I would really love to get a dog when i move house, probably a border terrier or similar. I've never owned a dog before though so i have no idea how much it would cost me to look after on a weekly or monthly basis.
Cheers,
Andy
Jeez where do you start.
Food cost £15.00 a week, insurance about £20 a month
What you get back is a million times more
The bigger the dog the more it costs.
I have a collie (20kg), insurance is £15 a month, food £5 a month.
and about £20 a year in tennis balls from ebay. 🙂
We've never bothered with insurance and haven't had big vet bills 30 years or so on and half a dozen dogs later.
Can't say I've ever costed food
Don't forget vet bills, I have 2 dogs and its very expensive.
We have a greyhound and a labrador. About 8 stone of dog in total. I try not to think about what they cost in insurance and food.
I also try not to think about the cost of replacing everything they've ruined. This morning's treat was the lab having an upset stomach during the night, but thankfully we put off replacing the flooring in the dining room after she licked a hole in the carpet so it's just another three stains on an already ruined carpet.
We also have the expense of running a slightly larger car than we really need, so that we can fit the dogs in the boot. We made a massive loss getting rid of the previous car too.
I'm not the biggest dog fan. Can you tell? Unfortunately, they wife is.
I'm a new dog owner only in the second week so can only know the initial costs.
We spent about £80 before getting him on a crate, basket, blanket, bowls & toys.
£350 for a georgous springer spaniel, who came with his 1st jab done. I think it's about £20 for his 2nd jab next week.
£7 on a bag of puppy food, don't know how long this will last on three small meals a day.
I've been looking into insurance and it's between £15-£40 per month but I've decided to set up a savings account instead so if he doesn't need anything maijor, he gets a new bone and I get a new bike 😀
We pay about £70 a month on food.
£40 a month on insurance.
Numerous vets bills for minor things seem to be about £20-30 a pop - though I understand vets tend to own border terriers as they are so robust so probably not an issue.
During first year far too much wasted on numerous toys that last 5 minutes.
Additional dog treats for training.
We both bought new cars so the dog would fit.
You can prob guess we haven't got a border terrier 😉
If you have a longer haired dog you may need to pay for grooming too. We pay about 50 quid every 4-6 months for two Spaniels
You will also needs vaccinations and boosters
As far as insurance goes, I pay about 40/ month (2 dogs) which sounds a lot but after heart problems (cocker), grass seeds (both), and a few other issues, we have had more out than we have put in!
You will also need to pay for kennels if you are away. (or have understanding family) We never leave ours for more than 4-5 hours so if we are out for the day we make sure someone comes and looks in on the dogs for us. Lots of things to consider
Its worth every penny
Buy the right food and the cost is reasonable. Our Dalmatian costs about £40 a month in food, the yearly boosters are about £70 and worming is £15 a quarter. Flea treatments are usually £10 a month during the hotter months (may not be necessary if you live in a low cat, fox, hedgehog population area).
The costs are all size dependent so a smaller dog will be a bit cheaper, the more expensive dried foods can also work out cheaper to feed as you need less of them due to less "filler" materials in them.
Shop around for insurance as costs and cover vary greatly, I think we pay about £12 a month him.
Little dog here (cavalier). Tenner a week in food, 20 odd a month in insurance. I hope we never need the insurance but I've known people who have been put in financial difficulties when they've been hit with seriously large vets bills after accidents or serious illnesses. That's a chance you take though. You never want to be in a position where you have to choose between your pet and money.
They pay you back massively though. They cost a whole lot less than children, don't answer back, are always happy to see you and don't care if you're uncool. Awesome!
Our dogs sizeable 30kg + and eats about £40 of food a month.. Hes been insured since we got him and had 2 ops that costing over £5k that the insurance paid out on.
One of the biggest costs is not financial its the time you have to devout to them...
Kind of what Moda said but you do have to think about the fact that you won't have a life any more (unless you already have kids, in which case you don't have a life anyway). 😉
One of the biggest costs is not financial its the time you have to devout to them...
on a day like today it could be tempting to stay at home and forget walking the dog but that isn't an option...Ill take the dogs to the woods and we'll all come home and have baths 🙂 Might leave the bike at home this time...
What the hell are people feeding them. I got a 8.5 stone Rhodeshian Ridgeback and a 10kg whippet cross. Insurance is 24 and 12 quid respectively and food is 7 quid a MONTH for the pair of them! Get a working dog monster bag from Makro, 15kg is 7 pound and lasts about a month. That said if you listen to a vet endorsing their sponsors food at ridiculous prices and then over feed them buy reading the packet I can see how people end up spending the figures above.
HTH
you've got it all wrong Kev, that's the equivalent of feeding your kids macdonalds every mealtime don't you know? 😉
lot of nonsense spouted about the differences in food quality at times. mine gets 'wagg' from the supermarket. VAT free it's 10.50 for a 17kg sack. my springer gets 2x140g daily.
other regular expenses are insurance, for mine 18/month for petplan 'lifetime' cover ( there was a thread about insurance here yesterday ), booster jabs about 25 quid i think ( i had some ear jollop for mine while was there so don't remember exactly how the bill broke down ), flea treatment ( frontline ) monthly for mine, and worming tablets every 3 months.
i have a set of dewalt clippers to trim her with, which i do once or twice a year.
you may choose to get your dog neutered or spayed. dogs are cheaper/easier than bitches.
if you get a pup there are two sets of jabs required early on, on at 8 weeks and another at 12. you'll probably get 'em chipped too.
i probably wouldn't have chosen to have got a dog when i did by myself, and she does take up a lot of time, but i'm so glad i have her. i don't begrudge a second of time or a penny spent.
just contemplating getting fully kitted up with waterproofs for a walk now....
also, for tags, don't get those crappy aluminium things that wear out, make noise, and can get caught on stuff, take a look at indigo collar tags. bit more expensive but you'll likely only need to buy one.
Ted (border terrier) currently asleep besides me on the sofa - tough life 🙂
Cost £! to buy him.... we were 100% we'd be getting a rescue dog, then we met a 10 week old bundle of fun...
£600 in vets bills in year one (stupidly wifey thought i'd sorted insurance, I thought she had done it...!)
Now insured on a 'lifetime' policy - IIRC it's around £25 per month (if he comes down with a long term illness, it's covered as long as he has it, 'standard' policies will drop cover of that illness at renewal time = you're potentially very much out of pocket..)
Food - he's currently on Burns Dry stuff, mixed with nature diet wet stuff.... never worked out the cost of his meals but it's certainly <£1 per day.
Executive summary 😉
When insuring your pet, check the t+c's
Cost to own / run = bugger all compared to the value of having him around 🙂
Edit - £50 per year for two trips to the barbers - borders need striping, not clipping - to do it well takes around 45 mins to an hour...
new lab here. and if its a puppy you're getting, it's time not money you should be worried about.
he's a cracking lad, but its a hell of a commitment...
Labrador here. Big fella, 30kg plus. Food from a local farm costs £12 and lasts a month. Insurance is £20 a month. No kennels as we have a load of people who want to look after him locally. Only issue is he does come back a bit heavier 😉 He does tend to eat his toys, but now we get the super tough ones which last a year or so. £100 a so a year for vets/jabs.
Aside from a few stomach bug related accidents on our nice oak floor, not other expenses I can think of. And in terms of what you get back... can't imagine what'd it be like not to have him.
Wagg, that's the posh "KFC" stuff they get when MacD's have run out 😉
One cost I didn't take into account with our lab that we got last year was the monthly cost of Advocate (the all-in-one parasite protection)...that adds about £10 a month
We pay about £70 a month on food
**** me are the tins gold plated or did someone sell you a grizzly bear as a dog?. Our lurchercosts about £25 a month to insure and about £35 a month to feed including treats.
food - 30/month
insurance 25/month
then annually, vets £250, toys/bedding/treats £50, waterproofs/boots/leads/vehicle £50
so a grand a year all in
What about the potential cost of falling out with your neighbours because the dog is a nuisance barking all the time?
edit..... a hidden cost......
I'm about to walk to dog.
This walk will result in a trip to the pub (no point passing it....)
We're lucky that pretty much all the pubs around here welcome dogs.
Cost - probably a tenner - after all - no point just having the one 🙂
3 - 5x what you expect
We've got two cats and the damage they've done to carpets, furniture, wooden floors is well into the £1000s! I can only imagine a dog would be worse...
anagallis_arvensis - MemberWe pay about £70 a month on food
**** me are the tins gold plated or did someone sell you a grizzly bear as a dog?. Our lurchercosts about £25 a month to insure and about £35 a month to feed including treats.
Of course that involes the silver cutlery we get him to use 😉
Yep we spend a ship load on food but its to do with the quality not quantity. We buy this stuff as there's not as much grain/filler/unknown origin oils etc... then all the other food we'd tried.
http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/products.php
All the other foods, no matter what we tried, had adverse effects on our dogs behaviour and er 'movements' - never healthy. Spoke to a local highly recommended pet store, had big discussion with one of their 'experts' and they advised the above.
As soon as we moved to the acana stuff, completely different dog in every aspect - happier and apparently healthier as far as I can tell.
I baulked at the price to begin with but has been much better.
(and yes we did gradually introduced each dietary change before I'm flamed for that one!)
Our dog has a bit of cheap tinned crap, two tins last a week, mixed with Wainwhights form Pets at Home, its not the cheapest at about £35 a sack but less than some. The Mrs bought the wrong stuff a while ago beta or something, anyway she shat much more so we got rid.
Yeah - purina beta was one of the ones we had trouble with.
What the hell are people feeding them. I got a 8.5 stone Rhodeshian Ridgeback and a 10kg whippet cross. Insurance is 24 and 12 quid respectively and food is 7 quid a MONTH for the pair of them! Get a working dog monster bag from Makro
Mongrels are cheaper to insure than pure breeds as they are heathier.
As for the food, I have a Lab cross (41kilo monster, and you can still see/feel the outline of this ribs, so not fat) and if he eats anything other than James Wellbeloved, I have to take him for a walk with a shovel to pick up puddles of liquid shit. So yes it is more expensive, however when you are using 10-15 poobags a walk, rather than 2, you stump up the extra cash.
amazon for james wellbeloved matey (in case you haven't already found it)
tis what young Palmer eats, £36/15kg delivered.
cheapest we found by MILES....
if my friends house is anything to go by it'll cost you your sense of smell.
montylikesbeer - MemberFood cost £15.00 a week, insurance about £20 a month
What you get back is a million times more
£15 x 52 weeks = £780
£20 x 12 months = £240
So that's £1020 x 1,000,000 = £1020,000,000...that's a helluva value you place on the old pooch!
muppetWrangler - Member
if my friends house is anything to go by it'll cost you your sense of smell.
people are funny. like shit like that matters. gotta enjoy yourself in life mate.
dogs smell like dogs. its hardly a surprise.
We got 7 working collies so we buy working dog food in massive bulk bags.
Everything everyone has mentioned above.
Oh, and replacement of 3 x pet chickens @ £25 each, mercilessly slaughtered whilst their child owners looked on in horror. 😳
Food-wise, Arden Grange Lamb and Rice is good stuff (about on par with James Wellbeloved), and can be bought for £57/30kg delivered from GJW Titmuss online. The 2 chicken killers love it and are very healthy on it
hmm thats a good price. is it an adult food?
got a link for your last price? all seems to be £70+
I have two Rhodesian Ridgebacks and they are quite expensive to keep. Boy weiights in as 9st girl weighs in at 7.5st.
Food £50 a month, you can pay double that or alot less depending what you feed them. I use Iams and get a deal on it.
Snacks and treats about £5-10 a month.
Toys etc couple of quid now and then.
Christmas presents for the dogs £20.
Insurance I think its about £55 but thats top cover no quibble with Pet Plan. Anything over £75 in vet bills I can claim. Cost £400 for an xray as mine was limping. Vet probably wouldnt have recommended xrays so early on if I was paying. And yes it was worth it and diagnosed the treatment alot quicker than if we had fannied about.
Would not be without them.
tracknicko - Membernew lab here. and if its a puppy you're getting, it's time not money you should be worried about.
he's a cracking lad, but its a hell of a commitment...
Commitment and time is biggest thing for me too.
My 3-month old lab is currently fast asleep (snoring) on his bed. He sets us back about £1 per day to feed, £1 per day to insure, then I seem to spend at least £20 a week in the pet shop on anything and everything (poo bags, chews, treats, toys etc etc etc) plus the (allegedly) one-off costs of crate, play pen, bedding (which keep adding up and are well over £100 by now) and classes for us so we learn how to train him (£12 per week), dog-sitter for £45 per week when me or Mrs.H have to be at work and can’t be around to feed him or let him out.
Wouldn't change any of it...
