Costs of Having a Puppy:
The costs may not be obvious to a new owner at first, but they quickly become apparent. Not realizing how expensive good puppy care can be is no excuse for not providing basic care. In the first 6 months of ownership you can expect to spend well over TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. This may or may NOT include purchase price! Proper veterinary care is a must, it is not optional!
- Purchase/adoption cost: Varies absolutely anywhere from Free to $2,000
- Vet visits (at least 3 for vaccines and supplies like heart worm prevention and flea tick medication): $100-$200 EACH visit MINIMUM
- Spay/neuter (varies on size of dog): $200-$500
- Crate: $50-150Toys: Your limit!
- Obedience classes: $160 per session
- High Quality Food (varies greatly by quality and size of dog): ~$40 per month
- Unexpected boarding in a kennel: ~$25 per day
- Unexpected veterinary emergencies (puppies eat stupid things!): Any amount is possible
Please be prepared. Also, consider hiring a professional to help you pick out your puppy. This may help save you hundreds of dollars and lots of heartache in the long run.
Jessica
Amazed at these numbers
Things do go up, I realize, but I am shocked at these numbers. I have never paid anything like this much as a total and my dogs have been vaccinated and medicated, spayed or neutered. Guess it has partly to do with where you live -- I was in rural Colorado for the last decade.
Also, if you get a good rescue who is already neutered, that can help the budget. Our newest dog, purebred Rottie, came to us as a spayed rescue with her vet records, so that cut the costs. OTOH, her crate was very expensive and she eats like a horse, even the good quality food we give her!
Rosana Hart
www.training-dogs.com
Costs may be location related, but prepare for the worst
Yes, here in New England, things can be pricier than in more rural areas, however, I would think that most of the larger cities would be fairly on par.
I am 100% in the camp of preparing for the worst case scenario. If you only budget $500, I can almost promise you that it will be your puppy that ends up with the $750 emergency room visit! Plan bigger and be happily surprised if you have anything left over.
My huge gripe is when (nearly every day) people come in to the hospital and say that they just spent $1500 on their puppy so now they have no money to take care of it. Or the flip side of "Why should I spend that much on a free puppy?". It really gets old really fast.
Here in NH, some shelters
Here in NH, some shelters offer that, too, but that is just one visit. As stated, there are at least three to take into account. One examination fee is a drop in the bucket when faced with the over all costs, but sure, every penny helps!
Jessica
I'm not sure if this is
I'm not sure if this is true anywhere else, but when you adopt a dog in Washington State you get a voucher for a free vet visit.