tiny dog (she only eats 1/2 cup a day) Obviously more if the dog is larger.

Dog walker is $100/week because we work full time. It was fine before daycare drop off/pick up started, but I feel guilty leaving her over 8 hours.

Obedience classes for a pet are $200-300/session (you'll probably need at least a couple). I got bit by the training bug and love it, so I pay $50/week for dog sports classes, but that's obviously not a necessity!

Grooming is $80 + tip for a 20 lb dog. I don't have a traditionally groomed breed, but I send her every few months to help with the shedding.

The behaviorist we had to hire when the dog growled at the baby and we panicked was $200/hour. Again, hopefully not necessary, but well worth it for us!

First world dog ownership.

Anonymous wrote:Looks like having a dog is only for rich people

Yup.

My family had a German Shepherd when I was a child. It had its shots and was spayed but we didn't take it to the vets every month, and we too, did the training ourselves. True, our training wouldn't win any awards but the dog seemed fine.

Some of you posters worry too much and have too much money to give away to your vets.

I think this is all dependent on the dog. My dogs beyond puppy shots have never needed to go to the vet except for a check-up until they were seniors, but you still need to be prepared for this. At the end of my dog’s life was the most costly once he had kidney disease with the fluids, medications, and prescription foods.
We have a small puppy now where he’s only been in for his 8 week shots. We signed up for a plan where we pay $60 a month and he gets his heartworm meds, all of his shots and he’ll be neutered at no extra cost and unlimited office visits. My dogs heartworm medicine even without the plan though only comes to about $8-$9 a month, it’s Interceptor plus. So it’ll be over $700 a year but I like knowing he can get checked out anytime with no extra fee and we’d just have to pay for meds if needed.
I’ve never hired a dog trainer, just bought a few training books and did it myself. I’ve never had any problems.
At this time I don’t need a dog walker because someone is always home or can be shortly. Even so I never had a dog walker and I’ve also never crated my dogs beyond when they were tiny and I thought they’d get hurt if I left them alone. If I was going to be gone more than a couple hours after this time I would give them a larger area on a tile floor and gate them off in case they had an accident but this was rare. My dogs get long walks for exercise in the morning and at night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to be very careful with German shepherds. Do you have any experience with them?

A dog that size, I’d estimate at least $100/month for food.
$40/month for meds
$15/walk if you need a dog walker
$50-$100/night for boarding when you go away
$500/year for vet bills
$1000 for training

You would medicate a healthy young dog on monthly basis???
Why so much for a vet bill? And why so often other then vaccs,?


I though vote for the Eski, as smaller dog, as jsmart as German Sh. Fraction the costs.

Not PP, but monthly heartworm and flea/tick preventative costs about $30. Add in any supplements (fish oil, Dasuquin for joints, probiotics) and yes, it's $40/month easily.

$500/year for vet bills sounds right. Annual checkup and vaccinations is easily $150-$200 and then the occasional visit for other stuff could easily be $500 total.

6 months after we got our rehomed 6 year old beagle, he completely broke his CCL (doggy version of the ACL) chasing a chipmunk. Surgery. Four months later, noticed that same leg was injured. Surgery (there were actually two issues- he had torn his meniscus and had snapped the CCL implant, so they removed it as there was enough scar tissue to stabilize the knee). Less than a year after getting him, we'd spent $5k on surgery. Apparently this is a very common injury, especially with certain breeds.

We pay similar costs to others for monthly care. I work from home so no dog walker needed.

Before our dog came to us, he was with 2 other dogs and they were not walked during the day when their owner was at work. So they held it. No apparent health issues (beagle's now 9), but I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable for the dogs.