That's good news. Well thanks again, I'll have too really read up on the whole insurance thing as walking blindly into a contract is less than desired...

definitely get pet insurance!! so far in the almost 9 weeks i've owned Willow, we have spent $1410 because of routine visits (all her puppy shots) and she's already had two incidents that included a severely scratched eye and a cut leg that resulted in 6 stitches and a grand mal seizure! i got insurance before the last incident thankfully, so i'll be filing a claim once we finish treatment.

... O.O

Okay once October/November roles around I'll be getting some insurance for the pup, until then I'll be in research/save money mode. I might have to hold off on getting Fire Emblem and Lego LOTR.

To help save money on shots, go to a feed store. They have the booster shots there. Its very inexpensive and will help with cost to the vet. But.... they dont have the rabies shots. So you will have to take it in then. Make sure you show your receipts to the vet when you buy the booster shots and they will give you credit for them.

Ah okay, thanks for the tip!

I wish my vet had a puppy plan lol. So far Loki has cost me about $200.00 . Next week he goes again this time he'll get the DHLPP, Rabies, and bordetella. Next time probably another DHLPP and Lepto/lymes. Puppies are expensive! Once you get past the puppy shots its just the yearly shots. I have insurance on all three of mine, totally worth it to me. I have VPI but there are many out there.

I've had embrace insurance for five years now and have been very happy with it. I really like how it covers breed specific conditions and alternative therapies. I never went with the puppy plan though, so I'm not too sure about that. For my two dogs, it costs me about $50 a month. But no matter which company you go with, pet insurance can be a lifesaver!

I go to vaccination clinics for shots. Same shot, cheaper price.

I only vaccinate rabies after the first vaccinations and titer test from there on out.

I see, so I should get all the recommended shots during the first year and then after that only go for rabies and a titer test? I'm still searching for pet insurance but I think I have an idea of what's good and what's not good now...

AMB wrote:

I see, so I should get all the recommended shots during the first year and then after that only go for rabies and a titer test? I'm still searching for pet insurance but I think I have an idea of what's good and what's not good now...

You should get all the puppy series and also another 1 year booster rabies at a year old. Then the following year get the 3 year rabies every 3 years and titer test everything else as needed.

Do a Google search for the Dr Jean Dodds recommended vaccination schedule and look into that.

Ah okay I'll do that, thanks!

Definitely do you research on vaccines too! I wouldn't give a lepto vaccine to a puppy (or to an adult really, but definitely not a puppy), but a lot of clinics give it to puppies. I don't really see a point to Corona or Giardia vaccines either. I would just aim for a place does that DHP and DHPP (distemper, hepatitis/adenovirus, parvo, parainfluenza), but that's a little bit off topic Titers are also a great idea!

Insurance is a good idea if you can afford it. I've never gotten insurance for mine because the monthly cost really outweighs what I would pay out of pocket at a vet. It would definitely help with puppy shots though, because you'll be there a lot!

At my clinic, puppy shots are fairly cheap. I don't know how prices are in your area, but this might give you a general idea.
Office visit - $30
DHP vaccine (we give it four times)- $13
Bordatella/Parainfluenza (given once, with second DHP)- $13
Rabies (I would do this separate from any other vaccines)- $12
Fecal - $19.50
Biohazard charge - $5
Frontline/Heartgard is free for puppies until they've finished their vaccines. But you'll also probably have to get a dewormer after the fecal and the price really varies on those.

Titers for distemper and parvo are $50 through Hemopet, or you can go through Idexx and its like $85 or something. Most vets will just do Idexx for titers, but you can specify that you want Hemopet and then you just have the vet draw the blood and you can mail it off. I think Hemopet is much better than Idexx - and the fact that its cheaper doesn't hurt!

Those numbers really do help, I'll try to see how much vaccines are in my area but hopefully they'll be a similar price. I do have one more question though. Assuming that getting a puppy from a reputable breeder costs $700-$1000, how much extra money should I have saved up on top of that (not just for the first vet visit but for things like a collar, leash, first bag of food, etc.) I know that the numbers can vary a lot, but how much would be a safe amount to have going into all of this? Thanks a bunch for posting!

Make sure that you remember to save up for emergency vet visits too! When Ava was only about 3 months old, she ate some coconut (healthy, right?) and I discovered that it gave her explosive vomiting and diarrhea. But since those were the same symptoms of parvo, I kinda panicked and off to the vet we went. Things like that can be expensive fast.

Go ahead and look online to get a kinda inventory for your puppy built up. That's what I did before I got Ava and it really helped me budget things - plus the prices online are generally cheaper. I made a spreadsheet with all the prices for Ava's gear and everything. Extremely dorky, but it helped a bunch

Crate - I got mine on ebay for like $60. Brand new, 36" with metal tray, two doors, and (most importantly) PINK! Looking back, I'd probably go up to a 42" crate, especially if you get a boy, but 36" works fine. Make sure that you get one with a divider and a metal tray at the bottom.

Collars and leashes are pretty cheap and you can get them anywhere, especially for when the puppy's growing. I waited until Ava was a year old to get her "fancy" collar set, that way she wouldn't grow out of it. I bought a really nice collar, martingale, harness, and treat pouch from someone on etsy and its still in good shape, 3 years later. It was actually a lot cheaper than buying the same type thing through petsmart/petco/walmart - and its much prettier and better made.

Good food can be expensive, but its something that's worth it. I buy a lot of my food online too, but there aren't many petstores near me that carry good food and the ones that do tend to jack up the price. Orijen and Taste of the Wild are good, but you should stick with whatever the breeder was feeding for the first few weeks at least.

You have to have toys, of course, and Kongs are great. They're very useful for crate training too - fill up a kong with something really good and puppy only gets it when he's in his crate and soon he'll enjoy his crate. Jefferspet.com has them the cheapest that I've found anywhere.

You should also try to make a fund for puppy obedience classes. Even if you're an awesome trainer and really work with your puppy, puppy kindergarten classes help with socialization and will teach your puppy that he needs to focus on you and listen to you, even when there's something distracting nearby. Private trainers are usually better than petstore classes, in my experience. I wish I would have known to do puppy classes with Ava when she was little.

Hope this helps some

This made me think of the chart on this page: The Cost of Owning a Dog

I would err on the side of caution and assume you're going to be spending on the high side so that you have room for error. Better to have too much money set aside than not enough.

I am a fan spreadsheets. :3

Anyways that is quite a bit of stuff to consider, I think I could probably have around $500 extra for the first month and hopefully that should be good (after that I wont have to worry about saving up money as much since I have a job that keeps a decent flow of $$ coming in). However I almost choked when I saw that article, all that stuff being able amount up to $6,000+ a year is kind of out of my price range... Hopefully I'll be able to cut some corners (like grooming and boarding for example) to cut back on the expense. I'll also have to play the bargain hunting game online, that should be interesting...

I'm glad that I know what size crate to use now though, saves me the trouble of asking the question later. Thanks for the response guys!

Wow, Ican easily say I am more on the high side of that chart! I, not loaded but I give my dogs everything.

At first glance I was no way I've spent that much that they listed on the high end of that chart ......but then I started to do the math and yeah I'm pretty close. Puppies aren't cheap but oh so worth it.

:s Well I'm in for it I guess.

Time to start saving up that $$!