Gotta Ask. How Much Would You Spend on a Dog?

like most of the good folks here, i'd pay whatever the adoption fee is at the pound. i hope that most people at least consider rescue when thinking about getting a pet. most of the critters here on the farm are rescues.
but there are circumstances where you don't want the risk of 'someone else's problem' which is the caveat to pound puppies, and/or you want a specific breed for whatever reason and are too wise to go to a puppy mill. then you find a responsible ethical breeder, who will require a substantial amount to keep their operation viable.
i don't look down on people who bypass the shelter, so long as they're not supporting puppy mills.
but really, there's nothing like saving a life.
khairete
S.

Nothing. Just like with the cat question,

There are plenty of cats and dogs that need homes that you don't have to buy.

Same as a cat. I do rescues and fostering. I do not spend money to support breeding new animals when there are perfectlynlovable animals being killed due to overpopulation.

I'd pay the adoption fee from an accredited shelter.

The same I'd spend on a cat: The adoption fee from the local shelter.

My dog was 2000-2500 (I can't remember which). She is a pure bread great dane. A lot of that money goes towards the extensive registered health testing of the line - both sides, back at least 3 generations. 500 was because her ears were cropped before I decided to adopt her.

It is a lot of money, and I would have thought I was crazy 10 years ago. But, my first Great Dane came from the "internet" for 300 dollars. He started having health issues at 3.5 years old and had a heart attack at 5. I did not want my next dog dropping dead at 5 years old.

Do you mean to buy a dog? Nothing. I wouldn't purchase a dog. If I was getting a dog, I'd just be paying a rescue or shelter adoption fee. I paid $50 each to adopt my cat and our rabbit.

I would pay what the animal shelter charges.

More than I would for a cat. ;-)
Depends on the need and the breed.

Same as a cat. Our dog was a stray that was picked up by a coworker. He was free, the vet bills over the years were not. For dogs, the expensive "purebread" ones are often from puppy mills and have health problems. We have a dachsund, since he was dumped we have no idea if that's all he is or not (it looks like it though), but he has a loving disposition and has been a good addition to our family.

We have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Both parents extensively health-checked, beautiful, stable, sweet animals. Our little fella is as handsome and charming as a dog could be. We spent $2,000 on him, and I don't regret it. We knew exactly what we were getting, exactly the size and temperament he would be fully grown, that he would be easy to train and come to us with no bad habits, and that he would be great with kids and other pets. My only regret is not getting two of them! (We are expecting to bring home a sister for him in July. She will be $2600; the girls cost more than the boys.)

I would spend 450. since that is what I paid for my dog. I would have gone to the Florida Boston Terrier rescue if I had know about them prior or if I ever want another one.

I will never regret spending it because I have the best dog in the world.

Not sure. We don't have one yet. But we talk about looking into a rescue organization for the specific breed we want. I just can't find it in myself to pay thousands for an animal when I know there are so many that need a home and organizations are practically giving them away.

There is a shelter locally that holds a 5.00 Friday. What a great gimmick to encourage pet adoption.

We just got into raising chickens. I have spent more on our organic chickens than our pets. The thought of eating eggs from disease ridden,lice and worm infested chickens just turns my stomach so we invest in our chickens.

We have had the "How much would you spend on a cat?" and now "How much would you spend on a dog?"

I had to laugh at the thought that the next question posed by a M. is "How much would you spend on a chicken?" hee...hee!

I think our rescue dog was about $200 paid to the rescue group. I plan to always only adopt. One possible deviation would be a labradoodle type so there's no shedding and around us, those dogs are in such demand there are none for adoption. But it'd be tough to pay and not bc of the actual money. So many homeless dogs and I feel like buying only encourages breeding and until all dogs have homes, I wish breeding would stop. So I'd have a hard time supporting it.

If you're talking about buying one, we always rescue so whatever the fee is for that, usually around $75 or free. If you're talking to save their life, it depends on the dog's age, what is wrong, if it's fixable or a desperate measure to safe their life. Just spent about $400 for our 11 yr. old dog who is struggling with arthritis. He's not ready to go and there was no way I was going to let him suffer.

LOL. We spent over 5k on a rescue dog that went crazy.

I try not to think about it. I wasn't a human parent yet. He sure was cute.

I've spent no more than $500 for a purchase of one of our sweet dogs.

However, Cocker #2 lived to almost 15 yrs old and when he was 2-3 he had a back/spinal injury and we spent about $3000 to fix. That was over 15 years ago.

We currently have a 9 yr old toy poodle. Last July, he had a sudden cataract that blinded him in 1 eye overnight. We spent a little over $4000 for a new lens in his eye. IF the same thing happens in the other eye, he will be ok and and can adjust to his good eye. We don't know if the other eye will have same issue and one point or another, therefore , we chose to fix this eye while it was fixable rather than take our chances.

When we get a pet, we sign on for the responsibility for their lifetime which can be up to 20 years!

My neighbors is an orthopedic surgeon for animals and he says it's very sad when they can make things right for an animal but so many people choose to put a good pet down instead if helping them ( if indeed the vet services can help ) or turn the pet over to a rescue in hopes that they can pro bono a surgery and help the pet recover.

I'm all for rescue. Our daughter has a rescue cat from heaven!

$800 12 years ago for our beloved Bella. She was a Welsh Pembrook Corgi. She died last year. Right now we are a dog free home.

We work so much that it just isn't fair but I sure do miss having a little furry friend following me!

We got a purebred Westie for $600 about 15 years ago from a private family that had one litter of puppies a year. We had tried to get a rescue dog but there were none available at the time. About 6 months after we got our dog, rescue called me and said they had a dog that they wanted to talk about with us. One of my neighbors had fallen in love with our dog and she called the rescue organization. They were able to match her with a different rescue dog about 2 weeks later. After a few years our dog developed serious allergies which was expensive to treat. Then at 10 years old she developed cancer and some other health problems (diabetes, etc) We spent a lot of money and time and effort to keep her comfortable in her final years. So it is not just the amount of upfront money you pay for the dog but the lifelong expenses.

We got one of ours for free (even though she would have cost well over 1600) she is a german long hair pointer. We know the breeder very well and they are super strict on the breeding. We went and watched the testing of the dogs, its very interesting how how the correct way to breed vs the backyard breeders is. I would have easily spent this money on her and plan on doing so on the same breed in the future. My mini schnauzer was about 400.00

I'm considering getting a cat because I've read that pets make you live longer. I will get a free kitten from a shelter. I will not pay to get a pet considering that later I will have to pay for food, litter, declawing, neutering, etc.

I would never buy a pet. All of the animals at my house are either rescues or fosters.
I have paid adoption fees at shelters before, but I don't consider that buying a pet. I consider it saving an animal's life.
We spent $500 to fix a broken leg on one of our cats, and $1300 on another cat who got sick and spent a week in intensive care.
We spent several hundred dollars treating fight wounds on two pit mixes we rescued.

Not being a dog person and actually allergic the honest answer is nothing. But, without that, I still would not spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get a dog. I would get a rescue dog just as I have always gotten rescue cats. Purebreds have so many inherent problems because of such narrow breeding. I have family that have had nothing but rescue dogs and they have all been the greatest dogs.

Are you asking how much someone would pay to buy a dog? Or how much one would pay for a dog's needs?

I haven't read all the previous answers but I bet there is a wide range of preference for acquiring a dog. Our first dogs came to us (found); currently we are raising pups for Canine Companions for Independence, so we don't purchase. On the other hand, the puppy isn't really our dog. We're fostering, in a sense - raising and training the pup until the day he/she goes back for professional training. With the current one, it will be in three months, and I'm getting a little teary-eyed already just thinking about it.

I'm with the PP, would never pay for one or take one if someone begged me to for free! I love my pet free home!!

I bought a rottwieller over 20 years ago and spent 500. I do not judge or condem anyone that purchases a dog, that is a personal choice however over the years I have become more and more involved with rescues. My dog that passed was adopted and my pitbull Roxy that we have now we found roaming the streets. (well she technically found us as she jumped in my car.) She was less than a year old and in terrible shape, I am only glad we found her. But that is a story for a different day.
I work with a local rescue and it is actually quite sad the dogs that come in, the stories are heartbreaking.
For me my only soapbox is that if you get any animal you should realize it is a commitment, one not to be taken lightly.
As far as vet bills, well our dog that passed had eplilepsy and we paid for his medication. Our Roxy is healthy however we had her spayed first thing, micro chipped, all her shots and routine health checks at vet.
Great question and many blessings

$150 adoption fee, max.
(And I've never even spent that much on a dog to date.)

The difference between dogs and cats is a dog breed does tell you about the dog's personality. In other words if you want a certain type of dog, you can better predict that and control than you can with a cat. You start by researching dog breeds to determine the traits you want. Then you purchase the breed you want by selecting a well bred, well socialized dog from a reputable breeder. These reputable breeders will have healthy, health vetted, well reared dogs for a high price. Part of what that high price tag is guaranteeing is a healthy, predictable dog so the question in my mind is really what price would you be willing to better predict your dog’s long term personality and health?

I have bought two dogs for a few hundred each from backyard breeders. Both of those dogs had health problems from very early ages and died prematurely as a result of health issues. I got what I paid for and it was heartbreaking. A cheap up front price but long term vet bills which added up plus the cost of a broken heart.

Three times we have gone the rescue route and each time we have noticed a consistent trait in these rescue situations. Because there are so many abandoned animals, rescue groups are not above lying about their animals or at the very least glossing over the details. Our first rescue was a puppy mill cast off Pug and while she was a wonderful animal she was twice as old as they said. We loved her and didn’t mind the age but it sure broke our hearts because we only had her for a few years. We know we made her golden years better but we would have preferred the rescue group being honest about her age so the choice was on us instead of thrust on us. Our second rescue was a nightmare. The rescue group placed the wrong fit dog with us even though we candidly told them we are a young family and didn’t want a special/high needs dog. We openly spoke about our limitations and what we were looking for in a dog. We took on a dog who seemed okay for what was supposed to be an overnight trial run. The dog was a total wreck within an hour and was growling, snapping and being a general aggressive nuisance the whole night. When we tried to send the dog back because it was clearly not a good fit, the group conveniently stopped answering our calls and we were stuck over the weekend with a dog we couldn’t control. Since all of the shelters were closed and no rescue group would take on an aggressive dog, we were very stuck and very frustrated and very mad. A reputable rescue group had dumped on us an aggressive mess. The final straw was when the dog got out of its confined space and made a run at our 18 month old. Fortunately my husband was lightning fast but it was a heck of a lot closer than any of us cared to experience. It was a miserable experience for us and put a very bitter taste in our mouths about rescued dogs. We made every effort to be the right family for the right dog and we felt taken advantage of. The end result was no rescue group after that would talk to us. We backed off for several months and tried the local shelter while we regrouped. The problem with the local shelters we encountered again and again was absolutely no history on the dogs which was a scary prospect. We finally found the right dog but it was total luck. She was a pure bred who was dumped at the shelter when her family had a baby. She came with all of her shot and training records. She is well mannered, happy, a gem with my children, walks on a leash beautifully, doesn't bark, doesn't jump, is house trained and and and. She is the glowing rescue dog everyone talks about but we have seen the flip side of rescue which can be very ugly indeed.

Rescuing does entail the risk of taking on someone else’s problem. With children in our home we were on the verge of paying whatever money we felt necessary for a reliable dog and not feeling the least bit guilty about the purchase. Watching the near miss with our toddler was eye opening to say the least.

I'm a big supporter of rescues and don't care for designer breeders. However, my husband has severe allergies. If we do get a dog, we may go through a breeder to be sure it's a dog he can tolerate - oodle mixes don't always work for him, he's that sensitive. We considered an Australian labradoodle, but the breeders around us want $2000. Not likely!

Unless special circumstances warranted doing differently, not much more than what we did on our current dog. adoption fees from the pound. She was 9 months old, fixed and housebroken, and doesn't require grooming, and is altogether awesome.

Rewards of dog ownership- priceless.

Best,
F. B.

I wouldn't pay anything for a dog. I wouldn't even take a dog if it were free.

$600 is what we spent.
GSD that we were able to bring home at 10 weeks old. She is 10 YEARS old now, and is a beloved member of our household.

IF we were to have another dog after her (she is getting old and the inevitable will happen one day)... then I don't know. We were very particular about what breed we wanted to have for our family. Our kids were young/small and we were a young family. At this point, getting another dog later... Not sure I am ready to make that kind of commitment when our kids will be heading out the door and husband will be looking at retirement. It can be limiting and expensive to have a large dog and enjoy traveling. :/

I'll be honest... I probably would not get a dog from the pound. I've volunteered at shelters in the past, and will do so again in the future. But I love GSDs and have rarely seen them at shelters here. What I would be more likely to do is foster in a breed specific program, or adopt through a breed specific rescue. In either of those situations, I would expect there to be extensive expenses, b/c most of those animals are older and tend to have high vet bills that piggy back with them.
I had a GSD growing up (a white one) and the one we have now is irreplaceable.
Time will tell.

To get a dog, adoption or rescue fee, I think our rescue dog's fee was $300. I would never purchase a dog from a breeder, too many dogs in shelters that need good homes.

To maintain or save a dog- totally depends. If there is quality of life left, would spend lots and lots, probably $5-10K. If the dog was quite old and suffering, then it would break my heart but would let it go. I had a cat that got diabetes, we spent tons on things for her, and did insulin shots for about a year. She had lots of quality left in her.

how much WOULD I spend on a dog or how much DID we spend on a dog!?! LOL don't even get me started.
I personally don't like dogs....the husband and daughter have begged me for YEARS to get one!
so one day I'm having a few cocktails at a family reunion when the daughter starts in again...
I said fine.....we can get a dog BUT it has to be a poodle or poodle mix (I didn't want it to shed or smell like a dog, so I wanted a "hair" dog rather than a "fur" dog), and also my daughter is allergic to dogs...so we needed the hypoallergenic aspect, and I said it had to be pure black in color and male, and a puppy.
they searched and searched and found a Maltipoo in Texas that would work. The dog itself cost $600 and the airline ticket to get it here was $300.
did I want to spend $900 on a dog??? hell no. But as far as dogs go he's a great dog and we'd use the same breeder and have recommended her to others who want a dog just like ours.
the initial cost of the dog isn't what's bad....its the care of the dog afterward. The shots, the frontline, the heartguard, the good natural food, the treats, the toys, the beds, the shoes you will replace because the puppy WILL find them and chew them, etc etc etc LOL

good luck!

We have cats that we got from the shelter - but I love dogs. I just don't have someone home all day to care for them - and I think dogs need that.

I love labradoodles and if I had a lot of money and could afford $2000 for a dog I'd have considered spending it. But that would lmean I'd be wealthy. I'm not. I think there are plenty of wonderful shelter dogs and if I was to get a dog I'd get one from the shelter.

However, I learned a long time ago that people have different things that are important to them. Some spend hundreds and thousands on sound systems or home theaters others for concerts / theater tickets. For others a luxury car is important. My very good friend spent thousand on drapes and decor for her new living room and will spend hundreds on a pair of shoes or a handbag - but would never want to spend $100 out to dinner.

I live in an area where people will spend $800 a month to lease a BMW or Jaguar and wear designer clothing and live in a gorgeous home but they are in debt past their eyeballs. We drive old cars, buy our clothes at Marshalls or TJMaxx and have rescue pets. But we have very low debt.

So if someone has the money for it, and they want a purebred dog and is going to spend the time to care for it who cares.

Normally I would say only as much as the adoption fee at the kennel, but my husband had always wanted a jack russell so we ended up paying $600 for our first dog. When we got another dog a few years later from the same guy he only charged us $300 due to choosing an all white one (which is considered a defect I guess).

We had a rescue dog with Valley Fever and some other health issues that ended up costing about $10,000. All of our dogs have been rescues. Our first dog was an amazing Neapolitan Mastiff. She actually produced an excellent blood line before we adopted her (the owner ended up in a bad situation, so it was a rescue). The only purebred dog I would pay for would be one from her bloodline. Two reasons- one, because I loved her so much and would like to have a part of her back, two, because the other Neo we had was the backyard breeder pup that ended up at the Humane Society and cost us over 10K! We have two pitties now, both from the Humane Society. So, I guess somewhere between $110 and 10K :)

For health or to purchase?

For health? We have the pet insurance so it covers everything catastrophic...not regular visits and vaccinations...

To purchase? We don't "buy" dogs. We rescue them. We adopted our dog 4 years ago (in August) from Lostdogrescuefoundation.org - the cost was $400 - as they had neutered him, initial vaccinations, etc. from birth to 10 weeks when we adopted him.

Another great rescue organization is MuttsMatter.org - they rescue animals and get them back to health and great families...you just can't walk in and adopt - they DO come to your home...they DO check to make sure you are prepared...etc.

My father in law spent $8K on his dog to get her new hips when she was 1 year old...my dog is part of my family. If there is something that will help him live a better life? I'll do what I can. If it's only temporary and the dog is not living a quality life or in pain? The tough choice has to be made...

My husband and I have set an amount for care for our pets. It's a tough call. Gotta know more to make the decision.

Nothing to buy one.
I like dogs, but I'm not really a dog person.
I have no desire to ever own one.
I much prefer pet sitting other peoples pets.
I live vicariously through my neighbor (their chocolate lab just LOVES us!).
If I ever had to get a dog, I'd get one for free, and I'd be happy with a 'Heinz 57' mutt (got a little bit of everything in it).
Of course once a pet is a member of the family, then it gets fairly well spoiled and I'd probably spend too much on her.

Our yellow lab was $500 and bunch more for shots, vet, training (obedience and hunting), spaying, etc.