# How much money do you spend on Gsd's a year



## K9_girl1994 (Apr 17, 2009)

How much money did you spend on you Gsd puppy the first year, including the purchase of the pup? Did you buy only the mandatory supplies, or did you go out and spoil him/her?


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

A fortune? At least it felt that way sometimes. 

Probably $200 a month for training, food, treats, and incidental toys/collars/leashes. Probably $150 for the required vet stuff. And pups always seem to need some extra vet visit. One of mine had puppy pyoderma and needed almost $800 in extra vet care. I got my last puppy for free for doing some training for the breeder, but the price on the pup was $800.

So in Year One- 
$2400 in food, training, treats, toys, etc.
$800 for the puppy
$200 (conservative) for vet
___________________
$3400 approximate total

I personally think that $3000-$4000 is a very good budget to anticipate needing for a new puppy. I didn't go crazy with things for my dog, although I did do training every week, $20 a week. Some people may consider that excessive, but hey, that's why I got a GSD. I am very conservative with my vet stuff and not ridiculous with the food I buy. I also do not go crazy with toys and collars and leashes. (I will admit I did a little with my first dog...all the new ones now get hand-me-downs!)


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

I adopted mine, so $225 for the adoption fee; about $250-300 for various vet visits (puppy shots, fecal exam, etc. Her spay was included in the adoption fee); about $50 for various supplies but I already had a crate and leashes from a previous dog; I bought cheap smaller collars at Wal mart until she grew into a large collar and then spent about $20 for her big girl collar; $99 for puppy class; $89 discounted basic obedience class; $110 for the annual obedience class that we just started; and food expenses are about $50 every 6-8 weeks. It adds up pretty quick in the pups first year. I may still have to go and get a larger crate as she continues to grow. But all-on-all, I think she is worth it!


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## BoomandBolt (Mar 15, 2010)

sooo far....

*purchase* of pupper from CL...150 vet visit for worming $10 vet visit for 2nd shots $34 cleaning supplies for house training $20 so for Boom it wasn't bad. 

However Boom bit Bolts ears too much during playtime. And now Bolt needs $200 surgery for his ear hematomas stinkin dogs


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## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

Dog: $2,500
License: $24
Vet: $1,400
Kennels/Boarding: $420
Grooming: $120
Day care: $506
Training: $105
Food (kibble): $420

I just looked through receipts for the first year and that's the amounts I get. That does not include treats, toys, kennel (crate), blankets, etc.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I would tell you how much I have spent since November 2009, (not including the price of the pup) but in the event my husband reads this post, he'd divorce me. Let's just say that I can't go into the grocery store / pet store / feed store with out needing,,,, just one more piece of training equipment...one more brush...one more 'new' treat...one more toy...one more vitamin...one more.....one more...one more...


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## Ellie (Jun 26, 2009)

Honestly, I don't even want to think about how much I've spent LOL. I'm such an impulse buyer when it comes to toys and treats. If i get a coupon in the mail for anything dog-related, I'm like "oh i'll go buy it!"
But i've probably spent around $2000 in the past year (I got her last april)


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

I try not to add it up. Scares me! If it was just one, it wouldn't be so bad. But when you add up food, treats, toys, crates, general equip, VET BILLS (the biggie), etc for all of them, the numbers start multiplying quickly.


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

Let's just say that if I go to my on-line banking and look and the pie shape of where my money is going, there is no doubt I spend very much on the dogs.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

pup > $2,000 

supplies > $300/ plus ?

Vet bills > $1,028.00

food > $800.00 ?


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I don't even want to think about it.... I know it is over $5000.00 - that's food, toys, purchase of the puppy, training, training tools, equipment, crates, bowls, etc...

It's actually probably more but I will pretend it is $5000.00.


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## Hunther's Dad (Mar 13, 2010)

My vet just bought a Ferrari. :rofl:

I wrote this four years ago, in a letter to the editor regarding the "cruelty" of crating dogs in a vehicle. This was back when "they" were considering some law to make it illegal to leave a dog in a car for more than five minutes, if I remember correctly. My dog was two years old at the time:

I just did the math on what I have spent on obtaining and training one purebred male German Shepherd Dog.

Cost of the dog - $1800. 

Private 15 minute obedience lesson per week - $20. Times the 104 weeks of his life - $2080.

Private 15 minute task-specific lesson per week - $ 20. Again, times the 104 weeks of his life - $2080.

Since my time has been shown to be worth $20 per 15 minutes, and I easily spend the other 45 minutes in an hour training on my own during the week, we could add another $6240 ($60 X 104 weeks), as I could use that 45 minutes to do something that results in income rather than an expense (economics classes call this "opportunity cost").

We're up to $10,120 already, and the dog hasn't taken a bite of food ($30 per month X 24 months = $720 to date) or been to the vet.

That's $10,840 spent for this dog and his food and training. I'll round off to $11,000 by saying a well check at the vet cost him $160.

Now, take that $11,000 and multiply it by 1.5 ($5500 per year times three) and you get $16,500, the cost of my OTHER, 3 year old female GSD. 

$11,000 + $16,500 = $27,500 that I've spent on these two dogs.

The joy they bring me, the antidote to depression, the love they give me, the knowledge that I can leave them home with my 16 year old daughter while I run to the grocery store and nobody is getting past them, having one of them walk up onto the couch beside me and fall asleep with his or her head on my leg - PRICELESS.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

at 10 months its somewhere around $5000 probably way over but I don't want to think about it anymore:crazy:


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

We've had Molly for 3 1\2mth now and spent
1200 for pup
500 vet
150 ob training
150 /mth for food and treats
500 for kennel, toys, leashes, collars,ect...
*OUR HAPPINESS PRICELESS*


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I don't even want to think about it. Suffice it to say that I still can't afford a cell phone or clothes for myself as I need to pay for my dog's education, competition costs, and food bills - he eats WAY better than I do. I even bought a new car that I could fit his crate in it. My dog looks great, but I look like a homeless person.


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## mandelyn (Mar 23, 2007)

Logan just turned a year old, so I'll start with him...

$150 Adoption Fee
$280 Initial vet visit (wormings & meds)
$100 for home treatment of the Parvo he came with
$130 for this last set of shots and stuff
$140 for a crate big enough for him to sprawl in
$100 - approx. toys in the year 
$480 per year for joint supplements for his bad hip
$500 on stand-by for any vet emergency
$800 yearly food bill

Total - $2,680 for year one, dog one, and he's not neutered yet.

Ricca, she's 4 years old

$450 adoption fee
$100 initial vet visit
$325 plane ticket to the US as my "baggage"
$100 spay
$100 shipping crate
$140 XXL sleeping crate
$240 (x's 4 years = $960) per year in toys (she's destructive)
$800 (x's 4 years = $3,200) per year on food
$150 (x's 4 years = $600)at the vet yearly for maintenance
$180 average emergency vet bill for various issues
$500 in reserve for vet care same as Logan

Total for 4 years including initial expenses - $6,655

Both dogs + $16,000 dog-appropriate SUV and $60 for dog barrier = $25,395

You can get by with a sedan unless you like dog hair flying in your face when the windows are open. Dog hair will hide in the vents and crevices of any vehicle though, no matter how diligent you are. My dad shared the cab of his truck for 2 years and 250,000 miles with a German Shepherd, you should have seen the detailers face when he pulled the dash off to clean behind it. There was a whole other dog inside there!

But for the sake of wet dog and mud, we opted for an SUV with a gate to keep them in the way back.


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

Hmm, Mayzie's 5 yrs now so I'll try to remember...

Purchase price: $600
Vet visits: ~$800 (including spay, vaccines, heartgard, checkup, and a visit for her pano)
Crate for indoors & outdoor kennel: ~$300 (both purchased used)
Leashes, collars, toys: ~$100
Doggie Beds: ~$200
Food: no idea what it was during her first year, but I currently spend ~$80 per month on food for her
Training classes: ~$250
Dog Park fee: $20
...
The joy of having a new puppy: Priceless

For everything else, there's Mastercard. LOL j/k


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Last year I spent $19,000 on the dogs. There were ten dogs, and a litter, which really averages to about 1,900/dog for food, training, vetting, AKC entrance fees, grooming, supplies, etc. 

$7000 were vet bills, a surgery on Arwen's tooth and another to flush her ear, made her my worse offender and as she was eldest it is understandable. Whit was probably next with all the testing for her digestion. And then Jenna and the litter cost a bundle. 

I figure vetting and training, puppies are a little higher than adults, until the adults get on in years. Last year Ninja went to the vet a couple of times, once for something stuck in her throat that turned out to be nothing. Another time for x-rays due to something stupid that I cannot even remember she did. And I put them through several sets of classes as puppies, and take them in several times for grooming as puppies, simply to solidify the positive experience. 

Puppies also eat more than adults.


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

In 5 months we've spent $3000 on the pup,$900 in Vet bills,about $400 in flea/tick/heartworm/giardia med/treats,toys and collars and about $600 for food. Total about $4900 in 5 months.


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

Cody was $425, Isa was $1000, and Akbar was $1500. I seem to go up in price for every next dog I get, LOL. I've spent countless money on toys, crates, beds, vet bills, equipment, grooming tools/bag, shampoo, the booster bath, air force dryer, food, bowls, the list goes on....... I'm too scared to know how much we spend, let's just say I could have bought a house....


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## JustDSM (Aug 22, 2009)

In the 6 weeks I've had Kadin, I've had about $1000 in vet bills, probably $600 on food/toys/treats, $300 for training, and about $300 for boarding.

So that comes to about $5000 in six weeks, including the purchase of my pup and her airfare.


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