The cost of owning a dog

[FoddyWaddle]

We are wanting to buy our 1st family dog. We are looking at possibly labs or a collie.

My DH grew up with these breeds of dog so he is comfortable with the Care ext they need. I am very happy with doing exercise and care also.

Now to my question before we buy our dog I want to make sure we can comfortably afford to look after him. So how much would you say a dog takes to care for?

Get quotes on life time insurance and also factor in excess which will need paying for any claims.

Then factor in food. allaboutdogfood.co.uk can give you and idea on how much a decent food for size of dog might cost. Obviously you have treats on top.

Then vaccinations, worming and flea treatments. I use a monthly vet plan to cover ours and again lots of vets advertise cost which varies for size of dog.

You have the usual one-off cost of things such as crates, leads etc but I have bought lots of beds and also toys which get destroyed/dirty etc.

Training classes. Depends on how many you want to go to. I go every two weeks and plan to continue for many months.

I pay day care so you may need to factor in dog walkers and boarding for holidays.

Sorry can't give you a figure as I don't (dare not) add it up but these are some things you need to consider.

Oh forgot I also pay for grooming/clipping every 6 weeks.

We spend the following on our cockapoo per month

£40 food
£30 insurance and pet plan (includes all the flea and worming stuff)
£160 dog walker

Unexpected costs can sting - our insurance excess is £100 which we had to pay this week following a stolen raisin pastry ordeal!

Grooming is £45 every other month - but cockrrpoos need far more than most breeds

For our dog each month (we have multiple)..
insurance (lifetime with 12k yearly limit) - £40
Food- £35 (I use Amazon subscribe and save)
Treats etc- approx £15
Dog walker - approx £100-250 a month depending on my shifts and she walks BOTH dogs for over an hour each time.
Flea and worming is about £15-20 a month but we don't flea all year round, and he's a giant breed so more expensive.
So yeah, not cheap! But i don't go out drinking etc, and our dogs are our main pastime so worth it for us.

We have a lab. The big regular expenses are:
£50 for bag of good quality kibble, lasts ~6 weeks
£34/month insurance (petplan), expect it to rise significantly as they get older
£11/month health plan (flea/worm treatment, vacs and boosters)
Dog walker/kennels/dog day care as required.
Training classes.

Then there are:
Crate/Stuff for traveling in the car/Treats/Toys/Collar/Lead/Bed/Brushes/Poo bags etc etc. Walking boots/wellies/waterproof jackets/gloves/hats for each season for everyone who walks the dog.

If you get a puppy expect beds to only last a couple/few weeks as they get chewed. Also potential damage to sofa's/carpets/skirting boards from chewing in first 18 months.

We have a Boston. Apart from buying the pup,costs are,
£30 pm pet plan
£10 pm flea/worm
£30 pm food - raw fed
£40 pm dog walker
Plus incidentals, neutering, vaccinations, beds, toys etc £10pm
Total £120 per month

Smaller breeds tend to be significantly cheaper to run. Lots of people forget this.

Thank you. That is sort of what we expected but I wanted to get real life experience.