So I am doing some more planning for getting a Husky.

This time around, I am wondering what your guys usual monthly or annual costs are for owning a Husky. Food, toys, equipment, vet visits, and all that good stuff.

Thanks.

This will surely vary person to person.
I spend a ridiculous amount on food/treats/toys/collars/leashes/hiking and running gear. I spend nearly nothing on vet visits aside from an annual blood test and fecal (I would say your first year have $1,000 for shots, being fixed, blood work, fecals, heartworm testing, deworming, paranoid new husky owner visits, etc).

This thread is probably what you want to read: Give it to me straight - what do your dogs cost each month?

Thanks. =) Guess I should use the search option before posting. Haha.

I never weighed in on the other thread. I'm definitely in the "skimp" camp.

Sure I spend a lot of money on his equipment - but now that I have it I don't buy anything really.

Initial Costs:
This will vary depending on what you want to spend,
Crate, Bed, Harnesses/Backpack (we work our boy in harness), food bowl, puppy shots, neuter... etc. et.c

Sustaining costs:
Annual vet check up: this will vary a lot based off your chosen vet. I don't even know what ours cost. Maybe like $50.
Food: Roughly $30 a month (a 30lb bag of TOTW lasts us over a month)
Treats: Greenies, about every other day or so we give him one. So $20 a month or there abouts. The only other treats we give Appa are hotdogs frozen in water, cheese, we'll dehydrate bananas, and some peanut butter. We aren't big treaters in this house.
Monthly bath: $10 to use the self service.

I honestly don't remember the last expense for Appa besides food... that's how not often we buy him things.

That's it for "continual" costs.

Add heartworm prevention and flea/tick prevention to Rileys list and I think you're OK We're not huge treat givers either. They're treats are literally...baby carrots....$2.29 a bag...a week....lol. I have three though so I have to try to cut costs where I can. Especially if I want to buy them cute stuff without hubby having a fit

Oh yeah. Heart worm meds - you can pick those up at Walmart now, but my heart guard was $100 a year. We don't do a flea/tick preventative...

I'd be so much ricer if I didn't have dogs. That is all.

I spend $300 a month easily not including vet visits. It can be more expensive at times. Then again I have 6 dog's.

I would plan on spending a $100/month and also set aside an emergency stash of $1,500. You never know when you may need it!

Heather! wrote:

I'd be so much ricer if I didn't have dogs. That is all.

MelissaI wrote:

Heather! wrote:

I'd be so much ricer if I didn't have dogs. That is all.

Hayden_69 wrote:

I spend $300 a month easily not including vet visits. It can be more expensive at times. Then again I have 6 dog's.

Melissa, I spend more than someone with 6 dogs. So not LOL worthy. My life is a joke. Where is Kristina so I can not feel so bad about myself?

MelissaI wrote:

Heather! wrote:

I'd be so much ricer if I didn't have dogs. That is all.

I spend way to much on my dogs. I don't even want to know how much per month. I like spending money on them! I don't really buy anything for myself, just stuff for the dogs. Spoiled brats.

Lu&Katsmom wrote:

MelissaI wrote:

Heather! wrote:

I'd be so much ricer if I didn't have dogs. That is all.

I spend way to much on my dogs. I don't even want to know how much per month. I like spending money on them! I don't really buy anything for myself, just stuff for the dogs. Spoiled brats.

I'm always saying that I buy more things for the dogs than myself! I don't remember the last time I went shopping for myself. Or grabbed something for me instead of the dogs...lol

If I didn't buy them retarded ass shit I would have a hell of a lot more money!!!

Food is our biggest cost. It's about $250 a month. Add in $50 a month for flea season. Other than that it's toys, leashes, collars, ect. I have a serious problem. LOL

I'm with Riley...

We don't go crazy buying stuff for Sabaka. I'm pretty sure that food, treats, flea and tick and heartworm prevention can be bought for about $50-60 per month. We go to the vet once a year.

The first year was crazy! I could not believe the money rolling out of this house! I think I mentioned some of this in that other link that Heather directed you to. There is all of those set-up costs like food bowls and harnesses and collars and dog tags and microchipping and shots and neutering and leashes and a crate and more harnesses and collars (because he grew) and a fence and a new dress shirt for hubby because Sabaka ripped one up and the new sofa cushion and the carpet cleaning and enzyme cleaner because of potty accidents and a dog bed.... OH MY! No more puppies!

arooroomom wrote:

If I didn't buy them retarded ass shit I would have a hell of a lot more money!!!

Food is our biggest cost. It's about $250 a month. Add in $50 a month for flea season. Other than that it's toys, leashes, collars, ect. I have a serious problem. LOL

I'm so glad I have you in my life to talk about obscene dog accessory splurging and horrendous MTV shows. Don't ever move close to me, it would be dangerous.

I spend $38/food, $42/heart worm and flea pill, $2/zinc supplement & about $8/treats in a month. So $90 a month just for necessities. This does not include their yearly vet visits and any tags/collars/leashes/toys/beds that I buy on occasion. I will need to add in joint supplements in a couple of years. The older your dog gets the more money you should plan to spend. I had three aging pets on medication there for awhile...

I spend a ridiculous amount of money on the dogs - food is nothing, we have a great Co-Op - supplements I get cheap too. But, I am constantly grabbing himalayan chews or duck feet or Zukes bones. On top of that I feel the insatiable need to keep buying them collars and leads. I see so many new ones I can't help it. Then there's toys, treats (usually strawberries) antlers, and all kinds of other crap.

Wow, well it actually seems cheaper than I expected. (Of course there is all the start up costs). I'm planning on getting a rescue Husky, so maybe some things will be taken care of, but still it seems a lot cheaper at the moment than I was thinking.

Thanks for all the insight. =)

Yes, it will help with veterinary costs, but be prepared - a rescue can come with its own set of quirks. In our case, we paid for training

Hehe. =) Looking forward to it. I'm probably going to end up being an Applied Animal Behaviorist, but I won't be one until a few years after getting the Husky, so if there were any problem behaviors then I'd probably seek out a dog trainer as well.

Take into consideration the dollar exchange from Australia to America.

I spend about $150 - $200 every 6 weeks on food. (Dry and Raw)

Worming, flea and tick treatment was $70 for 3 months. (Advacate)

The most I've spent in a month for toys is $80, but it's usually more like $20 - $30.

Vet treatments. Vaccinations $75, De-sexing $150, check up $65

Crate and bedding $50 for when they're puppy, another $100 for when they out grow small crate and move up to large.

collars, harnesses, leashes $100 innitial, but then you'll experiment with different brands, makes and models until you find what you're looking for and what works best for your furrbaby.

So far for me, (I've had Cally about 5 months now) vet bills in total (spaying, flea/heartworm treatments, 2nd & 3rd shots, and a few unexpected visits) has been about $1050.00 and then on top of that, our food was costing us $40 a month but we switched over to BBW so it is now costing us $70 every 6 weeks for food (approx.) then treats ($20-30 a month, depends on bones etc.) plus your start up costs of collars, leashes, beds, crates, bowls.... I think it all depends on the person! I feel like Cally is overly spoiled lol! But then again, who on here doesn't spoil their husky?