Costs of Owning a Puppy?

[Paintsmeblue]

Hi! I've never owned a puppy from 8 weeks, and I am a senior college student, with parents who are still quite involved in my financial concerns.... So I need to write up a budget to prove, to my myself and to my parents (and boyfriend's parents) that we are not only mature enough to handle the responsibility of owning a dog, as well as, financially able to own a dog as well. Although, I believe that we will have enough money between both of our summer jobs (which should bring in $4000 between the both of us) and our part time jobs during the school year, which should bring in about $800 a month total, and both of these totals would only be "fun spending money" because Financial Aid pays for our human monthly living expenses. But I would never want to buy a puppy only to discover that a couple of months, or years down the road we can't afford it.

I've already started a budget sheet, with the stuff that I remember buying for my dog that's living with my parents, but I want to make sure there's no hidden costs (not that you can be totally financially prepared), so I figured asking a whole bunch of dog owners would help greatly. So, I'm not looking necessarily for costs exactly, but a list of things you think a new dog owner should expect, especially in the first year.

I've got the obvious spay/ neuter, collar, leash, crate, bedding, shots, doctor's visits, food, treats, toys, obedience classes, insurance, registering with the state, vitamins, and grooming.

So any help would be greatly appreciated, and would speed up my research.

Kristen

[KingstonTodd]

Sounds like you are on the right track.....double or triple your toys cost. The puppy will be so cute you will want to spoil it. Also, we went though more treats than expected during a lot of our training sessions, so depending on how much reward your pup needs to learn things that can add up a little too.

Also, if you plan on having any wekends away, to go to a concert or something, factor in kennel/boarding costs. we end up doing that about one weekend in 2 months for various reasons.

And most doodleholics end up getting a second puppy eventually.

[Paintsmeblue]

I forgot about kenneling, even though my mom just reminded me of it this past weekend!

I haven't even gotten, or seen one labradoodle, and I already want two! Which is probably quite sad, but when I see families that have two, and they take pictures together, I feel bad about only having one, so they don't have a buddy to play with when I'm studing for math (I'm a math major) or something. But we can only have two dogs up to 75 lbs combined I believe in our apartment complex, or else I would TOTALLY, well and I made enough money to really afford another one!

[Paintsmeblue]

Thanks for the advice, I forgot about car accessories. And that is a very good idea about toys and the like. I think I'm going to be less of a "stuffy-toy-buying-person" because I heard that if you give your dogs "stuffies" then they'll chew on stuffies you don't want them chewing on. So I'll probably have plenty of the rope bones and a few of what I call "baby" which are the white doll things that after two minutes of being in a dog's mouth looks absolutely discusting, but Striker, my parent's (well really my, if only his heart would make the 3000 mile trip to California- then I wouldn't have to worry so much financially) dog loves those. But my boyfriend's going to be a different story. He's never had a dog, and when he met my dog, we went to one of those all about dogs stores, and my dog, which has never had any type of specialty collars, just the normal ones from Petco, all of a sudden found himself with a $15 collar from this specialty store..... so I can only imagine, and I'm gonna need to budget his "spoiling" into our budget!

I've learned from my mother, who is VERY detail oriented, that this is a necessity, especially if I want to put her at ease about us getting a puppy!

[MaxandMe]

HI and don't forget the costs of the VETS for vaccinations, worming and heaven forbid illness and/or disease

[Paintsmeblue]

I was just trying to figure that out, I think the only way I'll be able to handle "accidents" is insurance. So I'm going to go read up on it, and figure out what's going on with it, and how much they cover, and what not.

This is what I've figure out so far, let me know if you guys thing anything is underestimated, or grossly over-estimated, especially anyone living in CA, since prices should be similar.
Collar/Leash- $30
Crate- $100
Bedding- $100
Food- $30 a month
Treats- $50 a month?
Toys- $15 a month
Obedience Classes- $150
Vitamins- $10 a bottle?
Grooming- $40 a visit?
Kennel/ Misc costs- $500

Insurance- $60 a month? for full coverage- including shots and yearly visits?
vs.
Shots- $200
Visits- $200
Spay/ Neuter- $250

What do you guys thing? I'm also a math major, so I love to crunch numbers.... so budgets are fun

Thanks so much for you feedback. Many minds are better than one!

[Jac]

I am very impressed with your intelligent approach to this! Most people don't consider past the cost of the puppy. I commend you!
Although you mentioned inurance, you have to consider the fact that insurance won't cover all things and some things can be catestrophic...so, you could plan on saving a certain amount per month in a "doggie emergency fund" and I like the idea posted by Vanessa to have a back up credit card....better yet if you can have a back up savings account.
You can certainly look for inexpensive toys and such and you can do your own training and grooming, but you want to be sure to socialize your puppy, especially if you can't afford puppy kindergarten.
Also, with kenneling your dog...sometimes you can get people to stay with the dog in your home...especially if you are students, there may be other students willing to help out for less than the cost of a kennel.

[MaxandMe]

Insurance $20 a month via VPI for Premium coverage
Crate at Walmart $57 for large size, $40 for medium size

Dogbeds at Walmart $23 at Sam's Club $20

toys ...$15 a month in begining...as they get de-fuzzed and like them more you buy less toys.

Food $40 a month

collar leash $30 or mor depending if using retractable leash or not

food bowls and water dish $20 or so

obedience class $120 average

Vitamins ...too much $$ for me

Grooming? I groom my own dogs

Vet visits now they can add up say $55 average a visit shots and such? can be $100 or more if adding things like heatworm med, flea tick stuff etc

spay/neuter $250 is median average

Kennel costs say about $200 per vacation

[Jac]

Oh, and don't forget heartworm meds and flea/tick stuff...that is one of the most expensive monthly fees! It is cheaper if you buy a 6 month or year's supply, but that can be really expensive!
PetEdge is a good place for cheap toys and good shampoo th at lasts a long time (concentrated so you add water) and Costco has great prices for treats and beds and blankets.

[MaxandMe]

paintsmeblue: HI!! welcome!! !and i am sooooo happy to hear how well you do your DOGGIE parenting homework!! wow , i am impressed for sure!!! you probably do well with your grades too!! YOU are organized, analytical and practical minded...you will make an excellent doodle parent!

[blueteal]

Paintsmeblue

I too am impressed with your outlook and common
sense on Puppy ownership.
Good for you and Welcome to Doodleland!!!!!

Sue

[Paintsmeblue]

Thanks, I was hesitent to tell my age, being only a college student, because I didn't want people to think I was immature- I mean I have my moments, still, but when it comes to decision making, I need to show everyone that I've made the best decision- because if I've made a well thought out serious decision, no one can fight with me about it.

So do you only need one crate the first year? I was afraid I'd have to buy 2 the first year, which was why the cost was so high.

I want to raise my puppy right. I want a well- behaved dog. (S)He is going to have to stay with my boyfriend and his family when I go home to Rhode Island over Christmas break, so I need to make sure that by Christmas, its fairly obedient and pretty much house trained, but it should be almost if not 6 mo old.

I'd have to learn how to groom. The only experience I have is with my Flat Coated Retriever Mix, and we just normally bath him when he gets too smelly. But I've never had a really curly haired, or poodle-ish haired dog.

I am very thankful for your imput. It is seriously making my life, and my research easier.

Now to find the right puppy! And well, do some more research-- the toughest person to sell on this will be my mother, who is very details oriented, so I need to make sure I KNOW EVERYTHING!

[blueteal]

Paintsmeblue

Denver is what they call a Hair coat or smooth coat
They are most likely to shed, however he is 11 months old
and does not shed so far. His coat is extremely low maintenance,
and beautiful. Do I love him or what!!
I brush him daily because he loves it and swims a lot and I bathe him once a month, unless he gets muddy or extra dirty then it is on demand.Hahhahahahhaha!!!
Anyway just to give you an idea of different coats. I can show you what a smooth coat looks like.

[Jac]

My gosh, Sue! Look how LONG Denver's legs have grown!!! LOL He is so cute! He is the perfect F1...I adore F1s!
Yep, they shed (mine do too) but not as much as most dogs...still they do usually shed...our F1B litters have only had one heavy shedder and one light shedder in all...not too bad. We have had some flat coated pups that don't shed at all. We had one in Lexie's litter this last time around.
You just never know!
But...Kristen, you will find that people will try to influence you for many reasons. Your research is going to be a strong indication to them that you are serious and that you make good decisions, but still, you will just need to stand your ground if this is what you want.
It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

[gene]

Sue....You know I'm a Denver junkie!! Thanks for my fix. I need more please?!?!?

Kudos and welcome paintsmeblue! Sounds like you are going to be a very caring doodleholic! If you can overlook that most of us are old fogies**, we won't hold your young age against you!

**and you know who you are!

I know I'll "catch it" for that one!