re: What is a rough estimate of owning a dog?

You gonna hunt this dog? Train them yourself or pay a trainer?

My pup just turned 1, he goes back to trainer for another 2 months. In the first 13 months we'll have had him- for his purchase price and 5 mos training will be $5k. I'm guessing with food, vet, etc we'll be over $6k.

I can tell you that I have a black lab that is seven who broke his leg when he was a puppy. It was a very bad spiral break that had an external apparatus on it for half of his down time. The vet did a great job and he was all healed up by 11 months. Fast forward 6 years and the bone that broke developed a tumor that caused the leg to be amputated this January. All in all without typing a book between surgeries and plenty of other problems here and there he hast cost me north of $10 grand. He is a registered lab from champion bloodlines. He is an awesome dog just has had a tough run with luck.


I said all of that to tell you that if you are doing the math to see if you can afford a dog then you can't. Don't get into something that down the line you may have to pick money over your dog because you are strapped. Just wait until your feet are under you then get you a buddy.

I'm not much of a hunter ... and I will be training him/her myself.


Thanks everyone so far for y'alls help and input

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fisherbm1112

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Similar story...bought a 6 week old, well breed hunting pup a year and a half ago. Three weeks later, LSU cardiology diagnosed him with a fatal heart defect. We decided to keep him as he was part of the family. He's in end stage heart failure , not quite 2, and bumping me $1,000.00 per month, more or less, in vet bills and medicine.

Then bought a well breed started British Lab. He'll do some breeding after he gets his HRCH title, which should be after a few months more of training. The training and board cost $550 a month. He'll never get enough tail to put me on the plus side, but he's already a fine hunting dog so I don't mind the expense.

OP, consider yourself investing in a friend. Do not expect to have a successful "breeder". That rarely happens and usually requires extensive training, titles, trainer involvement , and money...plus hunting. Pray for good health. 99% of dog ownership is for fun, never for profit and hardly ever to "break even".

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I'm cheap and one thing that scares me about owning a dog is if they do something stupid and need crazy medical treatment, I don't want to spend that on a dog.

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i think a lot of people are in that boat. just because you own a dog doesn't mean you need to have $3000 socked away somewhere in case it eats a bunch of nails. i don't think you're obligated to bankrupt yourself if your dog gets injured badly. get its shots, feed it and play with it, and if it's too old or seriously injured for you to take care of, have it put down.

millions of dogs are killed every year because there aren't enough people to take care of them. you can always adopt another. it sucks but it's the truth.

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120 lbs of quality food a month

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How many dogs? That's a lot of food.


Back to OP:

I have a 85-90lb male lab. Monthly expenses are:

Food (includes treats)= $65-85/month (30-35lbs of food a month, have to feed him limited ingredient food)
Heartworm= $10/month (estimate- don't remember what it costs)
Total= $100/month (rounding up)

Total Year= $1,200
Comfortis= $120 (only do it 6-8 months out of year)
Yearly Shots= $200
Total Costs= $1,520

This is just my estimate going off of the top of my head.

Damn some of yall spend a lot of money on your pups

I mean, I paid 1200 for my pup, but he's happy and healthy for less than $100 a month.

There was a time I tried to keep up with how much my dog costs, but I gave up on it. The first few months are expensive, buying all the stuff you'll need and shots, etc. The costs taper off, but food, heartworm meds, and occasional boarding are constant.

Just buy the shots from tractor supply and do them yourself to save money. 7 bucks and so easy a kid could do it.