For the past twenty years we have been dog owners. There has never been more than a few months where we have been dog free, despite that I wanted to wait a bit to get out of debt first.

Recently we were asked to foster a shepherd mix for a friend of a friend that passed away. We have been considering another dog as a therapy dog for my daughter that suffers from social anxiety and because of the situation we accepted. They assured us that all shots were up to date and that she was already spayed.

Our current hound dog mix needed more socialization and we thought that maybe this would help him. The hard thing is now our expenses related to the dog are now doubled. What are the true costs of owning a dog?

Dog Allergies Can Be Expensive

Porter, the hound dog we currently own, is an allergy sufferer. What does that mean for dogs? He has to take a daily medication that we give him every morning or he will be more susceptible to ear infections and other skin issues. Prior to us bringing him into the vet for his issue he looked like a dog with mange.

We tried several different medications the first was Cytopoint. At a cost of $75 per shot per month this quickly added up. The shot was also not completely effective and we had to supplement with other medications. The alternative was Apoquel but until recently a monthly supply was over a hundred dollars.

On top of the cost of medication we started Porter on various different foods most of which were fairly expensive.

So we trudged on. The monthly cost for Porter at this time was:

Cytopoint: $75
Dog Food: $65
Treats: $15
Vet visits (every 3 months): ~$60/month

Total Monthly: $215

We still had multiple issues and ear infections to deal with and added on prescription-strength medication for these issues.

Ear Medicine: $45
This medicine does last quite a bit of time but back then we were going through two bottles in about four months.

Add on ear cleaner at $15 per bottle and we were quickly approaching $240 per month for our one dog.

During this time the cost for Apoquel came down and we were able to find it on Chewy. We are still paying around $60 per month for his medication but that has proven much more effective and we have reduced the vet visits to once or twice a year now. However during the summer months we supplement his Apoquel with Cytopoint and therefore the amount increases.

Cost of Owning Second Dog

Adding the second dog has increased our monthly spending by another $50 for dog food alone. Soon after we brought her home we discovered that she was not spayed and we now have to add that cost. We found a cheaper place than our current vet but the cost would still be approximately $180 for the spay and another $40 for the microchip.

We also have to do her annual medications and at $30 – $40 a piece that adds the bill up to about $275. Our other dog is also due for his shots in June which will increase the amount to just about $400 for both dogs.

Breaking down the cost for both dogs on a monthly basis, factoring in the two vet visits per year and the numbers are:

Apoquel (Porter): $55
Dog Food (Both): $100
Treats: $20
Vet Visits: $50 – Estimated 2 per year
Cytopoint (Porter): $35 – based on 5 shots over the summer months

Total for both dogs: $260 per month

Factoring in Emergency Services

Of course the inevitable dog getting sick or eating something bad will happen and hopefully you can visit the normal vet and not emergency vet. Each vet visit is an automatic $65 office visit fee and then whatever treatment is necessary.

When my husky died of complications with cancer the emergency vet bill was close to $3000 with another $500 for cremation and a container for her ashes.

We put the bill at the time on Care Credit which has six months no interest for purchases over $200 but you start accruing interest immediately. The interest rate on Care Credit is currently at 26.9% meaning that bill probably cost me another $600 when I finally paid it off.

Make Sure You Set A Budget

I do advocate getting a pet as they offer companionship and can be really helpful as is the case with my daughter. You should definitely have the budget for the dog and understand the true costs. I see so many people getting dogs that are living paycheck to paycheck and when something bad happens they turn to credit to pay.

Like with everything else add it to your budget and make sure you can afford it, most of the time it costs a lot more than you originally thought.