dog owners - what are the costs like?

AshleyC

AshleyC

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We were thinking of getting a young, not puppy, golden retriever from a rescue centre and was just wondering what dog ownership costs were like. Mainly insurance i guess for vet bills.
 
Probably more than you think. Insurance costs £50pm and we pay £18pm to vets which covers annual check and various regular medication like tick/flea stuff and some other bits and bobs. Then you have food costs. Biggest cost to us is the boarding when we go on holiday. We are away 40 ish days a year at £25pn.
In hindsight (always a good thing!) I wouldn’t have bothered with insurance but if something does go wrong vets bills are horrendou.
 
If you are concerned about costs - don't do it.
If you really want a dog then the costs are what they are.
Insurance ramps up later in life but a young dog could be insured for around £30/mth. As above I'm not sure I'd insure until later in life - but then you're taking a risk on luck. Luck could be with you or it may not be.
With hindsight I would put away an amount on a monthly basis - though this does need to be more that the insurance would costs a month.
Maybe go online and get some quotes - try pet plan and petprotect. We are with Petprotect and they have been good.
Labs/retrievers have well known joint issues - one of our dogs is suffering the other is fine.
 
We are on our 4th rescue Collie now, having each time rehomed an old one (10/12/8/12), and typically only had them for 2 to 3 years sadly (but we knew what we were taking on, the ones noone else wants). I don't bother with insurance personally, although the latest one (as they always do) came with 4 weeks of free cover from Petplan, which was handy as he went into vet hospital for 2 days and nights just after we got him (with hemorrhagic gastro enteritis), and the insurance saved me £1100. However I stick the equivalent of the insurance £50/m) into a savings account on a just in case basis, which quickly mounts up. Most insurance won't cover dogs of the age we get them.
Costs are as described above food depends on thedog a bit. Our last one was fine with hard food only, so that was about £60/month. The current one won't eat anything processed, only scraps of our food and raw meat. So his costs about £200/month. He is massively healthier and probably will live longer though as a result. I've told my wife she can have the dog or a horse, so this dog may be the last for a while!
Also keep in mind things like dog toys, grooming (£30-50 a time), and the fact that a dog can (and should) be a lifestyle choice, in terms of getting you outdoors doing stuff, and should absolutely not be seen as a possession and accessory as so often seems to be the way. But well done for choosing Rescue not Breeder.
 
/\ good point about grooming, ours costs £35 every six weeks or so.
ours walks about 8/10 miles a day, I take him out for 4/5 miles in morning and wife does 4/5 miles in afternoon and I guess as a result is healthy and not fat!
 
Our Collies get similar walkies - well done us!
 
We're averaging around £50/ month in food, for a single, almost 3 year old, 32kg Weimaraner. She is raw fed and gets fed just over 1kg of food per day.

There's chipping costs, vaccinations etc. Chipping is a one off payment, vaccinations yearly but the boosters are cheaper than the first 2. We speyed our dog too. She intially cost us about £400 as a pup, not including what we paid for her.

As for insurance, I got caught out a few years ago, I had a dog that needed injections every few months for an allergy, as well as some other treatments. My plan was to let the bill add up over a year and then claim it back, it was just over £500. I got £36 back as a claim can only run for a year, before it resets ( with this company), and due to the admin involved, it ran 3 days over the year. If you do go down the insurance route, read the small print.

I have a mantra, 'once bitten, twice shy' and I cancelled the insurance there and then and instead, I set up a standing order from my bank account to a savings account and saved £50 a month. It takes a few months but after a while, the money was there for any vet bills. The best part is, the money is still mine and earning interest too. I can also vary the standing order amount if I need to. If I have a vet bill to pay, I transfer the money from the savings account to my current account and then pay it from there.

I will never insure a pet again.

At a rough guess, depending on breed and if all goes well, I'd say £1000 a year would cover food, vaccinations etc. Add savings or insurance to that.
 
Dale. said:
We're averaging around £50/ month in food, for a single, almost 3 year old, 32kg Weimaraner. She is raw fed and gets fed just over 1kg of food per day.
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We are still experimenting with food, but that cost should be what we are paying (I hope) once it settles into a pattern. @dale could you please PM me with details of the food you use?
 
Dogs also need an annual booster injection and regular flea and tick prevention. I belong to Petplan, £13.50 for a medium dog monthly, which includes these three,
Around £17 a month for insurance, I believe there is a £120 excess.
Most animal shelters ask for a donation, when I was last looking for a dog, the Dogs Trust wanted £120.
Food - I get raw minced chicken most of the time from a local pet shop £1.29 a packet lasts 2 days, with biscuit
 
Dale. said:
I have a mantra, 'once bitten, twice shy' and I cancelled the insurance there and then and instead, I set up a standing order from my bank account to a savings account and saved £50 a month. It takes a few months but after a while, the money was there for any vet bills. The best part is, the money is still mine and earning interest too. I can also vary the standing order amount if I need to. If I have a vet bill to pay, I transfer the money from the savings account to my current account and then pay it from there.

I will never insure a pet again.

At a rough guess, depending on breed and if all goes well, I'd say £1000 a year would cover food, vaccinations etc. Add savings or insurance to that.
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Should you find yourself in the unfortunate position of your dog needing a double hip replacement then that's likely to be in excess of £10,000 and that's just for the operation. That's an awful lot of £50's.
 
jakeblu said:
Should you find yourself in the unfortunate position of your dog needing a double hip replacement then that's likely to be in excess of £10,000 and that's just for the operation. That's an awful lot of £50's.
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Hopefully, that won't happen. (y)
 
And look forward to your dog's 10th birthday when your insurance company will almost double the premiums.

Having said that I loved owning a dog and was quite happy to meet all the costs involved. He was a rescued Staffie X aged two and was a great companion for 14 years. Broke my heart when he went.
 
Please dont. If you want a dog to be a close family member by all means go ahead. If you are more worried by the costs please dont, there are far too many dogs being given up currently becuase of purchases in the last few years and the dog has been neglected and now has issues.
 
If you are worried about the cost of a dog don't get one a house is expensive a car children yourself if you can't see past the money issue at how much love a dog gives you don't deserve one I love my dog and will sell everything and go without to make sure he is loved and happy
 
kennethwfd said:
Dogs also need an annual booster injection and regular flea and tick prevention. I belong to Petplan, £13.50 for a medium dog monthly, which includes these three,
Around £17 a month for insurance, I believe there is a £120 excess.
Most animal shelters ask for a donation, when I was last looking for a dog, the Dogs Trust wanted £120.
Food - I get raw minced chicken most of the time from a local pet shop £1.29 a packet lasts 2 days, with biscuit
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Missed out monthly worming.
Most cheap supermarket petfood is rubbish, usually bulked out by corn, maize and even sugar.
My local farm shop provides dog bones, a lamb neck bone is doggie heaven
 
Regardless of cost, they're worth every penny.
All our dogs have loved supermarket dog food and mixer and all have lived to 14/15 years old.
Insurance varies depending on breed/age etc but it's easy to get quotes. We wouldn't be without insurance tbh. We insure our house, cars, cameras and ourselves so why not our dog? We don't pay any monthly fees for the vet, just take him if we need to.
 
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Be wary with Labrador/Retrievers that they are prone to hip joint problems. If you’re thinking of getting one see if there’s a hip score available for the dog.

We’ve had two Labs. The first one died at 8 due to a liver problem. He needed various investigative ops to diagnose the problem. We ran out of insurance once the costs hit £5k, but he died soon after anyway.

Our latest one is 18 months old. Insurance is £350 a year at the mo. Then there’s annual booster shots, monthly flea and worm treatment, plus her spaying is due (£400 ish). We’ve tried various foods and she’s finally settled on Lily’s Kitchen wet food and kibble: that works out at roughly £80 a month. Don’t forget you might need to board the dog or have day care cover at times. Neither is cheap.

You need to reckon on at least 60-90 minutes a day for exercise for a full grown Lab/Retriever, they’re very active and intelligent dogs that will get bored (and possibly stressed or destructive) and/or fat if you don’t.

I wouldn’t be without our dog but they’re a very big and expensive commitment in time and money.
 
AshleyC said:
We were thinking of getting a young, not puppy, golden retriever from a rescue centre and was just wondering what dog ownership costs were like. Mainly insurance i guess for vet bills.
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Everyone has pretty much covered things.

Depending on the rescue organisation a dog might come already neutered and chipped - ours did.

A common thing I've seen with pet insurance is on top of an excess, which is standard for just about all insurance, many(well the ones I have seen) companies also require you to pay a proportion of a vets bill. Some policies exclude cover for pre-existing conditions; you can get policies that cover those conditions but they will be more expensive.

Recently our 11 year old dog was diagnosed with pancreatitis. The treatment involved a visit to the vet, and a course medication. This was largely unsuccessful as he was virtually not eating or drinking and if he did take the meds he sicked it up. He then had two days at the vets on intravenous meds and hydration and then some more meds for us to give him at home, fortunately successfully this time. The cost of this was about £500 which the insurance would not cover because he has had pancreatitis before, but much less severe than this time,

What we are going to do now is get some basic, hopefully cheap(though that will be difficult given his age), insurance to use for any other conditions and put some money away each month for emergencies.

But, as said above we wouldn't be without a dog; they are just a delight.

Dave
 
Dogs are awesome on so many levels, but such a gift comes with a massive lifestyle change, which could be more important to consider than the costs. Almost everything you will do once you get a dog, will involve considering the dog.
 
For our Cocker Spaniel, we pay £26 a month for insurance, and £15 to the vets to cover flea and worming, routine exams etc.
Food is about £40 a month in total
He goes out with a dog walker once a week at £11.50 a go, and goes to a doggy daycare at least once a week at £22 a day.
For holidays he sometimes stays with family members (free), or sometimes with his dog walker at £17.50 a night.

So it's not cheap, but the rewards are absolutely worth it. We had our dog from a puppy, and the first few months are hard. There will be moments where you wonder what on Earth you've done, as it is a massively lifestyle change from not having a dog. We can't really remember life without our dog though and would never be without him now.
 
Hi,
Our Border Collie , Harvey, developed problems a 3 years old, he's just turned 8 now, he's on medication for an auto immune problem and a raw diet for the rest of his life my monthly cost for him is £40 for medication, £80 a month for raw food. Medication is a lot cheaper because I get a prescription from the vet and get it filled at my local pharmacy, if I used the dog specific version of the drug (Cyclosporin) its £200 a month so I get the generic human version.
I had a savings account at first, be very weary of which insurance you use its a minefield and you may find as your dog gets older the insurance will go up till its too much or have many clauses for cover, I blame the yearly shots and all the other crap being pumped into him when younger as such he does not have them any more.
I've been brought up with dogs all my life so its not such a big deal for us but once you work out its costing around £1200 a year some would just give up, to us the dog is part of the family and is our responsibility and we would do anything for him, simple love for the little fella..

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I've mentioned this thread to my wife as we've had two Retrievers..separately. First off they don't listen to any commands whilst taking them for a walk and will often run ahead to 'meet and greet' oncoming walkers who,invariably, pat them on the head and say "Aren't you a beautiful dog" and then ask them what their name is. I told one such person that I'd been trying to get him ..Hamish..(my wife is Scottish) to talk for years to no avail. :D

BUT..more importantly. Buy a 'dog hair' vaccum cleaner and ensure you keep the brushes free of hair or it will jam. Our two put a 'frost' on the dark green/gold coloured carpets. Having said all that, as others have said.."they're worth it" and "wouldn't be without ours" etc.
 
I'd always had a Mastiff on my bucket list of dogs to have, I was given a 4 year old Italian Mastiff / Cane Corso as a rescue, it has been an education I thought I "knew" dogs.
She is highly reactive to other dogs and it has taken two years to get her to a point where she can be off lead and interact with other selected dogs.
I had some testing dogs before, mainly badly bred Dobermans but nothing quite like this one.
We also tried puppy walking for guide dogs which may be a consideration for you, it was surprising how easy it was to let them go after the first year, but in that time you can legitimately take them pretty much every where that you go (supermarkets/ restaurants etc. just ask permission) and Guide Dogs cover all vets bills, all you have to do basic training and not teach them bad habits such as feeding them whilst your at the table.
My dog is 50 kilos and fed raw which works out about £2 - £3 a day we have just changed to a local supplier - The dogs butcher, she's insured at over £900 a year which sounds a lot but she is currently on week 4 of recovery from TPLO surgery for a damaged cruciate ligament (caused by a collision running with another dog off lead) which if the insurers don't pay out for will cost me around £4500.00

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A dog is for life, not just for Christmas! When our Bella reached 10 the insurance renewal was ridiculous, so we cancelled and will pay any vets bill as they happen. We don't count the cost as she is as much as a family member as our boys are. She gives us companionship , unconditional love and gets us out of the house for exercise & me a free model to photograph. You cant put a price on that, but if you do then perhaps getting a dog is wrong thing for you.
 
RichardC27 said:
For our Cocker Spaniel, we pay £26 a month for insurance, and £15 to the vets to cover flea and worming, routine exams etc.
Food is about £40 a month in total
He goes out with a dog walker once a week at £11.50 a go, and goes to a doggy daycare at least once a week at £22 a day.
For holidays he sometimes stays with family members (free), or sometimes with his dog walker at £17.50 a night.

So it's not cheap, but the rewards are absolutely worth it. We had our dog from a puppy, and the first few months are hard. There will be moments where you wonder what on Earth you've done, as it is a massively lifestyle change from not having a dog. We can't really remember life without our dog though and would never be without him now.
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£17.50 a night is cheap. We paid £35 a night for our Labrador not along ago. We had several quotes at the same sort of level so that wasn’t an outrageous one. Luckily we’ve recently befriended another couple in our village, our two Labs are best buddies and we’re going to do dog walking and holiday care for each other in the future.
 
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