Financial Planning for Puppy Ownership: Avoiding a Crisis

What if bringing home a new puppy could turn into a financial disaster? This episode of Puppy Talk is a must-listen for anyone considering adding a furry friend to their family. I'll guide you through the often-overlooked financial aspects of raising a puppy, from the initial adoption or breeder fees to the ongoing costs of vet visits, food, and training. With a recommended savings of at least $10,000, I break down every expense to ensure you're fully prepared to provide a happy and stable home for your new companion.

The alarming number of dogs ending up in shelters due to their owners' financial struggles is a crisis we need to address. This episode highlights the impact of inflation and global challenges on pet ownership, urging you to think twice before making such a significant commitment. By equipping you with the knowledge and financial planning tips needed to raise a puppy responsibly, I aim to reduce the number of dogs surrendered to shelters. For personalized advice or further questions, visit puppytalkpodcast.com. Join me in making a difference—one puppy at a time.

If you need help housebreaking your new puppy, visit pottytrainingyourpuppy.com for FREE resources.

Our Sponsor is Top Gun Dog Training
In-home dog training services in the Huntsville, AL area at http://www.topgundogtraining.com

RESOURCES:

• Podcast Website: http://puppytalkpodcast.com
• Sponsor Website: http://www.topgundogtraining.com
• Dale's books: https://www.amazon.com/author/dalebuchanan
• Potty Training Your Puppy: https://pottytrainingyourpuppy.com/

Top Gun Dog Training in Huntsville, Alabama. Dog Trainer near me. Puppy Training in Madison, AL. Dog Behavior in Huntsville, AL. 

Transcript

Dale 0:01

I'm Dale Buchanan , and this is Puppy Talk , the podcast that offers free advice and tips for raising a happy , healthy and obedient puppy . For more information on this podcast , visit us online at puppytalkpodcastcom . Welcome to Puppy Talk , episode number 100 . I know I said that I was going to end the podcast somewhat , retire from podcasting . I feel like Tom Brady I'm making a comeback and I really like it . I really feel good about this . The reason why I'm doing more podcast episodes is because I actually missed it and I have more information to share . I have unfinished business , so let's get started .

Dale 0:47

In this episode , I want to talk about how much money do you need for a new puppy ? The reason for doing this podcast today is because there are so many puppies being surrendered to shelters and shelters are overflowing . One of the main reasons why puppies are being dropped off at shelters is the owners can't afford the puppy . They can't afford the dog anymore . So you want to make sure that you have all of your financial resources available if you're going to adopt a dog , if you're going to purchase a dog . This is very , very important so that the dog doesn't end up in the shelter and eventually in multiple homes , which is just going to stress the dog out . It's going to create anxiety , possibly fear , and then all kinds of bad things can happen from there on out . This information in this podcast is to educate you , to prevent dogs from being left at shelters or rehomed . Dogs from being left at shelters or rehomed .

Dale 1:48

The costs will vary greatly depending on your situation , where you get the puppy , what kind of puppy you get and so forth . Let's start with the initial cost . I always tell people to initially have about $10,000 saved in order to get a new puppy . Once I go through some of the initial costs and the monthly costs , you'll understand why I say $10,000 is the minimum you should have . When you purchase a puppy from a breeder , you're going to spend anywhere from around $2,000 to $10,000 . Most of my clients for puppy training are people that get puppies from a reputable breeder and I have asked each one of them how much their puppy costs , whether it's a purebred golden retriever or it's a mixed breed like a Bernie Doodle . The costs vary from $2,000 to $10,000 , depending on where you get it from and which breed you get . When you adopt a puppy from a shelter , it could be anywhere from fifty to five hundred dollars . Some shelters will waive the adoption fees periodically if they have an overflow of dogs . In Huntsville , where I live now , they're waiving the adoption fees . When I lived in Boca Raton , florida , the Tri-County Animal Shelter charged about $500 , which included the spay or neutering fee for that puppy .

Dale 3:14

The next thing you have to factor in for initial costs are the first vet visits and checkups . You want to make sure that your puppy goes right to the vet the second that you bring them home . You want to make sure that your puppy goes right to the vet the second that you bring them home they go right to the vet to get a checkup . Most puppies have worms . Most puppies need shots . They're going to maybe need some medication . So the initial cost for bringing a puppy to the vet and getting its second round of shots hopefully the breeder gave the first round of shots will be between $100 to $300 . Or it could be more depending on the vet and your location , but that's the average price .

Dale 3:50

You're going to need equipment . This could include a crate , leash , collar , dog bed , toys , chews , things like that . This is going to cost you between $100 and $500 , depending on how big your dog is . If you have a Yorkie , that's three pounds . You're going to need a little crate , it won't be very expensive . If you're getting a dog that's going to be much bigger , like an Akita , you're going to need a much bigger crate and you're going to need to spend a lot more money on that .

Dale 4:23

The next thing you're going to want to look into is dog training . How are you going to train this dog ? How are you going to potty train , leash train , obedience train ? These things are very important to think about . You can buy a book , like one of my books , the Complete Puppy Training Manual , for example , for $12 . You can try to do it yourself . Or you can spend up to $5,000 for dog training . If you want to send your puppy away to a board and train for maybe two months and get them completely trained , off-lease trained everything that'll cost you around $5,000 . If you have an in-home dog trainer , it could be a lot less , maybe around $2,000 to get your puppy trained . So you have to factor that in initially , total initial cost will be anywhere between $250,000 to $16,000 . It really depends on where you get the puppy from , how much training you want , how much equipment you're going to get . You may already have some equipment at home . There's a lot of variables here , so anywhere from $250,000 to $16,000 .

Dale 5:30

Now we get into monthly costs . This is where the fees start to accumulate , because you have to factor in many , many things . These include , first of all , medications , including dewormers , heartworm prevention , flea and tick prevention . This can range anywhere from $25 to $100 per month . It's crucial to anticipate these potential costs in your budget because these are things that the puppy absolutely has to have to survive life . They have to have heartworm medication , flea and tick and dewormer .

Dale 6:02

As a young puppy , food will be between $25 and $150 per month , depending on your dog's breed and size . Obviously , if you have a German Shepherd , they're going to eat a lot of food . As a four or five month old puppy , they're going to eat probably five cups of food . If you have a Cavapoo , which is a little five to eight pound dog , they may eat one cup of food per day . So you're going to have to factor in also what kind of food you're going to get them . Are you going to get a cheap brand of food because you want to save some money , or are you going to get a higher quality food that costs a little more but it's going to be healthier for your dog ?

Dale 6:45

The next thing you want to factor in every month are subscriptions such as BarkBox . I can tell you this every single client I go to has a BarkBox subscription every single one . If I was smart , I would have created that subscription service myself many years ago , but somebody else has already done it and a lot of people have done it with similar products . That's going to cost between $35 to $45 per month . You got to buy chew toys and treats for the puppy . That's going to cost between $25 to $75 per month , depending on , again , the size of your dog and what you want to feed them , what kind of things you're going to get them to chew on .

Dale 7:27

After they get spayed or neutered and after they've had all their vaccines , including rabies . You're going to want to look into a daycare or a dog walker to help you manage this dog , because you don't want the dog staying inside the home while you're at work all day . That's going to destroy the dog . The dog will not have a good life sitting around in the home destroying things or being in the crate all day long , so you've got to look into a daycare and or dog walker . These fees will cost you between $50 to $400 per month .

Dale 7:57

I'll give you an example . I bring Dixie to daycare 12 times per month . I have a subscription there . It's $300 . She also has dog walks twice a week on weekends . It's $18 each walk . Her total cost for daycare and dog walking is $444 . You need to factor this into your budget . Grooming will cost between $80 to $150 . For Dixie it's $95 , plus I give a $20 tip . So it's $115 every month to get Dixie groomed , shampooed , nails cut , teeth brushed those types of things .

Dale 8:42

You have to factor in unexpected bills from the vet , such as Giardia . When they get a parasite or they get worms or maybe they swallow something that they shouldn't have and they get diarrhea . For Dixie , when she was a young puppy , she had Giardia nine times within her first year of life . This costs me about $250 per month for special food , medications , vet visits . It can be very hard to continue those fees . Thankfully , dixie got better as she grew older .

Dale 9:06

Total monthly costs are going to be between $200 to $1,200 per month . $200 is on the very low end . You have a healthy dog that has no problems . They're very small . You don't need much food for them . That's the $200 . Very rarely or ever have I seen anybody raise a puppy for $200 a month , but I'm throwing that in there just in case there's somebody out there that can do it .

Dale 9:30

The $1,200 per month monthly fee is going to be extreme for a big dog that you're doing a lot with . My dog is a 20-pound mini Australian Shepherd . She's four and a half years old , so all of her fees for everything for her is about $750 per month . This does not include unexpected vet bills . Another thing you have to factor in is if you have multiple dogs . A lot of people get multiple dogs and they run into financial problems because they have to feed all the dogs , take the dogs to the vet , get all of the shots , buy extra equipment . Just plan on doubling the fees for each dog that you get in addition to what I'm giving you here .

Dale 10:14

Again , the reason why I'm giving you this information is to prevent dogs from ending up in shelters , because there's too many dogs in shelters right now . All across the country , a lot of people are surrendering dogs mainly because they can't afford them with inflation and all other things that are going on in the world . So you don't want to run into this . Don't get a dog unless you can afford it . I hope this information was helpful to you . If you have any questions , feel free to contact me through my website at puppytalkpodcastcom . Thank you and have a great day .