How much does it cost you to support a dog?

Question

Three days ago, a dog came to my backyard. We think it lives 2-3 blocks away from us, we are not sure. But still, since nobody claimed it or posted anything at the laundry we decided to call the Animal Care & Control. They said they were gonna keep the dog for three days. If the owner doesn't come up in three days, they'll put it up for adoption. We were thinking of adopting it but my question is, about how much is it gonna cost us to support it? Monthly. It's a short-haired poodle. Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Poodles need haircuts; they don't have fur, they have hair. My poodle cost $40 every six weeks.
Food is cheap. From $15 for a 25 pound bag to the more expensive $1 per can.
Annual vet fees can vary. Some vets like to clean teeth once a year under general anesthesia -- about $200. About $50 with no anesthesia. The anesthesia is to protect the vet.
Annual well pet visits can run from $50 to $300. Kind of depends where in the country you live.
You should decide what you'll do in a serious accident. Will you say nothing costs too much to save its life? There's no pet insurance so you could easily spend $10,000 in an accident situation. Vets do cat scans, heart surgeries, chemo for cancer.
You might opt to do the gentler put it to sleep when the accident is serious.

Answer 2

It won't be terribly much. With one dog one large bag of dog food should last you about a month -- depending on the brand the large bags can cost between $10 and $20. One vet visit a year (assuming the dog has already been fixed) will probably run about $200 -- $250 including heart guard (heart worm preventative medicine). Then you'll need to figure how much you plan on spending for treats and toys (this could range from $0 -- $50+ a month depends on how much you decide to spoil the dog). So I'd say you can do it for about $30 a month.

Here's a great websites too:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1671&articleid=1543

Answer 3

A small dog like that won't eat much food. Iams costs about 10 bucks for a small bag. That's about a month or two of food. A vet visit will be the expensive part. probably 75 bucks for a checkup and another 70 to spay/neuter it. As long as it stays healthy, you won't need to take it to the vet very often. Just once every year or two for a checkup and shots. Of course, if you live where it's warm, you'll need flea and heartworm meds. That's about 50 bucks a month. So figure about 60 or 70 a month for the dog. Also, there IS pet insurance available. It's about 20 bucks a month, but they don't cover pre-existing conditions.

Answer 4

Well I can tell you from experience, there is no such thing as a short-haired poodle, just a poodle with a short haircut.

Food - spend around $1.50 per pound for dry dog food. On canned, you can spend $1.50 per can if you want. I don't recommend you feed canned food as it is not as good for the teeth as dry food.

Annual Exam & Vaccines - around $100, teeth cleaning additional $150 to $200 per cleaning

Toys, clothes, leash, collar, bowls, bed - as much as you want to spend. The sky is the limit on these items.

Grooming - $35.00 every 4-6 weeks. Don't skimp on this, they get more costly to groom if let go. Also, they look like crap.

Flea treatment - $8.00 per month

Heartworm preventative - depends on type you use but figure $3-$10.00 per month

Vet bill is for a well dog any additional problems, medicines, tests, etc. are additional. Preventive care is always the cheapest and best so don't skimp here either.

If you crate train your dog, a crate is around $30 for a small dog.

If this dog has short hair it has been recently groomed and is lost. I hope the owner thinks to check the shelter repeatedly.

Did you knock on doors 2 to 3 blocks away from you? I would. Many of these types of small dogs are owned by the elderly who don't have access to transportation to look for their dog. Or maybe too frail or ill to search. I know, we go and pick them up for grooming & vet visits. Many, many of their owners are almost completely house bound & the little dog is their only companion. Please ask around and go looking for the owner.

Answer 5

If it is a miniature poodle (under 20 lbs), look on spending about $15 a month for food, about $250 a year on vet bills (vaccinations, wormers, etc.), and about $10-50 a year on licensing. If it is a standard poodle (30-60 lbs), double your food bill. Of course I haven't included grooming fees (necessary for a poodle), which can run $30-60 a pop, dog toys and treats, dog house & run, etc.

If you do decide to adopt it, you will have a best friend for life.

Answer 6

I really hope you adopt this dog. God placed that dog in your yard for a reason. The cost of keeping a dog for a month is gonna cost you about $20-$30. depending on the food you feed it. It sounds like a smaller dog whom might not eat as much as a larger dog. Table scraps come in handy also if your in a bind. Consider not eating out one night and buying a bag of dog food. the vet bills come once a year. All prices are different. call the humane society and they have alot of discount shots you can get for him there.
1 bag of dog food $10.00
1 leash $ 2.50
1 bowl $ 1.00
1 dog, companion, friend
PRICELESS!!!

Answer 7

If it is a poodle then I would say probably around $45 a month on food. You'll also have to consider though, that an illness could pop up any time and you have to be ready to take him/her to the vet. Good luck with the poodle! I hope this helped.

Answer 8

My 60-pound dog goes through about $25 worth of food per month. I also spend about $10 per month on flea control and heartworm medication. Additionally, his annual vet costs (for vaccinations, a check-up, and a random infection or two) average about $20 per month. I don't buy much in the way of treats, and for toys I buy used stuffed animals from the thrift store. So treats, toys, dog shampoo, etc. probably come out to $5 per month. Because I like to bring my dog almost everywhere, I occasionally drive places rather than taking public transportation, so that could be estimated at about $5 per month. I also usually go on one big vacation without him and need to pay someone to watch him for a week or two, and that annual fee averages out to $15 per month.

Thoses costs add up to about $80 per month.

However, your first few months will likely be the most expensive. Consider whether you will also be paying for training classes (a great investment), a crate (definitely recommended), books, grooming, leash/collar, and dog bowls.

Answer 9

Dogs - Annual Costs

Veterinary Care/Laboratory - $50 to $125
Immunizations - $40 to $75
Internal/External Parasite Preventatives - $100 to $150
Food - $150 to $300
Miscellaneous - $100 to $125

Total: $440 to $775

Answer 10

If everything goes all right and after the first visits to vet to vaccinate him and check if he is healthy, your only monthly expenditure could be around 25$ if you give him a premium food (acording to the breed you said). The rest comes as accesories that you may buy or not.