How much does it cost to care for a dog?

Hammerhead17

Hi All,

My partner and I really want a dog and have for ages. Up to now we have refrained as we live in a first floor maisonette with no garden and didn't think it was fair on the dog. That being said, we've recently been dogsitting whilst my father in law was on holiday for 2 weeks and got along great with his Lurcher (Max). He enjoyed a morning walk before work, one at lunchtime and one or two in the evening as well. When he wasn't out he was either cuddled up on the sofa with me or sunbathing on the spare bed. I wouldn't be able to work from home everyday but we've looked up the details of a dog walker who lives in the next street and she could give a lunchtime walk for £6. As long as I wfh 3 days a week this seems acheivable.

Before we get too carried away though I wanted to work out the true cost of caring for a dog as this may take the decision away anyway.

I have calculated the following p/m:

Insurance £6
Food (e.g. Burgess Supadog Greyhound and Lurcher 12.5kg) 2 x £21.49
Toys (£10 - we'd obviously get a stash upfront but £10 should cover the extra cost of replacement balls and teddies?)
Dog Walking - £54
Total: about £110?

Have I missed anything and does this seem realistic for a lurcher/greyhound/whippet type dog? (Typically dogs that spend a lot of time resting anyway, we think that's why Max got on well as he was fine to be left alone for a few hours as long as we tired him out with a walk before). I'm a bit on the fence about the food, I don't know how much a dog eats really - Max is not food oriented and is a senior so didn't eat too much but if we rescued a younger dog they might eat more?

TIA

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Browntoa

Insurance seems way too low at £6 a month.

Bradden

Dog walking @£6 seems very cheap.. is this just for a 30 min street walk?

onwards&upwards

£6 is crazy cheap for a dog walker.

Make sure they have all the right insurances they need and maybe ask around other dog owners locally. Mine charges £12 for an hour’s walk for one dog, £6 extra for any additional dogs up to 4. Anything less than £10 for an hour is suspicious.

I agree £6 insurance will not be great in terms of cover, do more research.

Don’t forget flea and worm treatment, neutering, microchipping, boarding or kennels when you go on holiday, puppy classes or training classes for adult dogs if you get a rescue, leads, collars, harnesses (must be greyhound/lurcher suitable, not all are), car safety equipment (crate or seatbelt), bedding and grooming.

oystercatcher

Remember most insurance increases in price as the dog ages and doesn't tend to cover those low cost everyday problems that dogs have. We have three small crossbreeds and pay £12 a month each for Petplan which covers all flea and worm monthly treatments and for annual boosters and also gets us discounts on various products and medications and free nail clipping and vet nurse treatments and two free vet checks a year. One of our dogs is on regular allergy medication which costs around £25 a month and another is on heart medication costing £40 a month. I could be wrong but I don't think these would be covered by insurance. Certainly with our previous dogs we found so many things weren't covered that we don't insure these dogs but we do have enough reserves to pay for any expensive treatment needed. A previous elderly dog they were wanting £90 a month for insurance so we just stopped of course changing companies means that existing conditions wouldn't be covered.
I'm sure there are others here who know more about insurance but be aware it doesn't cover everything and elderly dogs often have many problems, just like humans and by that time they are part of the family and want the best for them whatever !

MovingForwards

To give you an idea from a greyhound minion point of view:

Insurance £70 - it's a bit cheaper if they are a crossbreed or mutt. (I couldn't afford the insurance and pay vet bills as and when).

Food - £10, bag of wagg non-working kibble. (I now raw feed and it costs about £24pm)

Treats £5. (Mine is included in my food figure above).

Dog walking £12-15 per walk up to 1 hour.

Toys - £20 and ongoing as broken.

Don't forget to include flea /tick/worm treatment (£50-70 per quarter as buy in packs) and yearly jabs (£99 for a plan from vets4pets)

Bedding - most owners go to Lidl and Aldi when they do the beds. Mine has sofa cushions (from family), my old cushions, my old pillows and blankets from Primark.

Behaviour private training at home has cost me £50, classes will cost me £90.

As she was retired she came microchipped and 'done' else that's another £200.

She came with a collar, lead and muzzle, I have spent £17 on a nice collar, £7 on a lead and the originals stay in the cupboard with the muzzle.

Dog bowls came from Wilko about £2 each.

Food riser, to avoid bloat, I decommissioned a veg stand and used that.

I picked up a secondhand crate for £35 and sold it a few months later as she didn't use it.

Fire_Fox

Hammerhead17 wrote: »

Hi All,

My partner and I really want a dog and have for ages. Up to now we have refrained as we live in a first floor maisonette with no garden and didn't think it was fair on the dog. That being said, we've recently been dogsitting whilst my father in law was on holiday for 2 weeks and got along great with his Lurcher (Max). He enjoyed a morning walk before work, one at lunchtime and one or two in the evening as well. When he wasn't out he was either cuddled up on the sofa with me or sunbathing on the spare bed. I wouldn't be able to work from home everyday but we've looked up the details of a dog walker who lives in the next street and she could give a lunchtime walk for £6. As long as I wfh 3 days a week this seems acheivable.

Before we get too carried away though I wanted to work out the true cost of caring for a dog as this may take the decision away anyway.

Have I missed anything and does this seem realistic for a lurcher/greyhound/whippet type dog? (Typically dogs that spend a lot of time resting anyway, we think that's why Max got on well as he was fine to be left alone for a few hours as long as we tired him out with a walk before). I'm a bit on the fence about the food, I don't know how much a dog eats really - Max is not food oriented and is a senior so didn't eat too much but if we rescued a younger dog they might eat more?

TIA

Welcome to MSE.

If your home is not on the ground floor and you have no outside space, how would a dog get from your private home to the public highway? Do not assume you have an automatic right to walk a dog through communal areas of the property, indoors or outdoors.

Making assumptions ... If the property is rented and is leasehold, you could need the written consent of both your landlord (or their letting agents) and of the freeholder (or their managing agents). If you are owner-occupiers obviously scratch the landlord part!

Routine veterinary care (eg. de-flea/ wormer/ vaccinations/ dental treatments), kenneling during holidays and emergencies**, more for pet insurance, more for a properly registered and insured dog walker. Food intake is much more closely aligned with food quality, activity level and weight than it is age.

**The people you trust or rely on might all be at the same wedding or, being blunt, at a hospital bedside.

HTH!

HampshireH

We pay the following

£14 insurance (life time just upgraded on new policy from basic) monthly

£40 dry feed 15kg (lasts 5 weeks)

£68 for annual boosters.

£250 across the year on average in odd visits such as a tick under the skin (cost £360 as had to be sedated to remove on 2nd visit) and ear / eye infections (its £35-38 before you even walk in and thats for an examination at pets at home & £8 something per prescription before the horrendous charge for something they open there & then to treat them with but costs pennies online.)

£48 per week dog walker (£12 per day)
£30 quarterly on flea/worm/tick tablets and pippets.

£5p/week on treats. We give him a kong a day to keep him occupied for a bit and he gets a retreiver roll one every 2 days.

Thats a labrador. He isn't cheap but we knew what we signed up for.

They can be more or less expensive depending on the level of insurances, vet care, treatments (i.e.bob martin is cheap but read thd reviews!!!) and food you choose to buy.

Personally dogs and flats dont go. But thats just me

HampshireH

Oh & forgetting about the cost.
Those walks 4 times a day in torrential rain or heavy snow are a killer.

Our dog is walked twice a day by us and for an hr at lunch and only wees in the garden. 6am starts for walking and 6pm before dinner. Everyday. (Thankfully ours is lazy and loves a weekend lie in)

With the flat you wont have a garden for it to have a quick wee before bedtime or to chuck it out into at 3am when its heaving its guts up or has a bad stomach. (Our dog tends to only be sick in the night time. Its such a joy scrubbing carpets in the middle if the night lol)

Wouldnt change it though

Rev

As above really. £6 insurance really isn’t going to be decent cover.

I pay £10 per hour for my dog walker.

And with no garden of your own are you okay to spend the night in the communal garden/street with your dog when it is crapping through the eye of a needle at 4am because it ate lord know what on a walk or has an upset tum. If it’s a communal space will the other residents be okay with that?

What if the dog you get isn’t okay with the same routine as the dog you’re looking after and becomes destructive due to boredom? Will you be okay with that?

During the heat wave last year my dog had a tummy bug. It was super fun scrubbing the yard multiple times and multiple times during night in 30° degree heat whilst shattered.

Not trying to discourage because I adore having dogs but they’re very expensive and a lot of hard work. However much you think it will cost, and however much hard work you think it will be times that by 3.

They’re totally worth all the hard work.

suki1964

Blimey, I was paying £10 an hour back in the 90's ( London ) for dog walking

Insurance back then was in the 20's a month

Then how much did the dog cost us?

Well two crates, one for safe travelling in the car, one to keep him safe when I needed to pop out for a couple of hours

Lawn feed, numerous amount of replacement plants


Swapping the clawed sofa for a leather one, and then replacing that

A new table and chairs - he was teething

taking up the carpets and putting down laminate as it was easy cleaned during the puppy days

Buying a bigger car

Buying a bigger house with bigger garden



Seriously, you can not put a price on keeping a dog. If you are seriously budgeting for every penny, it may not be the right time for pet ownership