Cost of having a dog -- Nearly $60k for life of dog?

[AJT]

So just read an article during my morning news blitz. Not taking it too seriously but obviously we all know having dogs, pets, or any animals in your life will cost you a pretty penny and then some. It's something we are all happy and willingly to accept. But apparently according to Bloomberg in this article, the cost of your dog can cost you upwards to 60k. Whoa!

Here is the article -- Is Your New Dog A Money Pit?

Also another eye opener to me is ..."every year, about 13 million American households adopt a dog or a puppy and within 12 months, half of them have been taken to a shelter.". -- That is so sad!

So I just sent this article to three of my friends who have been thinking of getting a dog.

I really like this from the article...""There's an odd peer pressure, especially in the shelter world, that we always need to be pumping up the benefits of pet ownership, and that's great. I'm fully on board. But it's like home ownership. Owning a house and having a dog is the American dream, but you only want to do it if you can afford it. You don't want to have to give either up because you didn't think it through."

[lennoxbradley88]

"every year, about 13 million American households adopt a dog or a puppy and within 12 months, half of them have been taken to a shelter.".




That is heart breaking!

[huntergreen]

60k is a bit of an excessive estimate.

[Anubis_Star]

I don't know, it might be closer to 60000$ then we like to think. I just tried to calculate and stopped when my head started hurting lol, but by my figures and the diet I feed, just for a 13 yr lifespan of buying my new puppy, training, feeding for 13 years, and I figured in for at least two medical dentals, I was over 15000$. I didn't even figure for supplies, toys, any medical emergencies, chronic medications that may be needed in senior years, yearly checkups, I didn't figure in for bloodwork or other basic recommended diagnostic monitoring as the pet ages, etc... there's a lot and it adds up. Then you have people that pay 100-200$ a month for grooming. Some small breeds live 14-16 years. That alone could easily add up to 20,000-30,000$ over the lifetime of the pet!

[arycrest]

I've had some pretty expensive dogs over the years, but don't think any of them had individual bills adding up to a lifetime total of $60,000 (Ringer came the closest, but I had 3 seniors at the same time so don't know how much was spent on each).

[wildo]

I did some calculations that looked something like this:

• Food- $50/month ($600/year)
• Treats/Toys- $50/month ($600/year)
• Annual vet (heartworm/flea included) - $300/year

That's $1500 annually for the most basic expense. Those of us who train/trial can tack these expenses on there

• Training, one class- $96/eight weeks ($624)
• Trialing- $112/trial, 12 trials/year ($1344)

So that's $1968 annually for only ONE class and modest amount of trials. Then there's one time (hopefully) expenses:

• Wire crate- $100
• Soft crate- $100
• Food/water bowl/leashes/collars/etc- $200
• Major medical- $4000

That's a very modest list, at $4400

For my girl, the tally may look something like this:

• Seven years old x $1500 annually = $10500
• Three years of classes/trialing at $1968/year = $5904
• One time (hopefully) expenses = $4400

So far, I'm easily $20804 invested. I didn't include all of the training material I've purchased, backyard equipment I've built, park passes I've bought for walks/hikes, etc. I'd say this is a pretty conservative estimate.

If she lives to 14, and we trial until she's 10 (though reasonably, I could change to a less demanding sport and trial until she was, say, 12- but for easier calculations, let's just say 10), then I can estimate:

• 14 years old x $1500 annually = $21000
• Six years of classes/training at $1968/year = $11808
• One time expenses = $4400

That's a lifetime cost of $37208 and almost certainly seriously low as I accounted for NO old age medical issues. For a very bare-bones estimate of cost at $37K, I'd think that around $60K is not too exaggerated- certainly feasible.

[Caledon]

It adds up.

[robk]

Let's face something though; most people don't do much with their dogs.

[Nickyb]

At the rate I'm going now with all the training with Zoey, I'm well over that amount, but of course it wont last forever. IMO it's worth every penny, walking in my house to Zoey everyday from work and waking up to her snout touching my nose staring at me has no price tag.

[Stevenzachsmom]

Originally Posted by robk

Let's face something though; most people don't do much with their dogs.

This! Much different for "just a pet" home. My old GSD lived for 14.5 years - 12.5 of those years with me. Came from the SPCA for the grand cost of $65.00.
Using Willy's conservative estimates - which seem about right to me, Annie probably cost me between $14,000 and $15,000 her whole life. Never any major costs - food, routine vet care, leash, leather collar and prong collar. One $1000 medical emergency. Already had the crate and bowls. I didn't count in treats and toys. No classes for Annie. She had her DA issues and we did our training at home. She lived a pretty healthy, happy, and inexpensive life.

Want to talk money? Let's talk about the horse. LOL!