average cost of owning a dog per year?

[WhineandDine1]

personal question so fully understand if not many people want to share!

But how much would you say you spend per year on your dog? I've read anything from £800-1800.

[teaiseverything]

So 1) my dog has medical needs and so I spend more than average on supplements, visits to vet for monitoring etc and 2) I go way over the top for her birthday and Christmas presents but she's my world and I wouldn't have it any other way. Total, I'd estimate almost £2k annually, broken down as follows:

Pet insurance: £36 per month x 12 = £432
Food and treats: £56 every 2 months = £336
Vet fees not covered by insurance (boosters, worming, dental etc): £400
Insurance excesses for covered treatment: £110 x 2 = £210
Odds and sods like new nail clippers, poo bags, new name tag if one falls off etc: £200
Supplements: £150
Birthday and Xmas: £250

[stickytoffeevodka]

It massively depends on what food you buy, how big the breed is, any health issues they have etc.

[BiteyShark]

It varies because it completely depends what you are prepared to spend.

Insurance will vary on breed and age.

Some people flea/worm monthly others don't.

Costs increase if you need dog walkers or day care.

Training costs but some people don't go to training classes or only do the puppy ones and stop.

Food varies depending on what type you feed and how much you are prepared to spend.

Costs also vary depending on whether you use boarding kennels or home boarding for holidays.

Then it's down to whether you buy the expensive beds/toys/chews etc.

There are numerous threads on here where people have shared different costs.

I think I worked my dog out as minimum of £400 per month but I use day care.

[RhubarbAndCustards]

Large Labrador
Insurance - £600
Daycare - £1500
Grooms - £200
Food - £500 at a guess
Worming/vaccinations -£300
Supplements - £120
Boarding - £300
Hydrotherapy- £200
Incidentals - toys/presents/poo bags £150

[upsideup]

£800 per year sounds so little, we have 4 large breed dogs and I would say on average we spend about £1500+ on all 4 per month.
I guess it depends on lots of things but I think £800-£1800 is the bare minumun you can expect to pay per year, in reality I think it normally would end up being more than that.

[NotSoSprightly]

Absolutely no idea.

His food is cheap as I make it all myself. I buy a 40p bag of rice and cook up veg and meat to go with it (chicken or liver or beef mince usually) and that lasts him about a week.

He's not insured and doesn't need a groomer. I could do with a dog walker really but am a sucker for saving where I can on things so I do it myself.

[MincemeatTart]

Dally
Insurance £550
Food £60 a month
Vet plan £23
Daycare varied but £28 a day average 6 day’s a month so £150-£200 a month.
Boarding for holidays about £600

Then toys/ bedding/excess for vets bills/ car valeting etc.

[Yourownpersonaljesus]

Small mongrel

Approx £1500 per year for food, insurance, grooming, worming etc
Then whatever the vets bills cost - always just under the excess! That would be a good few hundred pounds a year more. She currently has no medical conditions and is a young dog so I'm expecting these costs to increase. Also might need to start paying for daycare soon.

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

Puppies - this is relevant because I have had them buy beds and harnesses etc which won’t be such a massive ongoing cost - here medium sized. They have cost me about £2500 for both this last year ( not including what I bought them for).
I haven’t been on holiday and only used day care a handful of times.
So £1250 each a year (not as bad as I thought when I started to work it out)

[MrsJoshDun]

Bag of food costs £26 and lasts 6 weeks, maybe longer.
Insurance is about £12 a month
Then whatever the annual vaccinations cost.....maybe £50?
Working tablets are cheap, flea stuff a bit more but I’m a bit hit and miss with flea treatment.....she’s never had fleas.

[MrsJoshDun]

*worming.

Oh and £20 a week on the dog walker!

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

There's been a couple of threads on this recently
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3148198-Realistic-costs-for-owning-a-dog
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3155946-How-much-does-your-dog-cost-a-month

Costs can vary enormously based on the breed, size, quality (e.g. of dog food) you go for, how quickly they destroy toys, whether or not you have willing unpaid dog sitters / go on holiday often, need a dog walker... probably best to do your own costings really based on what's plausible for you and your lifestyle.

PestDog is a recent addition to my budget, but so far it's looking like

Food - Markus Muhle (found out about it via AllAboutDogFood.co.uk; it's an unusually good balance between nutrition and price) which reckons 18p/day £5.40/month or but I suspect he will need a bit more as he's quite energetic.

Training treats - probably works out at up to £2.50 per week, but we do a lot of training and use high quality dried offal

Other chews - doesn't get one every day, but depending on what I give him, it can be 30p-£1 per chew (high quality, natural dried meat things)

Pet insurance - £42/month (small crossbreed, of a type not especially prone to health problems) using PetPlan Lifetime, so it won't really go up and will cover him for life if he gets diabetes or something else long term and expensive.

Wormer - £2/tablet every three months

Flea treatment - haven't actually worked this out as I still have a stash from the last owner

Boarding - I have family in another city who willingly take him, but the return fare (£45 x 2 to drop off and pick up) means it's not worth it for a couple of nights. Per night of home boarding, no other dogs in situ, with his qualified trainer is £30/night (but it doesn't get much cheaper locally even with unqualified randomers doing it as a sideline). Even if you can take your dog on holiday, be aware that some places charge extra for your dog to stay, though it will be cheaper than boarding.

Toys - I've had to build up his supply from scratch in the last 6 months, and frankly I don't want to think about how much it has cost me - I'd estimate £2-300, but many of the toys are still alive so it's not going to be that much going forward.

Training classes - £10pw, though for various non-cost reasons we're switching to one that's £6.50pw. They're group obedience classes.

Coat - equafleece, £25, still going strong so should last for at least a second winter if not a third.

Collar and lead - £10 for the basic. Whizzy rechargeable LED collar for night time walkies was another tenner.

ID tag - £2-something from eBay

Poo bags - £7.99 for 270 biodegradable bags. 3-4 bags per day, so 8-11p per day

Bus fares to get to and from certain parks - variable, depending on whether or not my Oyster has been capped for the day. Factor in petrol if you intend to drive. Do be aware that your local park may be locked at dusk, which is a pain in the winter if you work, as it means you may have to travel to an alternative.

... and then there are all the little things you don't consider such as wear and tear on your walking boots (they've seen more wear in the last 6 months than they have in the 13 years since I bought them for Duke of Edinburgh ), a good human coat for walking, waterproof trousers, extra hot water when your dog is a mud magnet...

No grooming costs as he's a short haired dog; I don't even use dog shampoo, I just put him in a bath of plain warm water when he's muddy and let it soak off
No need for nail clipping as he walks on tarmac a lot and occasionally gives them an extra trim when he scrabbles after a fox or cat
We don't use a professional dog walker
Haven't had to deal with vaccinations yet
Already has a pet passport, but I gather that cost the previous owner £150

That brings me to a ballpark figure of £120 per month + boarding + one off / infrequent costs like coats + bus fares.

I think PestDog might have to get a part time job to pay for it all

[clearingaspaceforthecat]

Depends on the breed of dog and if there are any specific health problems with that breed. I have a giant breed who costs a small fortune in insurance and general worming/flea treatment as she needs more than a small/medium/large breed would.
Do as much research of the breeds you are looking at to get an idea of costs/potential health issues etc.

[Lucymek]

@upsideup

Wtf costs 1500 a month ?

[StickStickStickStick]

My kids don't even cost 1500 a month!!

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Me and PestDog combined don't cost £1500 per month, even including the rent!

[Redisthemagicolour]

For the first 4 years of our dogs life he mainly cost us in food and insurance. Probably £50-60 a month total. Obviously he needed bedding and had some toys but that was it.

This last year he's cost well over £3k in vets bills as he's been diagnosed with epilepsy. This will mean lifelong drugs and regular blood tests (and hopefully no more week long stays at the vets - that's happened twice this year). Meds bills currently around £160 a month. Blood tests £100 every 3-6 months for life. Luckily most of this is covered by insurance. My point is you can never tell what is going to happen. We certainly didn't know dogs could get epilepsy! If they insurance doesn't pay up for some reason we'll have to find this money as he can't not take the drugs.

[Redisthemagicolour]

Oh and his food has gone from around £30 a month (he's a big Labrador) to £80 every 6 weeks for prescription food because the meds make him hungry and we have to bulk
him out to stop (or try to stop) him eating everything he can find and getting too overweight.

[Chienrouge]

Not as much as most of the others on this thread.
£38 per month insurance.
£100 a year vaccinations.
£6 a month ish flea and worm treatment.
£30 every 6 weeks for food.
I’m a SAHM so no day care/dog walkers etc. My dad looks after him when we go away. We paid for training classes when he was a puppy but that was 7 years ago, can’t remember how much they were. He cost us £75 for an ear infection earlier in the year, and he had a lump biopsy at about a year old that cost us the £100 excess but no other vet treatment in 7 years.

[NotSoSprightly]

Upside What on earth does your money go on? My horse doesn't cost me that!

[OakIsBetterTho]

I've a cocker spaniel cross poodle. My boy costs me very little. £6 a month insurance, maybe £10 every month for food (if that) and worming/flea treatment maybe £50 over a year, est, and I choose to have him groomed twice a year for £30 a time. So £320 a year. Bargain for such a wonderful little buddy judging by this thread!

[BookHelpPlease]

£30 a month insurance
£20 a month on food
£15 on flea/worming and supplements
=£65 a month plus average of £200 a year on vets bills and maybe £100 a year in treats and toys.
=£780
stripping 3-4 times a year at £65
=£1040
Dog sitter 14 days a year at £20 a day
=£1320 average for the past 3 years.

HOWEVER after my mum had a serious medical issue and he now has a professional dog walk 2/3 times a week at £10 a go. £120 x 12 =£1440

so TOTAL the last 12 months= £2760

He is a very low maintenance small terrier. Although he did win a lot of treats and about £40 in a show last summer so I guess that helps!

[blaaake]

My dog isn't even insured I spend about 20 quid a week on his food though as he's a greedy bastard. If he had health issues I'd be tempted to get an insurance plan, but he doesn't and if something horrible happened, I could afford to pay for it anyway. So about a grand a year including treats

[blaaake]

Also I think upside is lying

[upsideup]

Lucymek

That is for all 4 dogs, so under £400 for each dog.