How much does your (medium size) dog cost you pm?

[stupididiot12345]

after many many years of pondering, we are now close to biting the bullet and getting a dog. Either a fox red lab or a Viszla, but more likely a lab. I feel our lifestyle suits a dog - house with large garden, backs onto huge woods so plenty of options for interesting and varied walks, we have 3 boys who play sport all weekend so our time is often spent on pitches so dog could come along too (although I appreciate not all pitches allow dogs on).

my reservations are surrounding the costs of boarding services while we are on holidays (maybe 2 x yearly) although so have lots of family who may be willing to help. How many monthly or year should I expect a dog like this to cost me including food, insurance, grooming, flea/worm treatments, general supplies? Any other costs that I might not have considered

3 year old lab: (monthly approx)

Insurance £70
monthly vet plan (injections, worming tablets) £20
Food £50
Treats £10
Dog training £50
Total - £200

Other:

DOG
bed
crate
collar
lead
drying towels
dog coat
toys

HUMAN
walking shoes
wellies
coat for dog walking
dog walking clothes (fleece etc)
hat
gloves

Walking into a country store/farm shop, just to have a look, and spending £75 on bits and bobs!

Picture of the expensive beast.

My 4.5 year old cocker spaniel weighs 12.5kg.

Food = £26
Insurance = £39
Tick and flea treatment = £6 (I buy a Seresto collar which lasts 7 or 8 months.)
Joint supplements = £20

I don't know how much I spend on toys and treats. I tend to do a big shop and it lasts as long as it lasts.
Last year she had three separate illnesses, so cost me £300 in excess payments for vet fees.

I had a medium sized dog, when younger he cost £10 a month vet plan rose over the years to £25 and this included flea and worm, nail clipping, vaccinations, insurance started at £25 a month but by the end it was £220 a month however we got far more than we paid back in treatment, very costly dog! Food was circa £30 a month, never had professional grooming and toys were ad hoc, perhaps £20 a year. Last time I paid for kennels it was £16 a night

I have 2
One who has
About £30 food, £25 insurance £15 vet plan, £20 other stuff eg wear and tear on tiys beds, odd hiring of a field.

Until fairly recently he had £30 a month classes, or the odd £70 training session. he will need a dental every few years (£300 ish) because he's got some teeth stuff

Our other dog! Oh boy.

She has medical issues. She is uninsurable. She is on specialist food (about £80 ish a month), medication (150 a month), supplements (60 ish a month), combined with regular ish vet needs as needs bloods monitoring(probs averages at about £79 a month). She also is a doodle that requires 2-3 monthly trips to a groomer at minimum so that's £20 ! Month min.

She also needs regular dog care, because she cant be left as long as a normal dog can.

Other than unexpected medical costs, the costs that surprised me about dogs is the dog care cost/ fees

In lots of hotels you can pay the equivalent of a human stay for your dogs to join. Centerparks was about a £150 extra dog cost for a 3 night stay, and often your choice of accommodation is limited pushing you into more expensive hotels, air bnbs, cottages. Its more than doubled the cost of some hotel stays for us (eg a travel lodge type thing recently cost £25 for us, £40 for the dogs! Or a haven 9.99 deal thing cost £80 for the dogs alone! ), or we've had to pay loads more for somewhere dog friendly.

Or you are paying for kennels/ dog care

Want to go on a full day trip eg to the zoo, theme park, to the beach etc? A whole day family gathering, wedding? You'll need pop in visits (often more expensive than kennels, but kennels often dont give you a full day care eg 1pm drop off, before 12am pick up or your pay for two nights)

Even prior to the medical stuff with our dogs being good at being left for 6-8 hours, we did find a surprising number of days out go over this, especially if you dont have a friendly neighbour to pop in, or if you dont want to be that person bringing the dog to friends houses. Say you are going to match 1.5 hours a way, 90 min match and half hour break, you'll be over 5 hours without stopping to eat, leaving spare travel time etc, most adult dogs can do that (not all) but puppies might struggle.

This is perhaps more of a thing for us because we are 2 hours from a lot of relatives, so can lose 4 hours in just a days travel. Luckily people are fairly tolerant of us bringing them to family meals etc but we dont want to take the piss

That’s my experience too of dogs growing up.

My boy costs food and pet insurance, around £80/month. He gets groomed every 6 weeks at a cost of £50. We buy toys, new leads etc as needed I think all in, if I averaged over the year he costs about £200 a month and is definitely the best use of £200 I know.

I do.

When I was growing up my Dad had a mongrel that cost him very little (I saw Dad and the dog at weekends only). No pet insurance, no fancy dog food, no dog trainers. He existed quite happily and to a good age on a tin of pedigree chum a day plus whatever he scavenged from the mean streets of Hackney. Dad did pay to put the dog in kennels when he went on holiday but that was about it.

Tbh I think some of it these days is just a money making exercise. My friend has a dog that is nuts (her description) - having consulted multiple dog trainers and spent money on all sorts, the dog is still nuts. She also spends a fortune on things like hydrotherapy for the dog and special food. She loves her dog and she can afford it so I'm not judging her, I just doubt it's all really necessary.

But I can be a sucker for anything dog related too. When the Amazon man comes calling these days it's normally to deliver something for our puppy since we got him 2 weeks ago.

I would say though is previous nuts dogs just disappeared

There was a much more cavalier approach to dogs and if a dog didnt fit someone's life style they would just get rid. Lots of people had childhood dogs that dissapeared, rehomed, let loose or put to sleepm Now people try to fix it, or find adaptations to keep dogs.

Dogs were also allowed to do stuff they aren't these days, for example my mums dog live in the garden mostly, was seperated out from the kids because it was a growling, and used to chase cats, guard the house and fight with local dogs which was all acceptable and its remembered as a loyal family dog. If that dog lived in today's world, it would be on a lead with half the exercise, expected to let the kids clamber around it, play nice with other dogs on walks, and be locked in the house where it would have chewed stuff up. There's also more dogs being left while everyone's at work, and people having things like vizlas, collies etc with high needs in an environment not set up so they pay for dog walkers etc to mitigate it. We are also breeding dogs more to the extremes causing health issues, but also things like uber clingy dogs (eg frenchies) or really high energy or not breeding out neuroticness

The medical thing was the same with humans, some of it is just medical advances. A dog with diabetes can live a fairly normal life these days, but would have died as a pup. But also people just weren't up to spending money on their dogs, so weren't taking them to the vets and letting them either get better or die at home. People now days will remove tumors, treat kidney disease etc

The example of a dog with a leg injury is a good one. Previously for dogs (and for humans pre standard medical care) people wouldnt bother getting it xrayed, cast or antibiotics. They just washed it at home because a good portion of the time, an infection doesnt take hold and when it does you'll be really ill but eventually live through it. Didn't mean that dogs didnt get broken legs that then set badly, infections or they weren't in agony there was just much more of an acceptance that a routine injury might be fatal and people were more willing to risk it.

Makes you wonder why the modern dog needs so much spent on it?

This thread won’t be particularly representative thought. The majority aren’t spending £300 plus a month on their dog. Isn’t it nearly half of people who don’t even insure their dog or cat!

I partly agree but also feel like sometimes we worry too much about our dogs behaviour these days and try to "fix" them all the time whereas in the past people were more relaxed about it all and didn't spend money to try to stop doggy behaviours which we used to see as normal.

I got my own first dog 20 years ago and even in that time I notice a big difference and a lot more anxiety around things such as the crating issue, puppy classes, dog trainers, correcting a dog that is too social or not social enough etc etc.

I can guarantee my Dad never spent a minute worrying about stuff like that and even I barely did with my first dog and they both turned out fine.

The things is you dont get to chose sometimes

I adopted both mine as healthy rescues

I have two dogs, one who gets bog standard food and has insurance but nothing exciting

The other has complex health needs that have developed and became uninsurable (hence my other dog has different insurance!). The choice would be that I could pts, or my dog could be on an expensive meds regime but live a fairly happy life. I can afford it luckily, but its not because I'm indulgent etc or I chose it

All dogs age, and what might be a dog with minimal vet fees their whole life, there should be a recognition that they will need an increase in health care when they age. Our old dogs routine dental for teeth that were causing pain was over £600, and that should be a minimum of care and it should be expected that it might pop up.

I realise it wasn't you talking about people being over indulgent with vets, when dogs never used to have it but
I'm fairly fierce about dogs needing access to care because I find that people often wear a lack of care proudly

My old dog had pain killers, and supplements to help arthritis. Nothing crazy but I was determined because I watched my childhood dog struggle with arthritis, which my parents put minimal effort in to treating it and while they thought I was ludicrous. I distinctly remember how bad that dog got with no pain relief, no attempts at things like supplements and was allowed to suffer for the sake of £30 a month. I also watched it happen to other family members pets.

They wear the fact their dog never needed the vet as a badge of pride, but I think they were borderline neglectful and while yes while their dog did survive a massive binge on toxic food that was luck and a decision based on cost saving than medical need.

People wouldnt be saying that I wasn't buying into big pharma, If there was no nhs, and I had a child who was completely dependent on me for health care and I knew they had eaten something toxic, but wanted to wait until they started seizing to take them to care because they'd probably be fine. Or if I didnt take an elderly relative who was eating soft food only because their teeth were rotting, and who could barely move but didnt have access to pain killers etc

But often people are encouraged to avoid vets for their pets

25kg dog.
Boarding is close to minimum £50 first night and £20 for all subsequent nights.
£20 pm vet plan for jabs and worning
£1.50 day raw food.
minimal insurance (just in case she causes an accident or something)

£55 a month insurance, £38 a month pet club. £415 a month doggy day care for 3 days a week. (When we got her I had a different job, priced do care into the new role before I accepted. Shockingly large number of colleagues have dogs and just leave them at home all day, doing a walk in the evenings, price in “life change”.)

I usually buy her food in bulk when on offer so it works out about £50 a month.

@Silverbirchleaf, those eyes 🥰

I have had 2 labs, sadly only one now.

The costs tend to rise as the dog gets older. My male lab was known as the vets pension plan. He managed to get himself into every scrape imaginable.

I would estimate that my current bitch costs around £300 per month which includes specialist food ( she has intolerances) , insurance and vet plan ( about £100 ) and arthritis drugs ( covered by insurance so that’s a wash) . She has had physio in the past and has needed x rays and scans, and my excess is 20% of those.

By the time he died at 14, my hugely loved and treasured male, was costing about £800 a month as he was uninsurable -that was renal food, vet plan, arthritis drugs , physio, acupuncture, whatever else I could do to make his life better.

Now some of that is absolutely discretionary.

I have a dog walker whose costs are not included as we are pretty ad hoc. My dog comes with us on holiday- since the male died she has been anxious when left over night 🙄 But boarding two of them in a decent kennel, was £35 per night ( I provided food) , a couple of years ago.

I doubt anyone on this thread is saying avoid vets for your pets @Pinotpivot if they need it.

People shouldn't have pets if they can't afford vet bills in my opinion, however vet care is big business these days and you have to be careful not to get exploited as an animal lover into paying for unnecessary things.

But things like dental care, pain killers, supplements for arthritis etc, these are all a very necessary cost. And I would never not take an animal to the vet if they seemed unwell.

Food 35 month
Ins. 30 month
Jabs/worm/flea 25 month
3 walks/week 165 month
1 week holiday board 300 per summer.

Would never not pay insurance - £5k bill for a cruciate surgery in first year

We have a lab. £40/month on food, £16/month flea & wormer.

Yearly vaccines are around £70, kennel cough roughly £60.

Our boarding kennel charges £34/night for a large kennel.

Labs don’t need professional grooming, get a good brush (furminator is fab) and you can bath them yourself.

They need lots of walks too! Ours is now 8 and still enjoys two long walks per day.

Absolutely. Its something I feel very strongly about simply because I had family members who were similar to the talking point before of "we just looked after our dogs at home and it was fine" and often it ends in a flurry of posts about how people are suspicious of vets, and how they never needed a vet.

We foster and have had pets that never saw the vet in our care with them, and ones that were frequent fliers. Its just luck!

We all make decisions based off what's available to us, and im sure it probably was the right decision when the previous posters dog got injured and got nursed at home, but times have moved on and dogs shouldn't be left in pain if theres reasonable alternatives and I find the nostalgia for those times weird

I'm also partly suspicious because I spend a lot of time in holistic places (because a mixed approach works for us) and there is a big issue of people persisting well past what is reasonable because they are following a holistic route eg honey on wounds but in reality mostly because they are avoiding paying for a vet

My collie is probably similar to this although our vets don't do a plan.

@stupididiot12345 You need to factor in things like spaying/neutering, dog walkers if you work out of the house, what you would do if they didn't take well to kennels/boarding while you were away (my last dog stressed so much she would poo blood so we couldn't leave her).

Then there's the poo bags, the collars/leads/harnesses. Treats. Toys....mine is really good at not chewing our stuff but she absolutely destroys her toys. And some breeds, like my collie and labs will fall into it, need the mental stimulation of toys and such or they can be destructive.

Labs eat a lot and chew everything so you NEED the big insurance - my friends lab managed an entire bag of apples in seconds and then was violently sick.

They're absolutely worth it. But it's a lot to think about.

@Pinotpivot I don’t think anyone is saying avoid vets for a poorly pet. As vet medicine has improved though people can be led to undertake more and more extreme treatments for animals which are distressing for the animal, costly and only act to prolong their life.

I seem to remember my parents being much more pragmatic about animal health care. If a reasonably cheap, non-invasive treatment could bring a good quality of life they’d go for it. Things needing anaesthetics, surgery or complex medication regimes they’d have a serious conversation about PTS, yes very hard for a much loved pet but realistic about the impact on the animal of having invasive treatment. I’ve watched family and friends spend tens of thousands on tests and treatment for their dogs, some covered by insurance and some not, for the animal to die within weeks or months. Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

I remember my beloved cat becoming really lumpy, the vet said she it looked like lymphoma, could do tests to confirm it - under anaesthetic - and start expensive treatment or leave him be and keep him comfortable. I opted for the later and he lived another 9 months, not in pain and with good quality of life. Had I opted for treatment he might have lived a few months more but with what quality of life.

Pets can be very emotive, and people can struggle to see the woods for the trees, sometimes it’s much better for the animal to let them go than get caught up in one test more.

10yr old staffie here.
Costs per month...
£35 insurance (hefty excess and I have to pay 20% of any claim, I've had her 15m and she's already cost a fortune in vet treatments)
£20 vet plan for flea, jabs, worming
£15 ph for pet sitting and walks (she has SA) so around £300 pm
£150 ish for food and treats
Toys, bedding, coat, harness, leads, misc, varies each month.
Also, if she does something stupid (like snaffling a chocolate Father Christmas from the neighbour), random vet bills that aren't worth claiming for but still cost a couple of hundred.

Ours is a little bit less but not much.

Dog sitting at our house is about £30-35 per 24 hours but we’ve never used a kennel or boarded out.

For a few days, a relative usually dog sits but that doesn’t work for longer trips.

I'm 100% a believer in that, similar to people that quality of life over length of life is important.

Weve had a lot of animals through our doors and euthanasia has been often the most therapeutic tool out there

Apologies for derailing the thread, its perhaps less of a dog board thing, but certainly a massive pattern from the main boards and from non mumsnet spaces where people think that getting through a pets life without vet care is a win.

I have a lab, he's 6yrs old. Basic monthly costs around £185.

£124 for insurance (Petplan Covered for Life)
£25 vet plan (flea, worm & vaccines)
£36 food (I buy quarterly in bulk)

That doesn't include miscellaneous costs like poo bags, I buy 500 at a time, about £10 a go (not the crap ones on a roll that your finger goes through) or toys.

No grooming required, I do his nails and he's easy to keep clean and tidy with the hose and a brush.