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

I have a springer spaniel
£100 pm insurance with petplan (she’s 11)
£50 every 8 weeks for medication
£50 pm roughly for food

my parents love looking after her when we go on holiday but once a year we go away with them for 4 days and we pay £25 per night for the kennel.

Obviously there are other adhoc costs but nothing significant.

My medium sized boy costs
£40 a month food
£20 averaged per month for flea,tick and wormer
£30 insurance
He's only just finished growing so I've been having to buy new collars and harnesses pretty regularly up until now as he's an odd shape dog

He's due to be castrated in December that's
£375 done on body weight he is 17kg currently
Vaccine boosters are about £60 if i remember correctly and his are due soon

I board both my dogs once a year so a bit cheaper with two sharing a kennel
I think it averaged at £26/7 a day for 1 dog

@SpanielsGalore Cocker are small in size, but large in personality and brains = medium overall.

Goldens are large in size & personality, but small in brain = medium overall😁

I definitely don't consider cockers small though...

I have two of them, but each:
£30-40pcm food
£20 vet plan (flea, tick, worm)
£10 treats, toys, leads
We don't insure, but we do have savings.

Also a significant outlay on a decent bed, and I've shelled out a fortune on training, but they're working-line gun dogs so I went to a specialist trainer. I also belong to a gun dog club, which is a bloody bargain but I spend a fortune on petrol going to and fro.

OP, you might well be aware of this already (and I haven't RTFT), but if not, please bear in mind that labs are split very clearly in show/pet and working lines. The divide isn't as pronounced with vizslas, but even with them some lines are bred with an emphasis on showing and others on working. If you want a pet, especially with a vizsla (working line labs seem to be less hassle), steer well clear of lines with field trial winners (FTW) and Field Trial Champions (FTCH) in the pedigree, and of breedings where either parent is a worker. Any close descendants are likely to be highly prey driven and wired for work. They are highly like to be absolute pains in the arse without adequate training and fulfilment.

And edited to add, KENNELS! At 15-20 quid a day or part day, it soon tots up.

I have a lab x kelpie , £20 a month on food , £20 on insurance , probably £15 a month on bones and treats , probably every 3 weeks she goes to daycare at £15 a day . When we are away my niece either stays and I pay her or she goes to my mums for free .

8 year old golden retriever.

Monthly

£125 insurance
£30 vet plan ( includes flea/worming treatment. 2 health checks a year and no consultation fees.)
£32 supplements
£60 food
£30 treats

Training classes vary depending what courses we do (scentwork, rally etc) but are around £75 a 6 week course.
Physiotherapy every 2 months £85

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks yes people mean different things by a big dog.

Other people used to comment my previous Lab was big. To me he only seemed medium sized. He was about 32kg.

I have a 1 year old lab.
Monthly
£93 pet insurance
£22 health plan
£100 per month food.

£32 a week dog walker (2 walks a week)
misc is probably another £50 month (treats, toys etc)

then groomers is £45 every time we go.
dog sitter is £45 a night. (Which is his dog walker)

my previous lab died 2 years ago and her costs were no where near the cost of our boy. I was suprised how much insurance has gone up by. As I had previously never paid more then £45 a month for previous labs.

As others have said, it’s hard to predict.

I have one dog who’s been fairly cheap.

Another who has food allergies meaning he needs hydrolysed food at £90 a bag. And hip dysplasia meaning he maxed out his insurance last year, needed MRIs, and may need a hip replacement which is far more than his insurance cover. His parents were both fully tested, it’s just very bad luck.

I have another who cannot be with other dogs, so if I go away I need a pet sitter in my own home, which is mega expensive. Her insurance also doesn’t cover behaviour because she is a rescue and her issues predate the insurance policy. So I pay £130 a month for her medication and had to pay out of pocket for behaviourist input.

I’ve a spaniel and monthly costs are:
£90 insurance
£100 food
£100 day care (one day a week)

We have a 1 year old black Labrador. He costs (roughly) £400 per month. Breakdown:

Food - £100
Dog walker - £120 (2 walks per week)
Insurance - £30
Vet plan - £20
Private hire dog fields - £80

The rest of that £400 is towards someone looking after him when we go away, treats, dental sticks, poo bags, replacing toys/bedding etc, and any medical expenses that aren't covered by insurance or pet plan (such as prescription charges). In reality we spend above that some months. For example we've just had to replace his crate mat and seatbelt in the past week out of our non-dog money.

As you can see from that breakdown, some of those costs might not apply to you, but I'd say even with the bare minimum you're looking at around £200 per month on average plus the initial outlay of crate, bedding, training classes, food bowls, etc.

Not cheap but I think it's really variable depending on how often you have to replace things and any extras like having a dog walker and daycare etc.

Our lab costs about £30 a month in food.
£50 a month insurance.
We pay for flea worming treatment as we go but probably works out another £25 a month.
If we go away and dont take her with us kennels are about £18 a day.
Beds and leads and collars last a long time .
Her bed was about £100.
Lead and collar probably about £15 each
She doesnt have any health issues,fingers crossed.
But weve had a diabetic cat so if a pet has health issues costs do quickly mount (and health insurance will exclude it from future claims unless you have veey expensive top end insurance.)
Anyway some of the mobthly costs here are a bit OTT.
But it is a how long is a piece of string question for example cost of food will very wildly depending on what you buy.

Just as an aside, grooming doesn't have to cost a bomb.

I have a set of professional quality dog clippers and do my cocker myself every 6-8 weeks. The clippers cost me £75 as an initial outlay but a groom is £65 every 6-8 weeks so it does save me a bomb.

If you intend to show the dog then it isn't advisable but honestly, ours is just a family member who i have no intention of showing so a quick run over with the clippers is sufficient. Plus she is an absolute mud monster so I have absolutely no desire to be bathing and brushing her every day to keep her feathers clean!

For 2 labs per month
£180 food and treats (food is ~£2 a day each, rest is treats)
£80 insurance (15k cover, their excess is per year not per condition so we should never pay out more than £99 per dog per year on top of this)
£20 a month on vaccines and worm count (we don't flea treat)
£80 dog walker (optional nice to have for us)

So that's 360 for 2, throw in a bit extra for miscellaneous things like leads, collars etc over the year and a bit of dog boarding (only use a few days per year) and I think it probably works out about £200 a month each.

I could easily cut down food costs and drop the dog walker if needed though.

OP I don’t know is to are still reading but you said this “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).”

I’d actually argue that your lifestyle isn’t well suited to a dog at all. Standing pitch side watching your children play sport all weekend is not great for a dog at all (even assuming they’ll be allowed).

I have an 8 year old Lab x who costs us the following per month

£60 food & treats
£105 medication for arthritis/joint problems
£98 insurance

And then more here and there on extra treats, toys etc when I feel like it

Not a medium dog but see below. I think it’s really important to think more about how the dog will feel in kennels and how you will feel to have left them. What if they don’t get on with them? Are you comfortable having a sitter in your house or someone else you can leave them with?

insurance - started at £30. Now he’s old it’s £90.
food - what happens if they can only eat the ridiculously expensive stuff? Our dog has Tesco own which works well but the other option is £37 a sack and he’d need 2-3 a month.
grooming - can be done by you but some pay £80 a month
flea and worm is £30 every couple of months
he’s cheap but we take him on holiday with us or get family to dog sit which could go wrong and causes worry. What happens if their personality isn’t quite fitting with the family? Can you afford a behaviourist and trainer?

Oh my dog also has hip dysplasia so we spend a few hundred every 6 months on metacam but the insurance covers this. If he had a better personality he would also be having physio, hydro treatment and possibly surgery. Insurance only covers so much.

Not a lab but medium sized labradoodle.

VET plan: £20
Food: £60
Groom: £20 (only groomed every three months, so pro rated)

I insured him until it was £70/month at age 8 even though never claimed. At 12 he had mast cell cancer which cost £1200 but still cheaper than the insurance. It’s a gamble.
When on holiday I used Trustedhousesitters.com which cost £150/year to be registered but nothing to the actual sitter. Before I used kennels which was £30/day.

£25 pm vet plan
£50 pm insurance
£30 pm food
£30 pm a couple of walks over the month when I can't.
Spends most holidays with my parents so I just pay a local walker, but £50 a night if he stays with the sitter.

We have a beagle.
£25 a month insurance
£20 a month pet plan at the vets which includes immunisations, 6 monthly health check etc
£30 a month food
£10 a month treats maybe, although she mainly has vegetables as ‘treats!’
£350 one off spaying
£20 a night kennels when we go on holiday