I got my first dog, Accio, a Shiba Inu, 10 years ago when he was 2-years-old. As a result, I skipped the most intense years of training, picky eating, and vet visits. He came to me perfect and low-maintenance. I would leave a sausage roll right next to him and he wouldn’t even open his eyes. In fact, the biggest expense happened this year when he turned 12 and developed spinal degeneration. He set very high, inaccurate expectations for my puppy experience.
According to our own reports and research at Rover of how much it costs to have a dog, the first year of puppyhood can be anywhere from $1,135 to $5,155. I already knew my budget was going to meet the high end. First, I got a Samoyed, one of the most expensive dog breeds. She cost $4,500 up front—and if you count the plane ticket, car rental, and hotel, bringing her home totaled $4,850.
Even without the cost of bringing her home, my spending would still be double the high end of the average. And surprisingly, puppy wellness checkups weren’t the reason for my bloated budget. After reviewing last year’s receipts, I discovered that training, pet sitter care, and travel expenses were the biggest categories for my spending.
About Me
- Age range: Early 30s
- Location: Washington
- Living situation: I live with my partner and we share a few costs with each other’s pets, such as food, treats, and pet transportation.
- Pets: We have three pets total. One cat — a 14 year old Calico and two dogs — one 12 year old Shiba Inu and a 1 year and 5 month old Samoyed.
- What are we reviewing: I’ll be looking at my Samoyed’s first year of expenses in 2022. She has separation anxiety, is a high-needs and easily excitable breed who needs positive reinforcement. She also doesn’t see much value in treats that aren’t venison liver or canned cheese.
2022 Spending by Category
- Vet care: $1,597
- Training: $2,263
- Food & treats: $1,101
- Toys: $259
- Grooming: $475
- Pet insurance: $456
- Gear & equipment: $1,255
- Cat/dog proofing: $217
- Day care: $2,978
- Unexpected (but necessary) expenses: $1,457
Photo: Christal Y
Monthly Breakdown and Review
Pre-2022: $850.
Meda is my first puppy I’ve ever chosen and brought home. I knew I was in for a smart, high-energy breed who needed a firm pet parent. So while I had fun buying dog toys ($211, including a six-month Barkbox subscription) and puppy equipment, most of my costs went to classes. I pre-purchased two puppy classes ($345) back to back to avoid lapse in training.
Meda in her first hotel, staying as close to the window as possible for cold. Photo: Christal Y
January: $699.
The highest costs for this month were Meda’s vaccines and vet exam. I also started pet insurance for her ($38/month) and discovered I had to invest in two extra baby gates for the house ($98) —and a larger crate with a side door to give myself more space in my room ($76).
February: $1,283.
This was the month I was beginning to lose my mind from the lack of sleep. The puppy blues were real. Since she was not old enough to attend classes, I signed her up for puppy camp ($400), as advised by my therapist, so that I could have a break. Puppy camp gave her a head start but also confirmed that she had a mild case of separation anxiety.
I pre-signed us up for a round of beginner training classes ($225) and doggy day care ($160), so that I could spend time with my senior dog. While I lived with roommates, our schedules were so different it was often impossible to coordinate our schedules where I could leave Meda with someone.
March: $1,485.
Thanks to a convergence of training classes ($355), vaccines, and giardia medication ($240) and half a month of day care ($90), my wallet was spent. I also had to hire a private trainer ($130) to teach me how to loose leash walk as Meda would constantly pester my senior dog when we walked together. The conclusion? Walk them separately.
But because she has separation anxiety,, I had to hire a drop-in sitter through Rover to come twice a week ($91/week) and treat her while I left, so she wouldn’t practice barking at the door and disturb my roommates.
April: $1,522.
Majority of the costs went to the sitter ($383) and an emergency vet situation ($517). This helped me hit my pet insurance deductible and I was reimbursed ($228) for the invoice of a regurgitated 4-inch ear from a toy dog.
Samoyed nursing on a dog toy whose ear she would eventually eat. Photo by Christal Y.
May: $877.
Meda had a case of puppy warts ($99 for visit). As a result she couldn’t go to day care anymore (which was only once a week anyway due to availability), and we had to increase her time with the sitter ($444). The warts were very unsightly and so I purchased supplements and probiotics ($50) to help boost her immune system. (It took two months to work.)
June: $806.
I finalized moving in with my partner this month and, with his help, we coordinated my dog walks and care for Meda. This reduced my spending on drop-in care ($178). However, it was a while since we had her in training, so I also bought a course for intermediate training ($225) so that my partner and I could practice together.
We also got her groomed ($175) for the first time — and she smelled beautiful.
July: $379.
The largest expense was our sitter-also-turned-friend ($178) who still came once a week so that my partner and I could have lunch together.
Another not-so-secret expense but one that became more obvious this month was our monthly spend on Gigcar. Because we didn’t own a car, anytime we had to take Meda to the vet or to training classes, it cost us about $16 per trip (back and forth). As a result, I had been spending about $166/month on rentals.
August: $1,175.
This is probably the first month where an unnecessary expense occurred. After moving to our new location, Meda became so traumatized by the metal crates, we stopped crate training her. I saw that Fable dog crates ($600) were made of wood and impulsively bought one as I believed she needed to be crated in order to be left alone at home. (We hadn’t started separation training for a lot of reasons.)
She was also going through her picky eater phase this month. We spent nearly $200 on treats and kibble trying to figure out what she would eat. In the end, she landed on Open Farm, which we had received a trial package of for a kibble review.
September: $513.
We bought a used car this month, which drastically improved our living situation. We did buy a car harness and car seat covers ($80) for her, and a long lead for a loose leash walking class in Oct. Also many treats ($65) for reinforcement as she had the attention span of zero when being walked.
Meda barks at me for taking a photo instead of walking her. Photo: Christal Y
October: $422.
Loose leash walking class ($199) was one of the best investments we made with her. While we still cannot (to this day) walk her and my senior dog together, this class single-handedly improved our relationship as I learned how to “speak” dog and read her body language more fluently. Other expenses were our usual Rover ($185) and monthly pet insurance costs ($38/month).
November: $624.
On-going expenses are looking to be all food-related. Since June, we have had an Amazon box come in every one to two months with sweet potato treats, fish chews, and training treats ($82). Her regular kibble from Open Farm costs ($23), which we switched from Purina ProPlan in August, we get every one and a half months. We noticed she’d refuse to eat from bags that were too big and too old—and she seemed to do really well on Open Farm after a product test.
It took all my willpower not to buy the dogs gifts on Black Friday but I did end up purchasing an online separation anxiety course ($280) for 40% off for the next year. (Jump to the future, online dog training is worth it!)
December: $761.
And the year had to end with a bang — we lost our car to black ice in Oregon. Our insurance company totaled the vehicle, and I noticed a lump on Meda’s neck sometime around Christmas. We took her to the vet for antibiotics and anti-inflammatories ($260) and also picked up trazodone ($27) for the New Year fireworks. She also got a grooming with the works ($250) and was so miserable after that I made it a 2023 resolution to learn how to groom her myself.
A Re-Cap of Expenses
Total spend: If you count one calendar year, I spent $12,058 for Meda’s first year with me. But including the costs of bringing her home and purchasing her, the total cost is over $16,000.
Did you notice any inflation? Absolutely. After six months, she was getting the same treats consistently. I noticed via auto-ship that one bag of treats increased by $5 over time and another bag of kibble that I used as treats increased by $10. And while this didn’t occur in 2022, my vet fees have gone up from $65 to $80 per visit.
Do you wish you changed how you budgeted? I could have probably relied a lot less trial and error around toys and treats, been more patient with toys and treats, and done a better job at returning items. But I really underestimated the exhaustion of puppy blues. At the end of the day, it was easier to donate.
The one area I could have also planned better around was crates. I ended up buying and not being able to use a lot of crates because of the size of my room. Fortunately, I moved out to my own apartment by the time Meda was big enough for an adult-sized crate.
What do you wish you knew? I wish I knew how much unexpected expenses can add up. Most sites caution me to prepare for vet care but the most surprising expenses for me were related to accessibility and my dog’s mental health and my own.
For the nine months without a car, I spent $1,457 on rentals because I couldn’t leave Meda alone—and because I couldn’t leave her alone, seeing that I spent $2,978 through Rover and day care was a huge sticker shock. Four to six months of weekly training was intense but necessary as she was bored, otherwise. I’m just thankful I could afford it all on top of my senior dog going through his own medical issues.
Meda and Accio sleeping as close as they are willing to sleep. Photo by Christal Y
Would I spend the same amount again? More or less? As much as I wanted to say I would spend less the next time around, I didn’t anticipate having a dog with separation anxiety—and didn’t realize how unskilled I was as a dog parent. I tried about every training tutorial (from kikopup to JW Dog Training & Behavior) until I finally gave into the fact that being a good parent to my dog required re-learning everything I thought I knew about dog behavior.
My main goal was to avoid trauma or learned helplessness as I had begun to see the effects of that with my Shiba Inu. I used to try to rush through vet appointments with Accio because he was so scared. Now I make sure we met with the doctor who doesn’t force him onto the table. And while we wait in the room, we play pattern games. Most recently, Accio allowed his check-up to happen, without any shaking.
Having a puppy is like learning a new language, but I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the same amount again. (I will have to this year, because she has a punctured salivary gland chain that cost $9,100 to diagnose and get removed by a specialist. Thankfully we have pet insurance. But wow, these big city prices.)
This story chronicles the cost of a puppy’s first year in 2022. A more recent look into the costs of dog parenthood shows that the first year cost may range from $1,135 to $5,155, depending on factors such as location to your dog’s health condition.
