What’s the Real Cost of Owning a Dog?
Editor’s Note: We get a lot of questions about how much it costs to own a dog. In order to track down some answers, we turned to our friend and TOC community member, Eryn Schultz, who also happens to be a Harvard Business School graduate and the co-founder of pHERsonal finance day, a community for women to take action and improve their finances. Eryn offered to look at her own spending on her poodle, Challapeno, and consult with her brother Devyn, a fourth year veterinary student, to breakdown their advice about the hidden costs and benefits of having a dog.
Hi, I’m Eryn, proud dog mom of a two-year old Standard Poodle named Challapeno (think Challa like the bread, peno like the pepper!). Outside of being a dog mom, by day, I work as the head of sales operations for a B Corp expanding healthy school lunch across the US. By night, I write about women and money.
Below, I’ll share with you my actual expenses from owning a dog. Since I have the added benefit of being the sister of a fourth year veterinary student, I also included advice from my brother, Devyn, based on what he’s seen in his years of working with animals. (So proud of him for living out his kindergarten dreams!)
So, How Much Does a Dog Cost All-In?
For me, it’s around $2,312 per year. On top of this, in my first year of being a dog mom, I incurred an additional $1,550 in one-time expenses driven by adoption costs and training. Below is a detailed breakdown of all of those expenses.
Challapeno came from a rescue organization that specializes in poodles. My adoption costs were $600 which included the cost of spaying and all of her shots. These costs were higher than going through a lot of other shelter options since Rescue Poodles of Houston assesses higher fees on young, popular standard poodles to cover the veterinary care for the older, non-purebred poodles in their care.
How to Budget for Pet Deposits
I did NOT have to pay a pet deposit. When I first got Challa, I lived in an older quadplex in a hip neighborhood in Houston. Since my landlord never made some of the improvements I requested in writing as a condition for moving in, I got them to waive the pet deposit in exchange for not making those repairs. Some buildings will charge a pet deposit OR they will you charge you additional monthly rent. Try to negotiate. The worst they can do is say no!
Adoption Advice From My Brother the Vet Student
Eryn is so proud of her brother, “Dr. Devyn” (second from the right), for becoming a veterinarian. This photo is from when their family celebrated his white coat.
When adopting a dog, pay attention to age, pre-existing health conditions, and breed, which are all factors that could increase your overall lifetime cost of ownership. Young dogs have more upfront vet bills (think spaying, neutering, and vaccinations) and older dogs may require a big medical bill upfront (for things like bloodwork and teeth cleaning). Be sure to ask your rescue organization if they will take care of any of these medical costs on the front end, especially if your dog has a preexisting condition like heartworm. Spend time researching breeds as well, and make sure to set aside more money for breeds like Bulldogs, Dachshunds, German Shepherds, or giant breed dogs like Great Danes that can come with higher vet bills.
How I Budgeted for Training My Dog
In addition to the adoption fees, I also paid for two separate rounds of training totaling around $850. Challa was six months old when I adopted her, and like most poodles she had a ton of energy and needed a LOT of help. The training helped although I didn’t reinforce it nearly enough (hence, my excitement to learn about Tails of Connection!). If I could do it again, I would have just done group classes instead of one-on-one training. They were cheaper and gave me better discipline.
My Annual Dog Boarding Costs
For me, the highest cost is boarding Challa when we travel. Our boarding costs were $1,250 in 2019, which was 54% of our overall total cost of having a dog. Since we moved to Boston in 2019, my parents’ free dog boarding services ended. I’m blessed to get to work from home (one day a week I go into the office and on that day my boyfriend works from home), so I rarely have to pay for a weekly dog walker. That $1,250 was driven by spending around $40/night on a local dog sitter over the course of five days of travel for Thanksgiving, nine days of travel during the week of Christmas (when we had a wedding in Hawaii), and four other weekends away for weddings or visiting friends. This also included five dog walks for days when we both were stuck at work or went on a long, non-pet friendly hike over the weekend. If we had to add on weekly dog walking OR doggie daycare, those costs would be much higher.
My Yearly Veterinary Costs
Taking Challa to the vet represented the next largest part of our budget. All dogs should take a regular heartworm medicine and most should have a flea and tick prevention. In different parts of the country this takes on different levels of importance. We are less likely to get heartworm in Boston (which was very common in Houston), but ticks are much easier to come by in New England. We pay about $280 per year for all of our preventative medicines, and spend another $270 on a well checkup, parasite and heartworm tests, and a few vaccines. I found it fascinating that the shots we needed and the costs of different tests vary widely by region.
What I Spent on Grooming My Dog in a Year
Poodles have coats that are, um, high maintenance. Her haircut cost more than mine! It’s been $125 on more than one occasion. A short-haired dog may have $0 in grooming fees, but that’s not so in the poodle and doodle family! Contrary to the advice of some of my mother’s friends who insist that I should groom my poodle bimonthly, I’m content with a twice or thrice haircut as long as I trim her face (to make sure she can see) and can brush her regularly. This cost about $285 in 2019. Caveat: for many dogs grooming is more than cosmetic. Dogs with long hair can get matted. This can translate to sores that are very painful and can get infected leading to other health issues. You can also invest in some inexpensive grooming shears and do a lot at home. With my brother’s assistance, we shaved her once. It took five hours so it’s not easy.
What If My Pet Gets Sick?
The above costs are based on one year of a healthy pet. Sometimes accidents happen (they get hit by a car, eat a razorhead or a bag of dark chocolate, etc.). Sometimes pets get sick. What would your plan be if you had an unexpected $5,000 vet bill? I am planning to buy pet insurance this year. My parents are big advocates since they have had pet insurance cover the cost of some big bills (ACL tears, cancer treatment). To date, I would have spent more on pet insurance that I would have gotten back. In the future, I want to be protected if I’m not so blessed.
A Vet Student’s Take on Pet Insurance and Planning for Emergencies
When Devyn is in town, Eryn is grateful for his help with Challa. This is a picture of him cleaning her teeth.
When you have a medical emergency, the last thing you want to think about is how much is my dog worth. $2,000? $5,000? When you have pet insurance, you get to think more about the well-being of your pet and less about how much the treatment they need costs. It makes the conversation a lot easier on the owner.
From a financial health perspective, I advocate having an emergency fund that will cover the cost of unexpected medical bills for you OR your pet. This is generally six months of living expenses. If you have an older pet or one that is prone to health issues, make sure you have enough tucked away so money doesn’t drive a key health decision.
Hot Tip: Some smaller dogs require frequent teeth cleaning. If you’re thinking about a small dog breed where this is a frequent expense, some pet insurance plans will cover teeth cleaning as part of their package. They come with higher monthly premiums, but all of your preventative care is covered!
How Having a Dog Can Save You Money
Before wrapping up, I also want to call out the many ways having a dog has SAVED me money. First, so many social events with friends involve spending money. Brunch, drinks, etc. Going to the dog park and taking a walk with your dog are FREE and are also great social activities. Assuming I’ve swapped two $30 social events for two free events each month, that translates to $720 in forgone social costs per year. Second, not wanting to leave my dog with a sitter probably leads to two or more weekends per year where we opt to stay close to home. Those weekends generally spent hiking in the woods with her are some of my favorites and probably save me $1,000 or more per year.
In conclusion, yes I spend $2,312 per year caring for Challapeno, but she also saves me around $1,700 per year, and that doesn’t even count the value of free cuddles.
You can learn more about pHERsonal finance day by visiting Eryn’s website here.
