cost of labrador

lujziana

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of getting a labrador in the summer and would like to know how much does it cost to take care of it. All information is welcome.

ie cost vaccinations required and how often and how much does it cost per day to feed them.

Thanks a lot

Fleago

Hello Lujziana,

Welcome to MSE! There are a couple of threads already which have information that you might find useful. The first one is called Chocolate Lab, but it has lots of information about labradors in general, not just chocolate coloured ones. The second one is called Can I Afford a Puppy? and has lots in it about the sorts of things you will need and how much they are. Here are the links to the threads:

Chocolate Lab and Can I Afford a Puppy?

Hope this helps you out.

lujziana

:j thanks, I will deffinitelly look at these

Fleago wrote: »

Hello Lujziana,

Welcome to MSE! There are a couple of threads already which have information that you might find useful. The first one is called Chocolate Lab, but it has lots of information about labradors in general, not just chocolate coloured ones. The second one is called Can I Afford a Puppy? and has lots in it about the sorts of things you will need and how much they are. Here are the links to the threads:

Chocolate Lab and Can I Afford a Puppy?

Hope this helps you out.

pboae

Bear in mind that any decent breeder who is planning a litter for this summer will already have more than enough homes lined up for their pups.

Have you thought about a rescue dog? There are lots of lab rescues. There is a list of most of them towards the bottom of this page
http://www.dogpages.org.uk/breedr.htm

eyelinerprincess

If mine's anything to go by, it'll cost you a fortune in food and toys!

LillyJ

There are lots of lab crosses in rescue homes as well. I agree with pboae, there are so many rescues that need a home, and they only need a donation whereas a lab puppy costs several hundred pounds.
Labs can also be very destructive when they are puppies. (although they tend to be lovely dogs).

Maybe just check out your local rescue first, that is where we found our beautiful lab cross!

They do tend to love their food, so be careful not to give in to them all the time! They also need good quality toys like Kongs (about £7) as they love to chew.

I pay about £7 a month insurance, £10 a month food, £10 a month treats, £5 a month toys, jabs (can't remember how much these cost!) once a year, flea treatment, worming treatment (you can find the cost of these on the other threads that people posted), lead (£20 for an extendable), collar £10, bed £20, extra cleaning materials for accidents, air freshners (!),any unexpected vet costs that you might incur, grooming equipment inc shampoo and brushes...........

Basically they are quite expensive and you need to make sure you can afford all the usual plus extra things at the vet. For example out dog had a simple ear infection (very common) and so we took him to the vets who gave him ear drops. Total cost £36. Little things like this add up.

They are expensive but IMO totally worth it!

(PS our rescue dog only cost us £70 donation and he came with a free goodie bag. Best £70 I have spent in my entire life!)

piratess

Weve got a choccy boy .. he costs us around i think its £18 a month for his food (burns) ... and he also has sardines in with his food once a day so 20p a day for that the thing we spend most of our money on is toys! lol.... insurance is £21 a month but im sure there is cheaper if you shop around ...

the main thing is dont rush in! if you think youve found a "cheap" lab pup then chances are they are cheap for a reason! ... make sure you check eye certs and hip scores on parents otherwise pup could cost you alot more than you thought ....

Good Luck x

mjburton

I strongly advise lifetime insurance! Most labs will eat ANYTHING so be very careful with this as they can get hugely obese if not exercised enough and allowed to eat as they please and this has a major impact on their health now and in the future which in turn will cost you financially!

One of my rescue labs was fat when we gave him a home 7 years ago. We got his weight sorted with good diet and exercise. He hurt his cruciate ligament and is also now arthritic in the lower back needing hydrotherapy and medication. I wish I'd insured him when I got him! I have with my younger rescue.

Choose diet carefully. I recommend Kong Wubba toys. (when I say I, I mean 5 labradors who love to chew, pull and pluck!)

piratess

Wubbas are great! its the only toy my lab hasnt destroyed! ... also things like icecubes with peas or carrots in are great for the summer time .. and also if you make liver treats the liver water is also fab frozen liver icecubes are the bees knees well as far as bosun is concerned !

Bromley86

Monthly costs:

£12.50 Insurance (lifetime, cheaper end of the range)
£19.00 Food (Burns, relatively small !!!!! - could double for a big dog)

Annual costs:

£70.00 Vaccinations (first year, perhaps only £35 in the second?)
£??? Wormer/fleas - it's varied so much each time I've bought that I've no idea what it costs. Say £50.

One-off costs:

£500 Purchase (inc. microchip)
£100 Spaying (pos. £150?)
£40 Crate (est.)
£20 Stair gate (est., more to restrict to kitchen than prevent from going upstairs)
£??? Whatever you want on bedding/toys etc.

Don't skimp on insurance, IMO (we're off on Friday to see if our's is going to have her hip replaced ).

lujziana

Thanks a lot to all of you that have participated and for all your great advise!
I have certainly got a lot more facts to go on now:j

Again thanks to all of you....i really apreciate it!:T