How much will we be spending on a new puppy in the long term?

[Dailywalk]

We’re hoping to get a puppy in the next few weeks/months but to try to be prepared I’m looking into how much it’s likely to cost in the long term. Once we’ve bought stuff like dog bed, car harness, toys, initial chip and jabs, then how much will be likely to pay going forward.

I’ve been told to expect about £10 in vets fees and about the same for insurance.

What kind of costs should I expect for food? Is £40 a month about right?

We will be walking it ourselves so no need for a dog Walker but is there anything else I’ve not thought of which will be a regular cost?

It’s likely to be a sprocker that we go for.

I don’t want to find ourselves with an unexpected regular fee so trying to do my research thoroughly now before we make a long term commitment.

You are aware that sprockers are very, very active dogs?

Insurance will rise with age as well for a decent policy could be up to £75 once older. Vaccines, flea and working are all on top of this.

Boarding for holiday, grooming as well.

Don't forget insurance goes up dramatically as they get older. My 6 year old cavie's renewal has just come in at £60 a month for max £3k insurance! Just not do-able unfortunately.

I echo everyone else's comments. It's remarkably expensive.

I'd add that, in addition to the ongoing costs, I think you really need a few thousand tucked away for emergency vet expenses which need to be paid now. Or at least a credit card with capacity. For example, my girl got a massive eye ulcer - it was a case of specialist surgery NOW or she loses the eye. On a sunday. Because it's ALWAYS a sunday. Total cost £6000, and I needed to pay 50% up front before they started. Insurance would have covered it eventually (I assume - I no longer insure my dogs for various complicated reasons) but that didn't detract from needing the money available immediately on a sunday morning.

(She had her surgery, they saved the eye, and she is the best and most beautiful girl in the world.)

Another of mine had specialist care at Fitzpatricks and, again, they wanted paying up front even though I was insured at the time. They then took months - literally - to send off the claim so I could be reimbursed.

You also need to factor in destroyed things, with a puppy. My duvet cover seems to have developed a hole in one corner in the night, for example... That's cheap. The armchair one of them disembowelled? Less cheap.

There's also the optional costs. We do agility. So that's £40/week for classes, plus entry fees, plus... With a spaniel I'm going to suggest you will want to do something to give you half a chance of keeping him/her quiet. Agility, or flyball, or gundog training, or... All of these are awesome fun and a great way of building your relationship with your dog. All are expensive.

37 insurance
65 food
maybe another 50 on everything in between - treats,toys, replacement beds etc

150 vet excess paid about 4 times a year for the first couple of years as he was always doing /eating ridiculous things..

£30 a day dog daycare which adds up a fair amount when we go on holidays a few times a year or if we have to work away from the house for the day. we spend maybe £1500 a year on it in total.

I estimate the cockerpoo costs me about £150 per month and the standard poodle about £200 per month.
If you are getting a puppy they always cause damage - your back was turned for 2 mins and they chewed a shoe. They had diarrhoea on the carpet. So many possibilities.
Everyday I see people who under estimate the cost and effort in the first year of owning a puppy.

Everyone presuming that puppies chew things they shouldn't - mine hasn't chewed any furniture or shoes at all . We have been so lucky !

We've just had a bit of an expensive time with our dog so it's very hard to estimate. For example we have insurance that's about £25- it gets more expensive year on year too. We have to pay £105 excess on the insurance for each condition and she's had a few. Vet visits are £25 before you even add treatment. It's pricey. But I know if some dogs that's don't go to the vet for years. Sadly ours isn't one of them.

@pumpkinpie01

Everyone presuming that puppies chew things they shouldn't - mine hasn't chewed any furniture or shoes at all . We have been so lucky !

Ours hasn’t either. Unlike the previous one.

Our rough costs below, if it helps.

Insurance - £30 a month for a very good policy
Vet plan - £12 a month (was worth it for us as we did all vaccinations, it also provided all monthly flea/tick treatments and regular check ups)
Vet costs - we've had ear/eye infections and a baby tooth extraction (plus bad reaction to anesthetic) totalling over £800 in the first year. Infections not claimed for, dental not covered by insurance.
Food is £45 for a bag which lasts 7 weeks
Treats and chews approx £20 a month
I have a £20 a month budget for new toys now, but probably spent wayyy over that for the first nine months.
Grooming is £85 every three months
Daycare is £60 a week
Harnesses cost a lot as she grew quickly and some only lasted a week.
A couple of bed replacements as she grew out of them.
You'll also probably get through a couple of leads etc until you find one you like. I love our biothane training lead but it took us six months to find it and I went through many leads in that time.

PDSA have a guide www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/puppies-dogs/the-cost-of-owning-a-dog

It’s a lot more expensive than may people expect and generally gets more expensive as they age.

My boy is a large breed who will be 16 in a month’s time. His PetPlan insurance started out at 30 and is now 75 a month. Plus, once they hit 8 years old your excess increases and you pay a percentage of each claim as well. That said, we worked it out and we are still slightly better off with the insurance, as his monthly meds come to 125 and he has monthly vet checks as well. I always go with PetPlan, as they don’t inflate prices after claims (although they do increase steadily with age, which is to be expected) my vets deal with them directly and we have had great service from them over the years. My last claim was paid directly into my bank account within 48 hours of me asking the vet to put in a digital claim.

Previously we had a younger dog that developed a nasty auto immune condition and his insurance policy paid out over 20,000 claims in 18 months without any hesitation or problems.

Health plan at our vets, for a medium size dog is 16 (18 for a large breed). That covers:

Two visits a year for a 10 Point Health Check (one with booster and one six months later)
Routine annual vaccinations
Year-round routine flea, round, tapeworm and lungworm treatment
Year-round fox mange protection
Year-round ear mite care
Free Nail clipping
Free Weight checks
Free administration of worming/flea protection
10% off routine and emergency consultations
10% off primary vaccinations
10% off additional vaccinations (e.g. rabies, kennel cough)
10% off routine neutering
10% off in house blood tests
10% off routine dental procedures
10% off dental care products
10% off shop items

I pay 30 a month for his food, 20 for treats and he’s on a range of supplements that come to over 100 a month.

We haven’t had any problems with puppy destructiveness, other than about 18 years ago, when we had an emergency ambulance trip to hospital. All our usual dog sitters were unavailable, so we had no choice but to just leave the dogs home alone and our young dog at the time tore up the entire kitchen floor.

We lost a dog during the first lockdown, but won’t be getting another pup while we have our elderly dog, as it wouldn’t be fair on him. I started saving last year and am planning to set aside 2,000 above the cost of the pup to cover the first year. It may be an over-estimation, but I would rather over-plan than under prepare, iyswim. I also buy bits and pieces eg puppy toys, grooming kit etc when I see them on sale and put them away, so I won’t need to buy a lot when the time comes. (None of the equipment and toys we own already will be suitable, as we’re going from a large to a toy breed with a completely different coat type.)

We pay about £150 for our small dog.

£35 pet insurance
£40 dog walker
£15 for Flea / Wormer subscription
£40 for food and treats
£20 for extras - poo bags, lead, collar, shampoo, tick removers, clippers, toothpaste, toys etc

Doesn't need grooming

I have an 11 yo patterdale x . Monthly costs are :
Insurance ( very good policy ) £80
Vet plan £16.99
Food £ 50 approx
Treats £20 ( for dental purposes mainly)
Supplements and medication £ 20
Grooming £31 (not completely necessary but I don’t like hair and it’s easier to keep him clean after he’s been wallowing in a puddle )
We never use a Walker or dog boarder , my son has also signed the dog up for a wufwuf subscription box monthly .

Classes? Trainers ? Etc. All that's is usually an upfront cost of £100-£1000?

They aint cheap!

My expenses seem a lot less than most on here.

Insurance is approx £15 for good cover. No vet plan - I worm and flea when necessary which is absolutely not continually. Marketing ploy imo. He wears a Seresto collar through the warmer months and thats enough. I worm count and have never needed to worm since he was a puppy. Food is kibble Applaws at £8 2kg with a tinned topper - curently Butchers lean and tasty. I make liver cake for treats and he has the odd plate scrap in his meal. Toys we have had some all his life now and he gets new ones at Christmas or his birthday. All 3 dogs I've owned have managed just fine this way. There does seem to be a huge amount of angst sometimes.

Apologies, I forgot the grooming £35 every few months but occasionally we have been known to take the scissors or clippers to him ourselves. I did just buy a nail grinder too, it was less than £20. Poo bags, Wilkinsons all the way but buy when you see them as the shelves are stripped of them at once.

Wow. Everyone seems to spend loads.

£40 for 15kg food every 7 weeks
£2 a week on treats.

That's it!

We just pay for the vet if we need to go. Only been once so far and it was £40.

Oh and poo bags. £1 a month

As pp are saying insurance will go up and its good to have some money saved incase of an emergency. One of my pups needed emergency surgery at 8 months old. The diagnosis was we operate now or he will be dead in a few hours. In a situation like that it is much much less stressful to have the cash to pay and then claim the money back later than be trying to get the insurance to agree to pay at such short notice.
most of the expected ongoing costs such as wormer, flea treatment etc. have been mentioned
The main unexpected expense I have had with my 4 dogs is one needs a special diet. She can't have grains, reacts badly to most dry dog foods and as a result she eats a small amount of an expensive specialized dry food and has 'human' food the rest of the time, this means her food in total costs the same as the other 3 dogs combined each month (but still cheaper than the vet bills caused by trying to get her eating regular dog food)

Kennels if you go on holiday abroad. Or even for a short break. Personally I wouldn't bother. Replacements for things it destroys. Training if it turns out to be badly behaved.

Don't forget the cost of a good trainer.
As a minimum find a good puppy training class. Not one where they let them run riot! And be prepared to have 1-1 reining as well.
I took on a rescue dog at 6 months old just over a year ago. We have been doing a combination of classes and 1-1 training since then and I don't expect that to stop anytime soon. Classes cost around £100 for a 6 week course and 1-1 is £30 per hour! But well worth it!

Thanks for all the advice.

I am so glad I asked as I’ve learned loads and realised I’ve underestimated a lot of the necessary fees.

If you are an experienced/knowledgable dog owner and/or prepared to put in the hours to training you might avoid a cost that my friend has with their sprocket - the behaviourist.

Not saying that will apply to you but it has been tough (and expensive).