Before you decide to bring a dog home, it is absolutely essential that you give some thought to the costs that you will be incurring in the process. It’s not the purchase alone, though even that is likely to be expensive in the case of some superior breeds of dogs, but also the cost of the equipments you will have to buy to make your home habitable for your pet. Then there are the visits to the vet, which have to be regularly made, and the expensive vaccinations, which the puppy has to be given. So, all in all, you will have to make pretty sure that your wallet can take the beating before you bring your doggy home.
What then, are the costs, and how much are they? Let’s start at the beginning. You have to buy the dog unless you are lucky enough to have it presented to you by a friend or a family member and the cost of this initial purchase can vary very widely. The variance will firstly depend on the type of dog you are buying. A purebred “companion only” puppy usually starts from around $800 but can go up to astronomical amounts for rare or exotic breeds. If you prefer to adopt a non-purebred variety from a shelter, it will cost you from around $150 to $300.
Costs also differ in different geographic locations so it is difficult for us to tell you of one fixed sum that you will have to pay for any given variety of dog. Visit the sources in your locality from where people normally buy dogs and check on the prices. And this includes the internet. After some queries on your part, you will be able to come to a fix on what your desired dog costs.
Now that you’ve got your dog, it’s time to look at the other costs you will have to start to incur. Let’s start with the one - time costs.
One Time Costs Average Cost Fence $300 - $1500 Bowls $25 Collar $6 Training Collar $10 Leash $12 Bed $40 Crate $100 Brush/Grooming tools $20 Shampoo/ Coat care $15 Neuter/ Spay ( Based on weight ) $300 Microchip $50
Then there are the annual costs, which you have to be prepared for. I enumerate them below:
Vaccinations $185 Heartworm Test $35 Heartworm Preventive $65 Flea/Tick Preventive $120 Food $480 Toys/Treats $45 Tag $5
And then there are other costs:
Boarding – per day ( with 2 playtimes ) $25 Grooming – per time $50 Training classes ( Per 6-8 classes ) $100 Individual training ( Per session ) $100
And remember, this list is for grown up dogs and not puppies. If it’s a puppy you are adopting, the costs increase. There’s a check up, a series of 4 sets of vaccines, worming, heartworm tests, all of which will cost you close to $300. Then there is puppy food, which will set you back around $450 and toys/treats, which will cost approximately $65.
So, as you will have counted up from the figures given above, in the first year, you will be spending approximately $1500 to $2500 over and above the cost of buying your dog. After the first year, you will spend less per year – about $1000. Smaller dogs cost a bit less and larger dogs cost more.
Apart from all this, your dog will have lifelong healthcare needs. There will be shots and medicines you will be administering as preventive care and there will almost certainly be unexpected accidents, injuries or illnesses, however well you look after your dog.
It is therefore utterly essential that you objectively evaluate your budget and come to a decision as to whether you can really afford a dog. He will look to you for your support in all things and you owe it to him to give him, not only your love, but proper care, food and medical attention. These don’t come free – so ask yourself whether you can afford to get that dog you always wanted. If you realize that you can’t, it’s best to do without, both for your sake and his.
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