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.

You can purchase my book here: https://www.amazon.com/author/dalebuchanan

RESOURCES:
Podcast Website: http://puppytalkpodcast.com
Sponsor Website: http://www.topgundogtraining.com
Dale's books: https://www.amazon.com/author/dalebuchanan

Episode Transcript

Dale (00:01):
I'm Dale Buchanan, and this is Puppy Talk, the podcast
that offers free advice and tipsfor raising a happy, healthy
and obedient puppy.
For more information on thispodcast, visit us online at
puppytalkpodcastcom.
Welcome to Puppy Talk, episodenumber 100.

(00:22):
I know I said that I was goingto end the podcast somewhat,
retire from podcasting.
I feel like Tom Brady I'mmaking a comeback and I really
like it.
I really feel good about this.
The reason why I'm doing morepodcast episodes is because I
actually missed it and I havemore information to share.

(00:42):
I have unfinished business, solet's get started.
In this episode, I want to talkabout how much money do you need
for a new puppy?
The reason for doing thispodcast today is because there
are so many puppies beingsurrendered to shelters and
shelters are overflowing.
One of the main reasons whypuppies are being dropped off at

(01:05):
shelters is the owners can'tafford the puppy.
They can't afford the doganymore.
So you want to make sure thatyou have all of your financial
resources available if you'regoing to adopt a dog, if you're
going to purchase a dog.
This is very, very important sothat the dog doesn't end up in
the shelter and eventually inmultiple homes, which is just

(01:27):
going to stress the dog out.
It's going to create anxiety,possibly fear, and then all
kinds of bad things can happenfrom there on out.
This information in thispodcast is to educate you, to
prevent dogs from being left atshelters or rehomed.
Dogs from being left atshelters or rehomed.

(01:48):
The costs will vary greatlydepending on your situation,
where you get the puppy, whatkind of puppy you get and so
forth.
Let's start with the initialcost.
I always tell people toinitially have about $10,000
saved in order to get a newpuppy.
Once I go through some of theinitial costs and the monthly
costs, you'll understand why Isay $10,000 is the minimum you

(02:11):
should have.
When you purchase a puppy froma breeder, you're going to spend
anywhere from around $2,000 to$10,000.
Most of my clients for puppytraining are people that get
puppies from a reputable breederand I have asked each one of
them how much their puppy costs,whether it's a purebred golden

(02:34):
retriever or it's a mixed breedlike a Bernie Doodle.
The costs vary from $2,000 to$10,000, depending on where you
get it from and which breed youget.
When you adopt a puppy from ashelter, it could be anywhere
from fifty to five hundreddollars.
Some shelters will waive theadoption fees periodically if

(02:55):
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.
The next thing you have tofactor in for initial costs are

(03:17):
the first vet visits andcheckups.
You want to make sure that yourpuppy goes right to the vet the
second that you bring them home.
You want to make sure that yourpuppy goes right to the vet the
second that you bring them homethey go right to the vet to get
a checkup.
Most puppies have worms.
Most puppies need shots.
They're going to maybe needsome medication.
So the initial cost forbringing a puppy to the vet and

(03:41):
getting its second round ofshots hopefully the breeder gave
the first round of shots willbe between $100 to $300.
Or it could be more dependingon the vet and your location,
but that's the average price.
You're going to need equipment.
This could include a crate,leash, collar, dog bed, toys,
chews, things like that.

(04:02):
This is going to cost youbetween $100 and $500, depending
on how big your dog is.
If you have a Yorkie, that'sthree pounds.
You're going to need a littlecrate, it won't be very
expensive.
If you're getting a dog that'sgoing to be much bigger, like an
Akita, you're going to need amuch bigger crate and you're
going to need to spend a lotmore money on that.

(04:23):
The next thing you're going towant to look into is dog
training.
How are you going to train thisdog?
How are you going to pottytrain, leash train, obedience
train?
These things are very importantto think about.
You can buy a book, like one ofmy books, the Complete Puppy
Training Manual, for example,for $12.
You can try to do it yourself.
Or you can spend up to $5,000for dog training.

(04:46):
If you want to send your puppyaway to a board and train for
maybe two months and get themcompletely trained, off-lease
trained everything that'll costyou around $5,000.
If you have an in-home dogtrainer, it could be a lot less,
maybe around $2,000 to get yourpuppy trained.
So you have to factor that ininitially, total initial cost

(05:08):
will be anywhere between$250,000 to $16,000.
It really depends on where youget the puppy from, how much
training you want, how muchequipment you're going to get.
You may already have someequipment at home.
There's a lot of variables here, so anywhere from $250,000 to
$16,000.

(05:30):
Now we get into monthly costs.
This is where the fees start toaccumulate, because you have to
factor in many, many things.
These include, first of all,medications, including dewormers
, heartworm prevention, flea andtick prevention.
This can range anywhere from$25 to $100 per month.
It's crucial to anticipatethese potential costs in your

(05:52):
budget because these are thingsthat the puppy absolutely has to
have to survive life.
They have to have heartwormmedication, flea and tick and
dewormer.
As a young puppy, food will bebetween $25 and $150 per month,
depending on your dog's breedand size.
Obviously, if you have a GermanShepherd, they're going to eat

(06:14):
a lot of food.
As a four or five month oldpuppy, they're going to eat
probably five cups of food.
If you have a Cavapoo, which isa little five to eight pound
dog, they may eat one cup offood per day.
So you're going to have tofactor in also what kind of food
you're going to get them.
Are you going to get a cheapbrand of food because you want

(06:36):
to save some money, or are yougoing to get a higher quality
food that costs a little morebut it's going to be healthier
for your dog?
The next thing you want tofactor in every month are
subscriptions such as BarkBox.
I can tell you this everysingle client I go to has a
BarkBox subscription everysingle one.

(06:58):
If I was smart, I would havecreated that subscription
service myself many years ago,but somebody else has already
done it and a lot of people havedone it with similar products.
That's going to cost between$35 to $45 per month.
You got to buy chew toys andtreats for the puppy.
That's going to cost between$25 to $75 per month, depending

(07:21):
on, again, the size of your dogand what you want to feed them,
what kind of things you're goingto get them to chew on.
After they get spayed orneutered and after they've had
all their vaccines, includingrabies.
You're going to want to lookinto a daycare or a dog walker
to help you manage this dog,because you don't want the dog
staying inside the home whileyou're at work all day.
That's going to destroy the dog.

(07:42):
The dog will not have a goodlife sitting around in the home
destroying things or being inthe crate all day long, so
you've got to look into adaycare and or dog walker.
These fees will cost youbetween $50 to $400 per month.
I'll give you an example.
I bring Dixie to daycare 12times per month.
I have a subscription there.

(08:03):
It's $300.
She also has dog walks twice aweek on weekends.
It's $18 each walk.
Her total cost for daycare anddog walking is $444.
You need to factor this intoyour budget.
Grooming will cost between $80to $150.
For Dixie it's $95, plus I givea $20 tip.

(08:25):
So it's $115 every month to getDixie groomed, shampooed, nails
cut, teeth brushed those typesof things.
You have to factor in unexpectedbills from the vet, such as
Giardia.
When they get a parasite orthey get worms or maybe they
swallow something that theyshouldn't have and they get

(08:46):
diarrhea.
For Dixie, when she was a youngpuppy, she had Giardia nine
times within her first year oflife.
This costs me about $250 permonth for special food,
medications, vet visits.
It can be very hard to continuethose fees.
Thankfully, dixie got better asshe grew older.
Total monthly costs are going tobe between $200 to $1,200 per

(09:11):
month.
$200 is on the very low end.
You have a healthy dog that hasno problems.
They're very small.
You don't need much food forthem.
That's the $200.
Very rarely or ever have I seenanybody raise a puppy for $200
a month, but I'm throwing thatin there just in case there's
somebody out there that can doit.
The $1,200 per month monthly feeis going to be extreme for a

(09:35):
big dog that you're doing a lotwith.
My dog is a 20-pound miniAustralian Shepherd.
She's four and a half years old, so all of her fees for
everything for her is about $750per month.
This does not includeunexpected vet bills.
Another thing you have tofactor in is if you have

(09:55):
multiple dogs.
A lot of people get multipledogs and they run into financial
problems because they have tofeed all the dogs, take the dogs
to the vet, get all of theshots, buy extra equipment.
Just plan on doubling the feesfor each dog that you get in
addition to what I'm giving youhere.
Again, the reason why I'm givingyou this information is to

(10:17):
prevent dogs from ending up inshelters, because there's too
many dogs in shelters right now.
All across the country, a lotof people are surrendering dogs
mainly because they can't affordthem with inflation and all
other things that are going onin the world.
So you don't want to run intothis.
Don't get a dog unless you canafford it.
I hope this information washelpful to you.

(10:39):
If you have any questions, feelfree to contact me through my
website at puppytalkpodcastcom.
Thank you and have a great day.