How Much Does Adopting A Dog Cost?
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.
Nancy Richards
Find out
more on the Dog
Adoption Mini Course
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