How much does it cost to have a dog?

[meladeso]

Is that like "how long is a piece of string?"

Or can someone please give me a rough idea?

Thanks.

I always believe, if you have to ask, then you cant afford one

Haha not that, just curious as to what to expect. Never had one so no clue.

Depends if you want to feed it tinned food. Tripe... or natural raw food

Then you got vet bills which can be huge. Better off getting vet insurance, which vary in price

More expensive than I thought🙄

Finding the right lead, the right food, the right bed
The 575 vet bill for teeth 😁 monthly pet insurance
Wouldn't change it.

Pet insurance doesn't cover teeth so I found out😁😁🐾

There's a website that helps find the best food within the price per day your wanting to spend. Can't remember it now but if my ou type in dog food comparison site, it should come up

It's wise to just a get a tin or two or a small bag of dog biscuits to try first.

I thought digs would eat whatever food I put in front of them hHahahaha naive me

Not digs, meant to be dogs :)

You can go online for insurance quotes. Also factor in the excess as lots of things you go to the vets for are under the excess amount. Factor in increases per year.

Most vets have a pet plan which you can pay monthly which includes vaccinations and flea/worming. They should have the price online.

Look up cost of training courses as typically you will spend the first year training.

Cost of food varies on type and size of dog. I feed a good quality wet which is typically higher cost than kibble but my dog is better on the wet. I pay around £70 per month.

Do you work? Daycare is anything from £20-£25 per day here. Dog walkers are around £10-£15 for group walks.

Dog boarding is around £15 for kennels up to £30 for home boarding per day.

Toys and beds are how much you are prepared to spend.

You will need collars/leads and harnesses.

You also have to factor in making your garden secure. Vets fees for vaccinations/spaying etc. Definitely insurance - you can shop around but make sure it includes vets and public liability (eg were your dog to cause an accident/bite someone etc). And above all the time you have to spare it and who looks after it if you're at work all day. Most dogs left alone for protracted periods develop personality problems - whether it's savaging cushions or doors or barking all day.

Mine is a small (under 5kg) dog.

His food (James Wellbeloved) is £10 a month and usually pick it up of a 3for2 deal. Insurance is just under £30 a month and grooming £35 every 8 weeks. Toys are 20ish every 8 weeks as he likes ones he can destroy. We pay a monthly plan at the vet for all flea/worming/vaccinations, that's another £12 a month.

And don't forget if they get ill. I have two small dogs...they cost £12 each for insurance, £12 each for healthy pet club covering flea treatment , worming, health check, nail clipping etc, £25 every 2-3 months grooming, one now has tablets for arthritis that cost £30 a month, then £10 a month for food, that's about £65-70 a month! I love them though...

A lot especially as they get older.

My mum has / had 3 elderly spaniels. They cost her £50 a month in heart medication. £20 a month in medicated eye drops. She just had to have one put to sleep- £350. Another one is booked in for teeth surgery - £410. Even a standard vet check up for all 3 (now 2) costs her about £110.

They became too old to insure without it costing more than even the current vets fees are costing.

Seeing her struggle with the costs of them all has completely put me off ever having a dog.

Once you have all the kit, it will vary depending on what food and what type of insurance. Mine costs about fifty quid a month now he is a bit older and insurance has increased.

We calculated that ours costs us about £5k per year

£45 insurance pcm
£55 food pcm
£250 + on dog walker pcm
Average £30 pcm for dog sitting / kennel stay
£20 pcm for flea & worming

Then ok top of that annual booster jabs, kennel cough jabs, any other vets bills, toys etc on top of that, plus paying extra for "dog friendly" cabins and so on when going on holiday.

We have a cavapoo 1/2 King Charles cooks spaniel 1/2 poodle
He cost £200 we rehired him at 6 months sadly he has dog ibs = many many months of accidents all over the house and food problems.
He also had to be castrated as one ball hadn’t descended which his previous owners obviously didn’t both doing. Also he had to have 2 teeth out as they’d grown weing causing him problems = £200 vets fees.
Then he had to have his injections and flea and worm treatment and a vet health check.

We pay £12 healthy pet plan a month = worm and flea treatment.
We also pay £14 pet insurance for accidents vets fees % etc.
He has to be groomed every 6 weeks = £36
Food costs us £6 a week.
Collars bedding bed and leads.

He also has to be walked 1-2 times a day and we work from home so he’s always with someone never left more than 4 hours and that’s rare.

So there’s the social cost and emotional cost as well as walking and all the other things.
We also have to bath and groom him inbetween grooming visits.

@peachjuice how many dogs do you have ?

A LOT.

I was shocked at how much DDog cost us.

Firstly she was £300

Crate: £35
Bowls: £10
Lead and collar: £20
Halti lead: £10
Harness: £20
Bed : £20

First set of injections £50

121 puppy classes - essential imo - £150 for 6.
Puppy classes for socialisaton _ £80 for 6
Monthly:
Advocate , £10
Insurance £15
Food £20
Treats and toys- God knows. Way too much
Poo bags- £3

This week she's cost me £85 in vet bills because she was poorly.

She's A been so much more expensive than I thought

Having said that she is only a puppy so when she's fully grown food cost will skyrocket.

@Lalameme ONE! A golden Lab. He's costs about the same as DS costs, but DDog doesn't answer back

@peachjuice lmao you spend a lot money on one dog 😱

@Lalameme yep! It would be reduced considerably if one of us was at home, the dog walking fees account for about 50% of that £5k per year.

Just tallied up some costs for my 2 year old cocker spaniel.

£35 month insurance (although spent around £500 on vet stuff this year which was under excess)
£15 month vet care plan
£250-£300 month day care
£70 month food
£40 month training
£25 grooming every 5-6 weeks
£10 tooth paste every 2 months (yes it's bloody expensive tooth paste)

One off things though mount up. Beds this year have been £150. New harness for car another £10. Numerous balls. But there are lots of things that you might need. Also warm clothes for walking such as good wellies and walking boots. Car covers, towels, throws for sofas.

It definitely depends how much you want to spend. We have a now 11 week old gold/white labrador. We got her 3 weeks ago, she was £550, her insurance is around £30pm with petplan, her food is Hills science plan which is £34 a bag and will last around a month, her jabs and chip etc were £46. Collar, lead and harness were prob around £50, crate was £40, puppy pads were £11 for 100 but she doesn't need them anymore, bed, bowls, treats and toys we've probably spent around £100, I've bought stuff for the car to protect it and we've bought flea and worming stuff for when she's next due so we've spent a fortune on the outlay but I would reckon now we have all the bits we need we will probably spend around £100 a month (food, insurance, treats, toys etc) providing she doesn't need a vet for anything! It would be way more if we had to pay for walkers and sitters etc but I'm home during the day and work on an evening when the husband and kids are at home so she's rarely left on her own for more than half an hour or so!

Thanks so much for all the replies, only just found time to read them ( now I'm lying awake for no good reason )
Sounds like I could assume about £100 month after initial outlay.

£52/month pet insurance for 5 year old lab will only get higher as he gets older.
£11/month pet health plan (fleas, worms, vacs)
£40/month for a good quality grain free kibble
£70/dog walking for 2 days a week
£16/month training treats

That's the basics without all the other costs of collars, harnesses, new toys/balls, beds (loads in first year then new one every other year), waterproof/warm clothing and shoes for walks, vet bills/insurance excesses, damages to home, fitting out car, boarding when needed etc etc etc.

£100/month is no way near enough.

Thanks
We won't need any dog walking and I envisage going for quite a small dog, f we do it, so hopefully not far off with that £100.
It doesn't need to be exact, but the guides from everyone are really helpful thanks.