About a week ago we got an email from someone asking how expensive it was to have a lab. I though this would be a great opportunity to write a blog post on the expected costs of labradors.
I've only owned a lab for 9 months, before then I'd never owned a dog. My hubby and I are still learning what to put aside for the dogs so there was no way I could write an article based on my own experience. So instead, I asked a few foster carers with dogs of their own to tell their stories.
Some foster carers don't own their own labs, some own golden retrievers, some curlies some wolfhound crosses. But they are all relatively big dogs with similar common health issues.
So firstly I'll introduce everyone.
Kim - Kim is a holiday foster carer, helping out when we're really busy in the holidays. Kim's recently adopted Bronson to befriend her lab Ella.
Linda - Most of you will already know Linda, she's the one who matches dogs with people. Linda owns a Brittany, a Curly Coated Retriever and a tabby cat, all who have seen many fosters over the years. Linda's passionate about responsible dog ownership and loves reading and sharing her dog training tips.
Kylie - If you have ever adopted a dog off us, you would have recieved a congratulations email. Kylie finalises all our adoptions and sorts out our paperwork. She's adotped two labs off us, Bella and Zippah who joined Sammy J and Emma, Kylie's other labs. She also owns two rabbits and a cat. I think it's fair to say Kylie knows a thing or two about the costs and benefits of keeping animals!
Frances - Frances is one of our more experienced foster carers. She's had many through her doors and has lots of stories to tell. She and her family all love dogs, you just have to hear her strategy of walking three dogs at one time! Frances has a cocker spaniel who teaches fosters manners, and sadly has recently said goodbye to her beloved goldie. Frances also has a cat.
Karen - Karen's a foster carer we pinched from Golden Retriever Rescue! She has a 9 year old goldie and a gorgeous king charles spaniel. Like Frances, Karen has been with lab rescue for a while, fostering many dogs. She's always a sucker for a good dog story and loves to hear how her fosters are going in their new homes.
Carole - Carole is our WA rep who adopted Roxxi and flew her all the way from Canberra to Perth. After spending all that money transporting Roxxi, Carole quickly found out she had an ectopic urethrea. Despite all that, Carole's family love Roxxi to bits and think every cent is worth it. Carole helps out by responding to emails in our email box. She's often everyone's first contact with Lab Rescue.
Shalini - Shalini is a foster carer and event organiser for Lab Rescue. She's got two boofy lab boys Lynx and Viper and if she had her way, she'd have a lot more! Since Shalini's joined Lab Rescue late last year she's organised a stand at the pet expo, rehomed half a dozen labs, made countless trips around Sydney and Canberra and various phone calls. Shalini's passionate about rescuing labradors and has a real soft heart for them.
Food
How much do you spend on food every week? How many dogs does that cover? What is it that you buy them?
Kim: We buy the biggest bags of dog food, which last about a month or so - $100 a bag? I must admit I don't keep close track of how long it lasts although with our new lovely Bronson we are certainly going through the food. Extras would be $10-15 per wk on top of the dry food, max.
Linda: Our Pet Barn bill came just under $900 (generally food, toys & grooming needs for 3 dogs & cat) which adds up to about $12/week/dog. Food varies from low end Bonnie or Supercoat to high end Eukanuba or Nutro
Kylie: We have Royal Canine (Obesity) for our oldies $140 for a 20kilo bag, with joint formula but Supercoat $20 10 kilo (I think) for the Jnrs. With bones and chicken wings, carcasses I would say similar to Linda around $12-14 a week per dog.
Frances: I use Bonnie Lite as i have oldies and buy a 20 kilo bag at about $42 I think which last 3 dogs (and sometimes a sneaky cat) about 3 weeks. I add a large bone, treats etc and would agree it would average out at about $8 to $10 a week.
I add Omega fish oil capsules (3 X2000) per day and 1X glucosamine tablet per day for any dog over 7 years of age or in poor condition plus a splash of sunflower oil per day for all ages. I buy the tablets in woolworths in jars of 200 each. Approx $40 ish dollars a jar.
Karen: Per year I'd spend about $500 on Science Diet for Heidi my 9 year old goldie. Treats will probably add up to $500 per year too. I give her bones when I go to work each day.
Carole: We buy big bag of weight control eukanuba. I'm not sure how long last for but costs around 120. I guess I'll probably go through at least four a year.
Shalini: I spend about $25 a week on my two boys. That covers canned dog food and dry pedigree biscuits.
Toys!
Do you buy toys for your dogs? How much do you spend, say per year? What is it they like to play with?
Kim: Yes we do! Especially when they are pups, or if their favourite 'breaks' (i.e chewed to bits). We spend maybe, $20 per year? I suppose most years they get nothing new, really, they have heaps of toys. They love to play with tennis balls! Kmart sells packs of 6 cheap, and we got some bigger, squeaky ones from PetStock. Also fans of the tug of war rope, and soft toys to carry around.
Linda: My dogs like to play with rope toys, kongs, larger sized balls, squeakies. Our toys are included in the Pet Barn bill, under $900 a year.
Kylie: Toys.. tennis balls, anything that squeeks. I usually buy them from the cheap shops and they last as long as the expensive ones. Kongs have survived but they are not interested in them unless they have food in them! Clam kids pools are an annual buy $15 from big W.. they all love splashing around in them anytime of the day.
Frances: I bought a shell for paddling from Bunnings for $18 dollars recently. Noticed last week they had them on sale for $12!
Karen: Heidi likes playing with the tug of war toys like the Kong Wubba. We probably spend about $50 a year on toys.
Carole: Roxxi loves the squeaky chickens, we probably spend about $40 a year.
Shalini: My boys love anything with stuffing in it! So we go through about $100 a year on stuffed toys.
Medical Expenses
Do you have medical insurance for your dogs? What's the largest vet bill you've had for your dog/s? How much do you spend per year as a minimum at the vets?
Kim: No insurance.
When we lost our lab Satchmo to hemangio sarcoma (sp?) new years day a year ago, we dropped $1400 at the emergency vet just in one night on all the tests trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Then there were extra costs for the final, horrible chest xray, the cost of putting him to sleep, and disposal. I don't know how much that was, we just handed over the credit card distraught in tears.
Being big dogs, the cost of vaccinations and such (based on weight) is not cheap. We would budget around $500-600 for the yearly checkups and jabs? I think? I know it's a lot but again it's not something I fret over. We're not made of money by any means but the yearly checkup and jabs is just a must do. If we're going to the coast, I think it's about $70 for a few doses of Frontline for the ticks. That stuff IS expensive.
Linda: Last year we spend $325 at the vet, that covers two dogs and a cat.
I think you would need to spend at least $300 a year to keep a dog C5 vaccinated, free of heartworm and intestinal worms and fleas/ticks.
I don’t have pet insurance for current dogs but will for next dog from 8 weeks!
Gus had a $240 vet bill this month (for teeth/ear clean/nail clip), has had a $1000 emergency vet bill and a $1200 vet bill for mast cell tumour removal in the last 2 years.
Kylie: Vet bills for 3 dogs had been around $1500 for the year. Then again our oldies have daily anti inflammatory at a fair cost but it makes a huge difference to their mobility and happiness. (our rabbit has just hit $1800 in 6 weeks after 2 surgeries!) The largest bill we got from the Vet was for our 14 year old lab who had spleen cancer 4 years ago. All up the operation and the 6 months on chemo was roughly $10k. BUT she is still with us and has been a great help for cancer research in Labs. The bill was payable as we went so after the initial operation it was payments here and there over the 6 months.
Frances: Our dogs get annual check up, C5 and annual heart worm injection. Then add monthly Frontline for flea protection. Logan's cancer investigation and then euthanizing cost close to $1800
Karen: I think something that people who are getting dog of any age need to realise that a large vet bill could come at anytime. eg. when my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was 3yo, she had OCD in her shoulder (extremely unusual for her breed) - the operation and associated treatment cost atleast $2000. Without the operation, she would have been in a lot of pain. As Linda said, pet insurance is a good idea and I will definitely get it in the future...
My breakdown is:
Annual Vaccination & Heartworm - $200
2011 Vet Bill (covers a lump removal, skin irritation, yucky eye) - $1,000
Allwormer - $50
Advantix/Frontline - $40
Carole: No pet insurance, sigh!
So far since adopting roxxi 2 years ago we have spent $ 6500 on knee reconstruction and associated xrays and costs. We have also spent approx $5500 on trying to determine why she leaks all the time which we discovered she had when she arrived – there is still no answer so we will probably be up for at least another $2000-4000 to discover what it is and fix it if possible.
These amounts are in addition to the usual vaaccinations, worming etc – she also is on catrophen injections and is also on sashas blend.
This is on top of the $400 adoption and the $550 air transport cost to get her to Perth.
Shalini: I have pet insurance, it costs me about $15 a week. The largest bill I've ever paid was about $1,000. The minimum I'd pay in a year is about $200.
Other Expenses
Have you had to modify your backyard for your dogs? (Fosters don't count!) Have your dogs ever destroyed something you had to fix/replace? How much do you spend per year on holiday arrangements for your dogs?
Kim: Our dogs haven't really done much damage. We've done a bit of fence patching in the past. We've picked past rentals and our current (own) home based in part on their dog friendliness!
If we can't take the dogs with us, we use pups4Fun pet sitting. They come and walk, feed, water, check mail, take up bins, water plants, etc etc - that is $40 per 30 mins visit for two dogs ($65 for 60 mins), though we usually need to pay a holiday surcharge on top. We generally don't leave them for more than 3 days in these cases, any more and I ask my brother to actually house/dog sit for us (well, I always ask him to do it in the first instance, so I can save money!). So, pet sitting might be $150 a year, give or take, if we really need it.
Gus pushed through three palings of wooden fence, easy to fix. My dogs are quite easy on the garden but they’re not Labs! Kaeli likes to dig but that has very little impact and doesn’t bother us. Already had sandpit for the kids, Kaeli encouraged to dig there but prefers bug hunting in the grass! We did build a large new deck with weatherproof roof with the dogs needs in mind, as well as ours.
Kaeli chewed the pedal off my sewing machine but that was easily replaced!
Kylie: We take our animals with us to visit family but also have family animal sit if we need to go on an extended trip. We have hired animal friendly houses by the water a few times on average $200 - $250 a night depending on where it is and we have shared with other people to keep costs down. There are loads on http://www.stayz.com.au/pet-friendly-accommodation
They have destroyed beds and washing, shrubs but nothing like a lounge or big ticket items. Leads and collars last many years even with washing them (as long as they can’t chew them off). Initially maybe $30 per dog and then a tag for $20. We have had the same leads for years and they still look like new. We do put them away each time so no teeth can chew so am sure than makes a difference. Guess we have been lucky too!
Anything else?
Kim: There are usually unexpected vet visits. Ear infections, weird lumps, etc we get checked out.
Set up costs if you haven't owned a dog before or getting a second one - collar, lead, ID tag, dog poo bags, dog bed, registration. You can save money though, e.g. We use ice cream containers instead of dog bowls! If you buy a pup I suppose there is desexing, microchipping...
There is no getting around the fact that owning labs is not cheap. You HAVE to expect some major vet bills in your future: dog gets hit by car, dog needs a knee replacement, dog gets cancer, dog gets chronic illness...all awful things but if the vet assesses there's a good chance for recovery / a good quality of life, you have to be willing to spend the money, or honestly don't get a dog in the first place. I'm pretty harsh about that I think. A work colleague just spent around $5000 on her lab getting his leg amputated because of cancer, plus the treatment, and now he needs some tooth extractions for an abcess - as she said, 'he gives us more than $5000 worth of love a year, and as long as he has a good quality of life the money doesn't matter'
Linda: Bedding can be something that needs regular replacement!
Membership of an obedience club can be excellent both for learning training techniques and having access to off leash exercise areas. Often just over $100 per year.
I find dogs very high maintenance money and time wise, much more so than cats, but worth it.
Kylie: We bought expensive beds, around $130 after trying MANY – Kazoo brand. They are soft and the outside is washable which is fantastic! All the puppies love them and choose them over others we have. The extra large can fit 2 no worries.
Towels for washing on days like today. Prob $30 per dog per year. We wash them constantly with swimming and walking. The cheap ones really don’t last unfortunately.
Christmas pressies $10 per bag/bones just for fun. Dare I say reindeer antlers at $3 each! hehehe
Frances: Collars generally last about half a lifetime and leads last a lifetime or more. I keep the knots out of the leads and make sure they are dry before putting them away.
At least 2 tags per dog in a lifetime as the metal wears through approx$10 each engraved.
Add in a car harness per dog for safety in traveling. Probably about $45 each but it's been a while since I bought them. They last a lifetime too.
Bedding for us is the trampolines since Logan ate everything else. Large Goldie size or Goldie plus springer plus cat if a cold night was over $120. Medium for springer plus cat and lab if cold night about $80??? Add in comfort mat which clips to trampoline for older dogs, medium mat was about $60 plus. Cheaper mats which just sit on the top of the trampoline rather than attach can be got from $2 shops. Not much padding however.
Add feed bowls and LARGE stable water containers even a lab trying to swim in can't knock over $20 for both tops.
LOL crikey it does add up!
Karen: The only other thing I would add is bedding, we've spend around $100 on that.
Carole: I can't think of anything else to add.
Shalini: Maybe a couple of other token items:
Dog bed- $25 each
Collar- $15
Kennel- pointless but why not $200.00
Dog door in glass panel- $900.00
Conclusion
Phew what blog post! It all looks a little daunting when you add it all up doesn't it? Remember this is just a couple of experiences, yours will be different depending on your lifestyle and the health of your dog.
One question I didn't ask the foster carers, was the question of worth. Are dogs worth all of this?
Undoubtedly we think so. We keep loving them despite the hole in our wallets. There's no 'discount dogs' at Lab Rescue. Even if you did manage to get a dog for free, the costs of upkeep with a lab can be quite severe. It's just another thing that needs considering.
I hope this helps everyone in preparation for their new dogs! Big thanks to all the foster carers who shared their experiences. If you would like to ask a question about anything mentioned above, feel free to leave a comment.
