Is it possible to buy a friend? The question sounds strange, but the answer is – yes, you can! In fact, you can afford it easily. That friend might be more than a friend sometime. Perhaps, you have understood what we are talking about, right? Yeap, it’s dog, the most trusted pet.
Now come to the point, how much does it cost to buy a dog? The answer requires some other things to be discussed as you can own a dog in different ways. However, the cost of purchasing a dog mainly depends on the type of dog you get. Other factors, for instance, shopping place, dog’s age, type of squeaky toys also play a role in determining the price of a dog.
The cost of owning a dog increases far beyond the amount you pay for buying the dog itself. You will have to pay a reasonable amount for raising and caring for the dog. The ongoing cost also includes costs for dog supplies, food and most importantly vet.
So, buying a dog isn’t enough, rather you must be ready for the ongoing cost if you want to welcome your new friend at home. How much is a dog in reality, then?
We will break down the costs of different dogs and explain other related issues in this article so that you can decide if you are ready to own a dog.
To get a dog, the first thing for what you have to spend money is the dog itself. Either you can purchase a puppy or adopt a dog from any of the shelters by paying the adoption fee.
The price mostly depends on purchase or adoption. Age of the dog, dog breed, breeder, registration are also the key factors in determining the price while purchasing or adopting.
Let’s get the information a bit more:
A puppy is a juvenile dog that weighs 1 to 3 pounds, although some of the large puppies can weigh 15 to 23 pounds. Puppies overgrow if they are healthy. They are so lovely.
Now, come to the main point- price. ‘How much is a puppy?’ is one of the most asked questions regarding dog-related issues.
Usually, the price ranges from $250 to $5000! You can purchase by spending any amount within this range subject to type and quality of the puppy.
We suggest you not to buy a puppy at a low price. The low cost can be a sign that the breeder (you are buying from) hasn’t provided enough care to the puppy. He invested insufficient time, attention, and money what’s necessary for a healthy grow up of the puppies.
On the other hand, high pricing indicates that the breeder has spent enough time, attention, and money for raising and taking care of their puppies. They provide healthy and gorgeous puppies, so they deserve a better price.
If you look at the puppies price lists and check out the category and quality of the juvenile dogs critically, you can differentiate between the well cared/healthy and insufficiently cared/unhealthy options.
Always try to avoid the cheap price temptation coming out of the unregistered pet stores.
If you purchase from any American Kennel Club authorized pet stores or breeders, you might have to spend a bit more, but you will get the quality puppies.
Source: American Kennel Club ,American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
A pug is a breed of dog. It comes in distinctive physical features like short-muzzled and wrinkly face, curled tail, etc. They look glossy if the well-bred. You will get them in a diversity of colors, although black and fawn are the most common colors. A healthy pug has a compact square body.
Usually, a well-breed pug dog can cost around $1,500 to $2,000. Due to continually increasing demand and health issues (they are vulnerable), puppies have a higher range of price.
Other breeds like Pomsky and Bulldog might cost more, for instance, Pomsky might make you spend more than $2,500, and Bulldog might cost over $2,000.
Source: The Veterinary Journal, American Kennel Club, Thehappypuppysite.com
When you collect a pet from an animal shelter, it’s known as adoption. It will cost less to adopt a dog than buying it. You will understand when you check the dog prices list.
How much does a dog cost to adopt? As per ASPCA’s estimation, you can adopt a dog at a price between $75 and $250, though different shelters charge different adoption fees.
But, one thing is common in every shelter that charge for the older dogs is lower than younger options. Because the older dogs are not that much adoptable as youngers (puppies).
If you adopt a dog, be ready to invest in grooming or training to remove the bad habits taken from their previous owners.
Grooming of a dog is essential, therefore. How much does dog grooming cost? According to our research, you might need to cost at least $30 per month for a standard grooming course.
Training is vital for all types of dogs if you want to make them a special one. For adopting dogs, this is a must. How much does dog training cost?
In any local daycare center, it will cost $50 to $125 for 4 to 6 weeks of the one-hour session. On the other hand, for private training, a professional might charge $30 to $100 per hour costing about $240 to $600 for six sessions.
Some of the obedience board kennel schools may charge from $1,000 to 2,500 for one-on-one training and boarding for several hours regularly for two or four weeks.
The trainers or groomers use professional grooming tools with full of care so that your pet will learn at its best.
Source:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, costhelper.com, Newsmax.com
As the cost of food is a must for your pet, you should be concerned about the cost of it. An average value of food every dog is around $450 per year. It might be less or more subject to the size and type of dog. If you purchase in bulk,l the cost may be reduced a bit more.
Whatever the cost, never compromise with quality. Bad quality food may save a sum of your money but can be the reason for any severe damage to your highly spent and beloved dog.
Some of the food related appliances might be needed to buy as well, for example, a quality Pet Bowl. So, you should be prepared for these too.
Source: American Kennel Club
Buying a dog (especially a puppy) will bind you to pick good numbers of dog supplies from daily necessaries to games and toys. If you go for quality and standard versions, you will have to cost a lot, though you can reduce the cost by selecting the cheaper versions.
Some of the essential items that you ought to buy are-
- Bedding
- Puppy bed
- Collar
- Leash
- Brush
- Bowls
- Crate
- Puppy Car Crate
- Puppy Car Crate (Airline Approved)
- Puppy Playpen
- Puppy Kong
- Puppy Rope Toys
- Puppy Pad
When you purchase a puppy, you have to spend around $300 to $600 in aggregate for all of the items. These are the starter supplies. If you want more items (for example, toys), you budget an extra amount for that.
As the puppies grow fast, you should ready for replacement some of the items by size. Once the puppy comes around 18 to 20 months, you will have to purchase another full set similar to the initial purchase.
By the way, you can initially purchase bigger sizes of some of the items to save money (full-size crate, for example), although the saved amount won’t be significant.
We divide the supply cost into three segments-
- Initial cost (when you purchase a puppy)- $300 to $600 or even more;
- Upgrading (at the age of 18/20 months)- $300 to $600 or even more;
- Replacing (every one or two years)- Depends on necessity and current situation.
A pet dog should be well-checked-&-treated by a vet. For every visit by a vet, you have to pay at least $50, although it varies from state to state or country to country.
A dog requires different types of vaccines including rabies and other viruses. If your puppy hasn’t been vaccinated yet, it will need $100 to $150 to do that by a vet, in addition to the vet’s fee.
If it’s already been vaccinated, a regular booster vaccination is necessary for a specified interval. For example, you have to give the rabies booster shot in every year in some of the USA states, while the interval period is 3 years in other states. It will cost around $20 per rabies vaccination.
In addition to the vaccination, you need to be ready for some other tests and treatments, for instance, heartworm test, flea and tick treatment, to ensure the prevention and cure.
In an average, the dog owners must be ready to spend around $400 to $500 for this veterinary purpose of their puppies, which can be covered by insurance coverage.
Cost of Dog Insurance
How much is pet insurance? It varies widely. So far we have inspected, the monthly premium of an insurance plan can be $10 at least while another premium can be more than $100.
For dog insurance, you have to pay higher within this specified limit $10 to $100. Though, most of the pet owners (including dog owners) expect to pay an amount between $30 and $50 for a monthly premium of pet insurance that offers decent coverage.
The insurance coverage and amount of premium depending on the pet’s age, species of the pet, breed type, and areas where you live.
Source: North American Pet Health Insurance Association.
Concluding Remarks
The truth is- you can never measure the price of a dog’s companionship, though you can pay the price for it. As it will be your friend for its lifetime, so you should be very careful about it at every angle.
We discourage you from buying a puppy if you are not financially ready to meet all the expected and unexpected costs. As you have gone through the article, you have a clear overview of all of the costings. If you are ready for it, we encourage you seriously to own a beautiful dog.
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