Caring for a dog financially

[lski15]

I am seriously considering getting a dog now that i've been on my own for about a year. I've had one since I can remember and I've had to take care of them in every way other than financially. I'm curious if anyone can give me an idea of about how much a month/6 months or a year i could expect to spend on the dog. I have done a lot of research and found that the Shih tzu is the best kind of dog for me so the amount of food i'd be buying wouldnt be as much as a big dog. Any help would be great. Thanks

[TxDog]

Between food, treats, medicine, and toys I spend roughly $100. My dog is only 15lbs.

[lski15]

Is that a month?

[Jynx]

well you can run into alot of unforseen problems with any animal, but here's a few things that come to mind in the way of "general maintenance". :)

if your getting a puppy:
puppy vac's, probably 3-4 of them plus rabies, depending on what your vet charges, expect to pay anywhere from 15-30$ EACH visit/shot

spaying/neutering: again, depending on vet, anywhere from 100-300$

food, feed a good quality food from the start and you'll most likely save on vet bills down the road. A dog that size may go thru what? 10-15 lbs a month? Figure on paying 15 plus per month on a good dog food.

Grooming if you choose, 30+ a pop.

So your first year barring any other vet visits, will probably cost you around 400$ .

Yearly vac's, 3 year rabies, food, and it sounds not to bad. IT's when you run into some unforseen "illness" that can run into money. I just spent 4000$ on one dog (and I have 4), in the last 9 months on an undiagnosed illness. I"ve spent thousands on my GSD who had a couple of surgeries on her knees, I spent another thousand last year on my other GSD who blew out anal gland and had to go on very expensive meds. In the last 10 years, I've probably easily spent over 10,000 dollars on vet bills. Accidents here, illnesses there.

My suggestion, go to a really good breeder with really healthy dogs, feed a good quality dog food, and keep a jar to throw in even if it's 5-10 bucks a week to set aside for emergencies.

Good luck, dogs give us so much , ask for little in return, but can also break the bank.
Diane

[TxDog]

As Jynx stated there is always the chance something medical can go wrong. Right after getting our pup he got mange. Between all the dips, test scrapes, and doctor visits it really added up. An instant cost we didn't expect.

[chacha]

Grooming a Shih Tzu can get expensive. Of course you can do it yourself. If you want a small dog look into one that doesn't need regular haircuts if you want to save some money. I have always ended up with dogs with lots of medical problems. So it does get expensive. Just keep that in mind and have your Visa card ready.