Question by Katie: Do people understand the costs involved in owning a dog?
Vets can run anywhere from -00 a year. It seems to average about 0, regardless of the size of the dog. A standard office visit, which you should have twice a year, runs about 0, depending on your vet. There are exceptions, of course, we had vet bills of over k one year due to surgeries and various other emergencies. It can add up.
Flea and Heartworm Medication – About /month.
Dog Food – for a premium dry food, this can run about a month for a large dog (we go through a 40# bag of food in about 3 1/2 weeks at our house with two dogs). If you feed canned food, this will be higher. Remember that they will have to eat more of a lower-quality food, so the cost eventually evens out.
Other stuff – we buy a ten pound box of dog biscuits once a month, for about . We also supplement with fresh foods and other vitamin and mineral additives. The cost for this is variable.
Dog License – required in most areas. -20/year.
Toys – about /month
I don’t mind if someone doesn’t get a dog because of this. One less to end up back in a shelter to be put to sleep because it’s now too old to adopt. I just want people to understand what things are really like. You can’t leave the vet with a yearly bill of . Shots cost a lot more than that…and you need a yearly heartworm/lyme test and blood workup. If you are denying your dog these things that is wrong.
Thanks for adding the part about training. That is another 80-1000 cost. Some can get away with only puppy kindergarten, and others who develop behavioral problems cost a LOT more! Just be responsable and don’t get a pet if you may have to deny it basic needs later in life.
Best answer:
Answer by fawneyblue
and your question is
What do you think? Answer below!
“emergency food boxes”
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t forget the cost of training, which should be mandatory.
If people understood the costs of dog owning at the outset, rescue groups would have far fewer dogs.
your vet is ripping you off…
I moved into Atlanta for about 4 years, it was about 75% cheaper for me to drive 2 hours to my hometown and use my vet there, than to use an altanta vet
well i dont think that training is mandatory…please….. i’d probably say that no, people have no idea…. its like havin kids really…
This is a good post many people who are getting a dog , worry about paying too much for a puppy but the cost of vetting it fully for the first year is often more than the price of the pup. And sometimes pet ownership can get very expensive I have had a couple years where I have spent $8,000 to $10,000 on vets
Thanks Katie. This is very accurate. I live in a very expensive state and some of your costs are real close to what I have to pay.
Not all of us live in a area that has cheep vets. So we do what we can to get our pet the best medical care possible.
I’m not sure where you live, but there’d be no way I’d spend $215 for 1 office visit. Mine is an excellent vet & her office call is $25. I currently have 6 dogs & per month with grooming (for the 3 poodles), insulin & needles for 1 of my dogs, heartworm & fleas preventative & special food for 2 of them my cost is about $200 – $250 per month. It all depends on where you shop. I order alot of our treats, shampoos, flea preventative & toys from PetEdge.com. Saves me a ton of money. The amounts you quoted would scare anybody from ever owning a dog so more will be destroyed. Thanks.
I think I’m lucky, it is $3.00 to license my dog in my city, and my twice a year vet visits are $60.00 earch. I spend the most money on food and supplements. I spend zero dollars on toys anymore…my dog would prefer to toss around an empty and clean juice bottle, and we bought him a new and clean rubbermaid small trash can to play with. He’s a big dog, so he likes to toss it around and hear the noise it makes
In the house, he’s content to just hang out. The tick and heartworm preventative is expensive, especially for larger dogs, I about die when I buy a 3 month supply of each!
But the thing that I always keep in mind, even though it’s not that expensive living where I live is that IF my dog came down with something, it COULD cost me a lot of money…so I make sure to set aside money for him “just in case.”
I dont think most people know the cost of owning a animal. (not just dogs) animals just like people/kids cost money … alot of money!
Honestly, no, most people don’t understand the costs unless they have had a dog before.
Some people expect a dog to be cheap, and they don’t have a lot of money, which leads to the spread of strays.
I know this doesn’t help all of those dogs that don’t have everything necessary in their lives, but it’s the truth!
Most people don’t understand the cost of owing a dog but it is like having children. The bills is a lot to pay at the end of the month but if you know what you want and you know you can afford it way not. I did not know my dog will be on medication for the rest of his life and it is a lot of money to pay but I don’t mind doing that I wanted the dog and I will look after the dog as good as I can. Lucky here is South Africa it is not so much to have a dog like the dog license we don’t have any more so it is one less thing for me to worry about. I am still paying of the operation of my dog it cost me R 15 000 – 00 just for the operation and the hospital, doctor but excluding his medication. It is a lot of money but it is every penny worth giving out for my dog’s.