I'm revising my budget and realizing that a TON of my "fun" money is spent on my dog (and to a lesser extent, my cat). Food, treats, toys, gear, doggie day care and petsitting, the Dog Nazi (err - training), books, meds, vet visits, grooming/bathing, licensing/registration/microchip fees, etc. etc. etc. I know, personally, I probably spend "too much" on this, but I know some of it was just one time getting set up for a dog stuff (crate, bowls), and his $200 adoption fee. But for more routine/recurring stuff, what do you set aside?

Anyway, do you guys here have a good guideline for what you spend on your dogs monthly, or annually, or occasionally? Help a girl out here...

I spend about $150+ish a month on food, depends on raw prices.. I am currently doing NRG + Instinct kibble + Ziwipeak + Raw.. obviously not all in the same day.
Treats, I spend about $100 at Cost/Sams every 6 weeks for just his regular treats throughout the day. Bones and fun stuff, I spend about $5-$7 bucks once or twice a week on a fun bone.
Grooming I do all myself or go to a self service- it only cost $18 and I only do it maybe once a month.
Toys Koda has boxes full of from the past 3 years, I don't get new toys often unless it's a holiday or something really neat.
Vet: I get a titer test every 6 months for bordetella and that's all I've had to worry about until next year, those can be a bit pricey.. I think I pay 70? Heartworm meds $50ish.
Daycare- I spent about 200/month on daycare before I worked at one, will probably pay about the same when I move.

The first year I had Koda, I spent over 5k and that does not include how much he cost. It was pretty bad!

I don't think I want to know...

I just warned a friend who was going to get a dog from the shelter at their Adopt-A-Thon for a "great price" that the "great price" is just the beginning!!

I'm sure my one puppy so far has averaged over $100 per week. (And I might be being kind to him.) The cost of the dog is nothing compared to 2 vet visits with shots (so far - neutering coming up soon), sofa cushion and men's dress shirt that he destroyed, Heartguard and Frontline @ $25ish per month, puppy training class with more needed, FOOD, treats, toys, leashes and collars and harnesses, dog sitters or boarding (that I haven't even used yet)....

I know his cost per week will go down after puppyhood because the initial vet visits are expensive, he will use his leashes and stuff like that for a while, he will not need the training classes and, hopefully, he will not be chewing up stuff.

I'm still in the initial "dog set up" phase, so like you I hope something levels out here!

Oh thank goodness, you're making me feel better. I think I'm probably on track to spend at least $5k during our first year with Nikolai... and I don't really feel like I'm *that* crazy or spoiling him (too much). It's just a lot of stuff that adds up!

i honestly don't spend very much on my two.
monthly
Taste of the Wild food: $50
Treats/Bones/Toys: $30
Heartworm: $15


Yearly
Grommer when blowing coat: $80
Dog Park tags: $40
City Dog License: $40
Vaccinations: $180 (Rabies, Distemper, Bordetella, Lymes Disease x2)


I spent a ton on Embry as a puppy, way over $2000. $250 for him from the breeder, 2 training classes $250, $200 neuter, Professional Portraits $200, Harness/Leashes/Collars: way over $100, and tons of toys, beds, bandanas and crap he didn't need
I didn't spend nearly as much on Zoey, $300 for her from the breeder, her AKC registration, $200 spay, $100 crate, and like $100 on leashes, collars, beds, harnesses and leashes.

I'm not sure I should disclose the full amount I spend on the recurring expenses...let along gear. I spoil my furbabies and myself, to be honest...but I do try to get quality gear so they last.

I think there's only a backpack that I'd like to get Storm, and a car camping tent...and I think I can think of other things if I sit here long enough....

I probably set aside $200-$250/mo for my 2....I think....

When you take into account monthly expenses as well as annual vet/med expenses, I'd say around $150-200/month. That's an overestimate on my part, but I don't actually set that money aside every month.

I don't spoil mine as much, but I'm also home with them all day, everyday. So... they get pretty spoiled just from that

Oh...my...word... I just realized $100 per week IS $5200 per year!!

I know it will get better and I'm hoping for a nice, calm $150 per month...eventually!

(I forgot to add in the cost of the FENCE!)

I gotta just keep telling myself, "my pets are cheaper than human kids..."

And now for the scary part! Kristinas monthly spending! lol

Let's see...
TOTW for Cheyenne $45/month
Raw for everyone else... $30/week $120/month
HW $25/month (for all)
Flea/Tick $28/month
Mickeys Promeris $11/month
We've stopped vaccinating so we're looking at probably $75/year in Rabies vaccine/tag for them all (3 year vaccine)
Throw in another $50 a month for fun stuff.

Around $280/month or near $3,500 a year. That's actually not too bad... lol

im tight with our lack of money, but mine are still happy , let me think about this real fast for a monthly cost
TOTW- $38ish last over a month
natures domain-$30ish last over a month
Wellness core RCGF - $35ish last over a month

for jack he gets half and half of TOTW and ND
for sierra she gets half and half of WCRCGF and ND

with the 3 bags of food they are lasting i think around 2.5-3 months with the mixing, i know im not buying food every month.

HG pill is i think $25ish a month for the 2 of them, i buy a 1yr pack and split it for 6months each.

i get treats and bones at costco every few months, im not a big treat giver they get small treats before we leave for work and go to bed, i break a lot of things in half. toys are bought on sale and for things like birthdays and such, the toy basket is so full they don't need toys.

vet visit is every 6months and a $100 + for both

they each only have one collar and leash and backpack and lines.

i think i have spent the most on the "gear" for us to go have fun, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, camping.

the shots are every 3 yrs and we pay the denver tags every yr. as well as the homeagain chip every yr.
we do self wash every 2-3 months at $10 a dog

no daycare for mine and we hardly go anywhere and when we do i try friends first then think about paying a sitter.

the first year is the worst as you need to get all that stuff, and i learned it is better to spend the money for "good" things then having to replace stuff in a few months.

Kate you might find ways to cut back on things and Nikolai will never know, its more about you wanting to get him the things! we did the at home trainer at the start and it was kind of a waste, we did learn some things though.
i really don't think 2 have cost any more then one except for the essential things like food and shots and vet.

Monthly cost for just the basics:

Food -$40/mo
HW prevention - $12/mo
Treats - $20/mo

Total for those three: $72/month


Add in other monthly incidentals:
Toys - $5/mo
Supplements including Glucosamine chews, Nupro Silver, ACV, Coconut Oil, Ester C, and MSM - $10/mo
Oils for pest repellent - $0.50/mo
Water (for drinking, playing and bathing) - guestimating ~ $2/mo
Shampoo - $2
Averaging annual vet bills if spread out over 12 months - ~ $60/mo

Total for monthly incidentals + vet expenses averaged out: $79.50

So total monthly expenses comes out to $151.50

Annual total at that rate would be $1818

But that is all based on estimating low and assuming no medical emergencies and not buying any items like collars, harnesses, leads, bowls, beds, blankets, crates, etc.

Everything above plus................. harnesses, kick sled, scooter,various leads and gang lines, neck lines toys toys and more toys.

I think I'll stop before I realize I'm nuts spending all the $'s on them that I do.

Ok, I didn't realize how much I was spending until you made me think about it. Oh well, I wouldn't trade them for the money!

Oh shoot, I forgot about harnesses, collars, leashes, backpacks, holiday fun stuff.. uh well add a few hundred a year for that. Wow, this is ridiculous!

26nikita wrote:

Ok, I didn't realize how much I was spending until you made me think about it. Oh well, I wouldn't trade them for the money!

Totally agree with Mindy! Crap, I spend A LOT OF $$$ on them! I hadn't even thought about it or budgeted for them either, but wow I do spend A LOT! For example, just today, I went to Petsmart to get Mya the small bag of Wellness Core Reduced Calorie kibble ($12) and ended up spending $35! Just on that squeezy balls and 2 bones.

Just on food...THK for both, 2 different types of kibble (wellness and Orijen), and raw...geez that adds up to like $200! Not including treats, bones, toys or their HW and flea/tick prevention. Ummm, I need to cut down somehow! LOL

Oh, yeah, and not to mention the veggies I get them too. That brings it up to like $220 at least..lol

Feeding a good food with variety surely is pricey!

CoffeeK8 wrote:

I gotta just keep telling myself, "my pets are cheaper than human kids..."

And I've got two of those as well!!

I do think most pet toy manufacturers are really sticking it to us suckers with the high prices for pet toys! I think the human kid toys were cheaper! I saw a VERY large split elk antler for $22 in a bin at the check out area of a local pet shop. Shooooot.... you could buy an entire Fisher-Price Little People Plane for that price!

...However dogs do not need new shoes every 6 months nor money for college...

I think if I looked at my VISA bill and calculate what I have spent so far? YIKES!

But I think I have all the fun gear for them and myself with the exception of Storm's backpack which I may end up getting the EZYDog backpack for $80 - it seems like it has a bigger range of sizes to fit so if I buy it now, Storm will still be able to fit/use it even after losing weight. It doesn't have some of the features I like about the one Ginger has, but that's OK. I can still throw in water bottles in Storm's pack if I have to.

Now, if I ever get to the point where I can skijor with them, well....that's another some odd $500 for ski skates and boots for me...and another $25-30 for a sexy X-Back harness for Storm....he should have one like Ginger, ya know...

Ugh, figuring this stuff out can cause heart attacks. lol
Over $1,000 a year is spent on dog food around here. Just dog food. When I add in all of the other costs hard ware for the dog yard, racing fees, vets bills, worm medicine, etc etc.. I get a (very) rough estimate of somewhere in between $4,ooo to $5,ooo a year. It could be more though, depending on the year.

I spend about 3K alone on food and chews for 2 dogs a year now.. I don't even want to add up the rest, lol.

Heatherlee wrote:

I spend about 3K alone on food and chews for 2 dogs a year now.. I don't even want to add up the rest, lol.

Yea I don't even want to know either lol... I love him so I really don't care lol as long as he's happy and healthy

Hmm, since we got him I'd say we have spent about...

Dog - $400
Food - $90
Vet - $50 (we are doing the wellness plan thru Banfield for his shots so we only pay $24/mo)
Flea/Heartworm - $50
Treats and Toys - $75

So nearly $700 since the end of July. Spoiled puppy!!

And to think my two cats have had to go to the vet four times between the two of them in that timeframe as well.

Not really sure what I spend on Drogo. All vet expenses are free, which is a huge help. The price for his food varies, depends on what I can get meat for. Probably around $20 - $25 a week on average. He gets at least 1 new toy and bone each week, so that's probably $10. Heartworm medication is about $6 a month, flea approximately $10. He's professionally bathed for free once a month as well. Nupro and coconut oil aren't monthly expenses, but I think they cost around $50 for both when I have to buy them. If I choose to do Day Care, it's $10 for a half a day (which is normally what I do).

So on a normal month, probably around $150 - $175. ^___^