How I've (new owner) spent $4629 on a Puppy in 4 months. Each purchase (or store run) list + rough breakdown at the bottom
- Thread starter vido
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- discussion puppy 101
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@vido This is an interesting breakdown to see! I'm scared to do mine lol.
My pup has cost me like...$30/month in food and treats, so I can't relate there. But I have spent over $500 on crates and other forms of containing her. With puppies I feel like there is always some unexpected expense based on their personality.
I haven't spent that much on toys, but I have spent a LOT! Toys are a big part of distracting her and were also a great way for her to bond with my older dog. The most expensive 'toys' I've bought are kongs or other rubber treat filling/fetching toys that should last pretty much forever.
My pup has cost me like...$30/month in food and treats, so I can't relate there. But I have spent over $500 on crates and other forms of containing her. With puppies I feel like there is always some unexpected expense based on their personality.
I haven't spent that much on toys, but I have spent a LOT! Toys are a big part of distracting her and were also a great way for her to bond with my older dog. The most expensive 'toys' I've bought are kongs or other rubber treat filling/fetching toys that should last pretty much forever.
@imagebeastmarkbeast The most expensive I would say have been the herding balls and kongs! She doesn't really like kongs, so we stopped investing in them.
She has a lot of stimulation because my husband works from home and needs to not be driven nuts while he's working. She spends hours doing her own thing every day, with breaks of him playing with her. It works out!
She has a lot of stimulation because my husband works from home and needs to not be driven nuts while he's working. She spends hours doing her own thing every day, with breaks of him playing with her. It works out!
@ambrose94 Good morning!
She's an Aussie-Golden Retriever mix. We play with everything!
Part of training is that she has a shelf of toys and we're teaching her to press buttons for certain categories! So she can choose from balls, stuffies, puzzles, tug, frisbees, or kong-type toys!
She's an Aussie-Golden Retriever mix. We play with everything!
Part of training is that she has a shelf of toys and we're teaching her to press buttons for certain categories! So she can choose from balls, stuffies, puzzles, tug, frisbees, or kong-type toys!
@ambrose94 https://fluent.pet/collections/kits/products/they-can-talk
These are the ones we bought. Yes, I thought to myself early on that it was unfair that I could ask so much of her, but she didn't have the same ability of me! I researched and found that these existed. We're still learning but so far really helpful!
These are the ones we bought. Yes, I thought to myself early on that it was unfair that I could ask so much of her, but she didn't have the same ability of me! I researched and found that these existed. We're still learning but so far really helpful!
godismyprovider
New member
@vido These buttons are so interesting. Do you find that she is actually understanding the concept? One of my dogs..Archie... is soo intelligent, he picks up everything super fast. I'm entertaining the idea of getting these....I know that if not the others, Archie at least could probably learn this.
@godismyprovider We're on week two and she is consistently using "outside", "snack" (for I need food OR the cat is eating my food!), "ball" when she wants fetch, "belly rub" and "butt" for scratches, "play " for tug-of-war, "brushies" for brushies,
"puzzle" for when her puzzle is out of food. We're still working on naming ourselves, the cats, things like dog park, walk, park, etc. We're wanting to go slowly so every few days once she understands something I put another one down.
She consistently uses the above when she specifically wants the things they represent.
She also knows they get our attention; she starts to use them and I get up and do the thing. Later on we will be learning "later" and "no".
We started with the bells on the door when she was little, so she could signal that she needed out. We replaced the bell with an outside button and she peed inside twice before understanding that she needed to press that to get the door opened for her. After that it was a day before she started using her "snack" button (we call meals snacks), then two days later she started to intermittently press the scratchies and brushies button. The next day it was ball. The day after she started understanding puzzle would get her puzzle refilled or put on the floor for her to use.
It's fast, the difficult thing right now is the balance between teaching her that these are for her to speak, not to get attention, but as I said before we'll probably start working on that next month.
All of this is with my enforcing it. When she presses them when my husband is home he opens the door but does not stop working to do the others, though he repeats them to her when she presses them, so I don't think household consistency is even required.
"puzzle" for when her puzzle is out of food. We're still working on naming ourselves, the cats, things like dog park, walk, park, etc. We're wanting to go slowly so every few days once she understands something I put another one down.
She consistently uses the above when she specifically wants the things they represent.
She also knows they get our attention; she starts to use them and I get up and do the thing. Later on we will be learning "later" and "no".
We started with the bells on the door when she was little, so she could signal that she needed out. We replaced the bell with an outside button and she peed inside twice before understanding that she needed to press that to get the door opened for her. After that it was a day before she started using her "snack" button (we call meals snacks), then two days later she started to intermittently press the scratchies and brushies button. The next day it was ball. The day after she started understanding puzzle would get her puzzle refilled or put on the floor for her to use.
It's fast, the difficult thing right now is the balance between teaching her that these are for her to speak, not to get attention, but as I said before we'll probably start working on that next month.
All of this is with my enforcing it. When she presses them when my husband is home he opens the door but does not stop working to do the others, though he repeats them to her when she presses them, so I don't think household consistency is even required.
godismyprovider
New member
@vido This is so amazing!! The concept of our pets being able to actually communicate with us, as apposed to just staring at you....which my Archie does quite intently like he is trying to convey something....is just phenomenal! The only communication tool dogs really have is barking and we are trying diligently to break any barking....have they bred a silent dog yet?? If not somone should Lol!
I will certainly look into these. Thank you for the info
I will certainly look into these. Thank you for the info
nonvincitur
New member
@vido Oh man with how people are reacting I dare not post mine. I haven’t actually added it all up but I had saved thousands before I got my dog because it’s my first and I had no idea what to expect.
You don’t even have any professional grooming or boarding on that list. Mine is doing both this month (but the boarding is actually only $30 a night which is way cheaper than I thought it would be) I was trying to avoid grooming but she’s fighting me a lot on brushing and she’s super fluff.
It also took me a few months to figure out I could buy her favorite chews in a bulk bag at Walmart instead of as singles at the local pet store. I was spending $60-100 a month just on chews and treats.
I also recently found a bunch of dog toys at the hardware store for $1 each! That’s a LOT cheaper than the local pet store or a big chain. I can’t believe we spent $13 on a single toy when her favorite ones are the $1 ones. They also had $1 short leashes vs the $30 and $17 leash I have.
You don’t even have any professional grooming or boarding on that list. Mine is doing both this month (but the boarding is actually only $30 a night which is way cheaper than I thought it would be) I was trying to avoid grooming but she’s fighting me a lot on brushing and she’s super fluff.
It also took me a few months to figure out I could buy her favorite chews in a bulk bag at Walmart instead of as singles at the local pet store. I was spending $60-100 a month just on chews and treats.
I also recently found a bunch of dog toys at the hardware store for $1 each! That’s a LOT cheaper than the local pet store or a big chain. I can’t believe we spent $13 on a single toy when her favorite ones are the $1 ones. They also had $1 short leashes vs the $30 and $17 leash I have.
@nonvincitur We groom her for now, she loves brushies! We trim her butt up, clean her ears and trim the toeses. As for boarding, we have my parents!
That's really smart on the dog toys!
We've experimented with treats, and we will continue to do so!
That's really smart on the dog toys!
We've experimented with treats, and we will continue to do so!
nonvincitur
New member
@nonvincitur Thank you for the recommendation!!
@vido As a former new puppy owner (she’s 1.5 years old now), I really appreciate this post. Both for the necessary costs and the more “optional” ones. I never went back and added it up, but I spoil my dog, she went to daycare for a few months, and I have different costs associated with grooming supplies, so I’ve probably spent somewhere around this too in the first year of ownership. Regardless, I think this list is really helpful to dog owners on both ends of the spendy-minimalist spectrum.
If someone is looking at this and gawking at the price of certain things (destroyed property or pricey bed/collars) they can still use this as an exercise to review “what do I have in my home that could be destroyed?” Or “well I don’t want to spend that much so how inexpensively can I provide a bed/food/harness for a new puppy?” An old pillow or old towel folded up washes well and will work for a few weeks until they’re better trained and not peeing/vomiting/chewing on everything. My pup didn’t destroy any jeans, but she did chew on at least three pairs of nikes (she had unsupervised access to my closet for a single half work day stretch) so that’s almost $200-300, plus a $90 rug and a few $20 throw pillows. I purchased probably $600 in home grooming supplies, which has already paid for itself. It all adds up! Everyone is free to spend whatever they want to, but bottom line is puppies aren’t cheap and there are always unexpected expenses no matter where you are on the saving-spendy spectrum.
If someone is looking at this and gawking at the price of certain things (destroyed property or pricey bed/collars) they can still use this as an exercise to review “what do I have in my home that could be destroyed?” Or “well I don’t want to spend that much so how inexpensively can I provide a bed/food/harness for a new puppy?” An old pillow or old towel folded up washes well and will work for a few weeks until they’re better trained and not peeing/vomiting/chewing on everything. My pup didn’t destroy any jeans, but she did chew on at least three pairs of nikes (she had unsupervised access to my closet for a single half work day stretch) so that’s almost $200-300, plus a $90 rug and a few $20 throw pillows. I purchased probably $600 in home grooming supplies, which has already paid for itself. It all adds up! Everyone is free to spend whatever they want to, but bottom line is puppies aren’t cheap and there are always unexpected expenses no matter where you are on the saving-spendy spectrum.