How much does your dog cost a month?

[CandyMelts]

We said we could look at getting a dog when one of us next got a promotion and thats now on the cards.

Plan is for an adult rescue, probably something medium sized. How much do you spend a month on food, insurance, routine health stuff etc?

I don't imagine we'd go for something that needs lots of grooming but will probably need 1 day of doggy daycare a week which will bump the cost up a bit.

Thanks

[Nottheduchessofcambridge]

We have two dogs, £20 insurance, £25 on food. We bought clippers to groom them ourselves,as neither of them moult. About £8-10 a month on treats. We don’t bother with vaccinations since they had their first.
Not really a bad outgoing. Sometimes we need new leads/collars/bedding etc. And poo bags, but they are cheap.

[Nottheduchessofcambridge]

Those costs are for both btw. Not each.

[BiteyShark]

If you know the breed or rough size of the dog you can work it out as what I pay will be different because of breed/location/age etc.

Insurance: get quotes for a decent life policy

Flea/worming: most vets have a vip plan which is priced dependant on size of dog and is usually listed on their web sites.

Food: go to allaboutdogfood.co.uk and put in rough size of dog and see how much some good quality food will cost you per day then add on a bit more for treats.

Daycare varies by location and I know some charge more if you only use them 1-2 days a week rather than all week. Again look locally as they will list prices.

Training: again varies depending what type you might need.

Grooming: will vary again on location so you need to check locally.

FYI: I pay for cocker around £38 for insurance, £70 for food, £16 for vip vet plan, £40 training. Daycare £20 per day and grooming £25 every 5-6 weeks. Plus all the toys, beds, leads,harnesses etc. However, really this could be totally different to what you might pay.

[MardAsSnails]

Labrador costs us:

45 in dry food
75 in medication (apoquel, ear treatment when he get Lab Ear which fucking stinks)
5 in new tennis balls. He doesn't play with them just chews them
10 in chicken. He has chicken for weekend breakfast.
5 ish in flea/worming
5 per month average for his medicated shampoo

And 150 every 9 months in his allergy vaccines

Our local daycare is 15 per day or 20 with collection and drop off

He repays us in slobber and cuddles. He's very good at both but I can't help thinking we're losing out a bit. Must demand extra cuddles when I get home just to make up for some of these costs.

[MardAsSnails]

Oh and we don't have insurance as it doesn't really exist where we live for older rescue dogs - only those with full medical history is worth it. £150 per year for £300 per year maximum benefit, and to have to do paperwork and bonded it just isn't worth it and they'd exclude his allergies.

[bluebells1]

Insurance: 28
Food: 45
Worming/flea etc: 15 (approx.)
No grooming required. Shampoo him and throw ball into the river. He comes back clean
Towel and bedding washing: 2 billion pounds. He is the muckiest dog on the planet
Tennis balls/balls stolen from other dogs: another 5 or 6 pounds.

[BiteyShark]

Forgot to mentions lots of initial costs, crate, baby gate, beds, brushes, nail clippers/grinders, leads, collars, towels, head torch, warm coat and wellies for winter etc etc . Plus lots of costs when he had to go to the vets which was under the excess amount.

[Aurea]

Insurance £35
Food £40
Misc £10

Each month

We don't vaccinate either and give a natural wormer called Four Seasons which is cheap and lasts for ages. Cheap food isn't a good idea as it's full of cr@p so is more likely to cost you at the vet if the dog gets ill from a poor diet.

Check out allaboutdogfood.co.uk for dog food reviews versus costs.

HTH

[callmybabybalonz]

Hi
I’m looking at the same thing/ getting a dog.
Can I ask, why don’t you vaccinate them after the first lot?
I was going to go for a plan at the vet that gives them all.
Is it unnecessary?

[BiteyShark]

For vaccinations it's often a personal opinion. Some don't bother with boosters after the puppy ones.

I had the L4 done as a puppy along with the others for Pavo etc. This year I didn't need the pavo boosters as I think they are every three years but I did get the L4 done again. I also get the kennel cough vaccine every year so in an emergency we could put him in kennels as most have that as a requirement.

[missbattenburg]

Lots of responses here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3148198-Realistic-costs-for-owning-a-dog

[Aurea]

www.doglistener.co.uk/depth-annual-dog-vaccination-dangers

Please research before you give annual vaccinations. They are not necessary or recommended and have been linked to the rise in canine cancer. The annual vaccination schemes are a scam and do more harm than good IMHO. You can do a titre test to check immunity anyway. See vaccicheck.

Copied from this website.

The internationally respected World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) issued guidelines in 2009 stating quite clearly that these core vaccines should normally be expected to last for life. This is their (6) WSAVA Protocol

Look at the BSAVA the British Small Animal Veterinary Association. This is their (7) BSAVA Protocol.

How often do you take your dog for vaccinations? Do you get a reminder a few weeks before your annual checkup, If so check your vaccination card and see what has actually been vaccinated?

Are you aware that the Vaccine companies state that these vaccinations should be every three years? However, there are exceptions to this, the main one being Leptospirosis, more commonly known as Weil's disease which a far dangerous part of this disease. More about the efficiency of that later.

Leading immunologist Dr Ronald Schultz states: “It has been common practice since the development of canine vaccines in the late 1950′s to administer them annually. The recommendation to vaccinate annually was based on the assumption that immunity would wane in some dogs, thus to ensure immunity in the population, all dogs required revaccination since it was not practical to test each animal for an antibody.

"Little or no research has been done to demonstrate that the practice of annual revaccination has any scientific value in providing greater immunity than would be present if an animal was never revaccinated, or was revaccinated at intervals longer than one year.”

“In 1978 we recommended an ideal vaccination program would be one in which dogs and cats would be revaccinated at one year of age and then every third year thereafter. That recommendation was based on a general knowledge of vaccinal immunity, especially the importance of immunologic memory and on duration of protection after natural subclinical or clinical infections as well as on limited studies we had performed with certain canine and feline vaccines."

"Since the mid 1970′s, we have done a variety of studies with various canine vaccines to demonstrate their duration of immunity. From our studies, it is apparent, at least to me, that the duration of immunity for the four most important canine vaccines (core vaccines) that the duration of immunity is considerably longer than one year. Furthermore, we have found that annual revaccination, with the vaccines that provide long-term immunity, provides no demonstrable benefit and may increase the risk for adverse reactions.”

[Greyhorses]

I spend £35 per month each dog on insurance, £40 on food and probably another £10 on bits and bobs!

No grooming and I only flea and worm a few times a year not monthly.

[NoSquirrels]

We have a medium sized adult rescue, who doesn't need grooming.

Insurance: £27
Vet's pet health club (flea, wormer, annual vaccinations): £10
Food: £30
Treats/extra stuff must average out at at least £10 per month. Plus extra washing powder for all the muddy dog towels

Doggie daycare by us would cost you £15ish per day.
Am about to sign up to some training, so that will cost too.

Don't forget annual costs on holiday care, if you go away places without the dog regularly.

It's quite expensive, really. But lovely.

[CandyMelts]

Thanks, some good links to look into too. Obviously it's very varying but doesn't sound too bad, allergies excluded @mard!

[Tatie3]

We have a retired greyhound and pay £16 per month for lifetime insurance, around £20 for food plus around £10 on the odd tin of sardines or other treats and toys. No grooming necessary as he just has a short non oily coat but we pay £5 every couple of months to have his nails trimmed.

[JustBeingJobless]

Ddog is a 13kg cross breed. £30 a month Insurance (she’s 10 so it’s gone up a lot recently), £20 a month max on food and treats, she’s clipped 3 times a year at £25 a time, vaccinations are on a lifetime thing that I paid for as a puppy so I don’t have to pay for them. Wormer is about £6 every 3 months and I don’t treat for fleas unless I see them (never had them luckily). She also costs me £20 every 6-8 weeks on incontinence medication.

[iggleypiggly]

We pay
£28 insurance
£18 food (raw)
£11 - healthy pet club (flea treatment, worming, vaccination).

Dog walker £10 a walk, overnight (if needed £20 per night).

[Terfinater]

£30 for insurance and around £80 for a raw food diet. He's a big dog though.

I don't have the boosters because of the reasons stated by Aurea. It annoys me that vets push these and that they'll happily vaccinate a sick dog. The L4 has had terrible side effects reported along with deaths.

The documentary Petfooled is worth watching when considering what to feed.

[BiteyShark]

The L4 has had terrible side effects reported along with deaths.

Vaccinations like L4 are a personal choice. People need to weigh up the pros and cons for the risks of not vaccinating and getting the disease against any possibly side effects (has anyone ever looked at a packet of paracetamol to see all the adverse side effects in that). People can make their own decisions but I do wish we didn't have the scaremongering about medicines.

[WaitrosePigeon]

About £20 max

[Isitwinteryet]

For a large greyhound

The main monthly costs are

Food about £20
Insurance £16

We also buy treats now and again, and cheap things like poo bags

At some points we'll want or need new leads/ collars but haven't had to buy any in the 2 years we've had him. (He came with both as he's a rescue).

[LaurieFairyCake]

Insurance - £40
Food - £25
Flea/worm - £23
Vaccines - £10
Daycare - £400

= £499

Worth every penny

[Lordofmyflies]

£100 a month.
£30 of that on insurance, £30 on food, £40 on dog walker.