Monthly Costs for a Dog

Quick

Hi,

I am in the process of organising to get a dog early this summer. I am preparing a "presentation" to give my wife on why we should get a dog. I need to get some figures together on monthly costs. I think some people just go out and get a dog without thinking it out totally about how it will affect their lives and wallets.

I tried to do a search on this site but nothing really came back, just need some idea of what you spend per month on the below, please feel free to add your own.

Food
Vet
Insurance
Treats
Toys
Boarding (for holidays)
Training
Grooming

Thanks,

Mr. Manager

Quick wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of organising to get a dog early this summer. I am preparing a "presentation" to give my wife on why we should get a dog. I need to get some figures together on monthly costs. I think some people just go out and get a dog without thinking it out totally about how it will affect their lives and wallets.

I tried to do a search on this site but nothing really came back, just need some idea of what you spend per month on the below, please feel free to add your own.


Thanks,

For me, owner of 2 dogs, this is my breakdown. Roughly.

Quick wrote: »

Food = 2 x 12kg science plan €81 (zooplus)
Vet = Vaccinations and routine check ups €200 per annum
Insurance = Dont have any
Treats = Scraps from butcher are free but I stock up on moist chicken reward treats every 2 weeks, again from zooplus at €20 a pop.
Toys = Not so sure on this but I'd reckon over the €100 mark.
Boarding (for holidays) = I looked into this but couldn't afford so left them with the parents of my OH. Cheapest boarding I found was €20 per night for my small dog and €35 for my newfie.
Training = All done by myeslf and the OH.
Grooming = Again, done by mself and the OH. Our newfie gets a trim once a year and that's ~€60-€80

As stated, I have 2 dogs so my prices could be cut in half. Plus it also really depends on what type of dog you are looking for. Feeding a Maltese will cost hardly anything but feeding a Newfoundland is about €50 every 18 days.

Hope this was some help.

Owen

Quick wrote: »

Food - About 25 Euro for a 15 KG bag every 2 months, using Healthy Paws/Burgess from 4 Paws & a Tail, it's a collie/lab mix, so we're doing well with that.
Vet - About 200 per year like the previous poster
Insurance - Nope.
Treats - Box of Healthy Paws treats from 4 Paws & a Tail again about 3 Euro.
Toys - She has a small ball she's in love with and a blanket she sucks.
Boarding (for holidays) - Neighbours have a hound too, so we take each other's dogs in when we're away.
Training - Rescue dog, she's pre-trained which is fantastic.
Grooming - We do it ourselves, every week she gets the furminator, every 3/4 weeks a shower with dog shampoo, I do her nails, and herself clips her hair with one of the Argos Remington home haircut kits for 20 Euro.

As above OP!

Mr. Manager

PaintDoctor just reminded me that our dog grooming equipment wasn't free...

Furminator, nail clippers, de-matting rake, de-matting comb, undercoat rake and wire pin brush - all cost less than €70 I reckon plus an additional €30 (rough idea) for shampoos and doggy deodarants.

Shanao

Food - €70 a month, but I'm feeding a dog who's going to be 60kilos. The same person feeding what I feed to a lab for example would get almost two months out of it.
Vet - About 200 per year like the previous posters
Insurance - Not yet, haven't decided on it.
Treats - Big bag of Pigs ears- €9.99, Bonos for traing- €2.99
Toys - I think I buy toys for him everytime I go to the pet shop so about €30 a month
Boarding (for holidays) - Stays with my parents.
Training - Trained him myself, so free.
Grooming - Do it myself- bought a rake, knot breaker, nail clippers and furminator, was about €70 because I bought the proper furminator. Costs for grooming really depends on the breed you're considering.

RubyGirl

Mine would be about the same as above but I would breakdown the vet (yearly boosters, check up and kennell cough), but

Wormers
De-fleeing
Nueter/Spray
Dog Licence;)

Would this not be extra?.

Also, take into account the inital cost like collars, leads, bed, or outdoor kennel. Then do you have to do any work to your garden to contain the dog.

Was in petworld today to buy a new collar and there was a couple there who were on their way to pick up their new pup, they spent €250 on stuff in the space of 10 mins.

ABajaninCork

Gosh, it's so easy to spend on the little darlings, but as far as I remember this is what we spent (and are still spending:D) on our boy:

Lead, collar, basket and cushion - E60
Dog blankets E10
Inoculations E60
ID Chip E20
Toys E20 (and lots of gifts from my SiL! )
Insurance E15 (monthly)
Brushes and comb £2 (via EBay)
Wormer E7 (every three months)
Food - We have a small dog which we feed on Burns. Initially expensive, but lasts forever. A 7.5kg bag will last about 3 months. Costs about E30-35. We supplement this with lamb's hearts and fish with brown rice.
Doggy shampoo - about E7 a bottle depending on breed and coat.
Doggy harness for the car. About E15 for a decent one.
Don't forget your dog licence. Currently E12.70 annually

Of course, it all depends on the size and the breed of dog you get.

I am also doing a dog grooming course for which I had to buy additional tools. Cost about E60 in total.

Some ways you can cut the cost:

Use Ebay to get things like collars, brushes, combs, and trimmers. Much cheaper!
You can also use baby shampoo to bath the dog. Tesco's own brand is good and smells lovely. Price is great too - only E1.80!
Get meat trimmings free from the butcher. Some might charge a nominal amount, but it's not as much as dog food.

If I think of anything more, I'll put it up.

Good luck. Let us know how the presentation goes!:D

ABajaninCork

I forgot to add : Very important to take pooch to training classes. He needs to have little doggy friends to play with and socialize. We did two courses with ours (not that it helped!!:D). Cost : E100...

kiersm

All the stuff the other posters said is rite but the inital outlay is the worst cos as other posters said getting leads, collars, etc is expensive but once its bought you're fairly sorted.

Getting their grooming stuff online it does help and also instead of using treats i use little puppy nuts and they love them.


ABajaninCork can you tell me something about that groom course your doing if you dont mind, you can pm the name etc

liquoriceall

Pretty much as everyone else said except a girl I know walks him 3 days a week so thats an extra 60 euro a month but well worth it as he would go nuts if alone all day
Just realised I probably dont want to know how much he costs me it must be 1500 a year!!!
Thats it hes going to have to get a job!

daenerysstormborn3

Food - €4 on a large bag of own brand wholewheat pasta from Tesco, about €6-€10 on meat per week and lots of free stuff on top of that like bones (it pays to get to know your local butcher)
Vet - my pup is 15 months old and I've spent about €100 on visits that can't be claimed back through insurance
Insurance - around €16 a month
Treats - buy online, 4 large bags of his favourite treats every month for €10
Toys - usually buy one new toy every couple of weeks so probably around €20 a month
Boarding (for holidays) - don't need to board my pup
Training - all done by me, no expense involved
Grooming - all done by me (short-haired dog so no hair cuts involved), have had the same bottle of shampoo since I got him, recently bought a furminator tub n nub which helps massage the shampoo into his skin a bit more thoroughly, it cost around €10

Once off costs were training materials like his crate which was over €100 but I bought the biggest one I could get (I have a great dane), once in a while costs collar and lead, great danes grow very fast and he has gone through 3 collars as he has grown (each cost around €20, nothing fancy just strong), I have 2 leads for him, one is a halti lead (not the harness) which cost €15 and another training lead which was €10, beds and blankets during the time I have had him I'd say have cost me around €50 but I think these can be quite expensive, my pup has mainly homemade beds and blankets, I buy him fleecy blankets from pennys/dunnes which are €5 for a pack of 2 every now and then and just cut up the old ones and use them to re-stuff his beds and cushions.

DeadlyByDesign

Great Dane here so my guy is clocking in a bit more expensive

Foodx1 bag of 15kg Royal Kanin x €60
Insurance= €30x 1 mth
3 month worming= €20
Vaccination per annum= €60
Doggy Day care (this is my big expense)= €65 x1 week (26o a month)
Treats/toys= bout 50-60 quid ish.

Day care on is the big one as my lad will roar the house down if left alone.

toadfly

Hi OP,

Its costs us for each dog per month (have two Yorkies);

Food; €6, 7.5kg Burns lasts both of them 10 weeks and cost €30
Vet:Yearly boosters and checkup €45, KC vaccine is around €30/40 they always end up going more often than once a year so I'd say €200 per dog would be about right
Insurance: €19 for purebreed and €13 for crossbreed
Treats: doesnt cost much, few € for bag of treats.
Toy: Tilly rips toys up so kong is the only one that has lasted, around €7
Boarding (for holidays): usually a friend minds them, we take her dog when shes away so works well, €12 per night per dog when they do have to be boarded
Training: got trainer out, three personal lessons at €30 each
Grooming: €40 each twice/three times a year
Neutering: €120 for female and €110 for male
Flea/Worm: £25 for 1 year worming and 6 months flea treatment online, much more expensive via local vet
Microchip: €40 each

We spent about €70 when we got second dog for bed/lead & collar. TK Max do good cheap dog beds. Much better quality and half the price of petshop beds.

If I think of anything else I will edit later.

What kind/size dog are you thinking OP?

Quick

Hi, thanks for all the responses.

Hopefully getting a Labrador in May.

Whats the best online shop for all the above???

toadfly

Quick wrote: »

Whats the best online shop for all the above???

I get the flea/worm treatments on petmeds.co.uk the posters saying to buy food/treats online, I would think they are talking about zooplus.co.uk