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We've chatted with some members of the Juniper community about their dog-related spending. Here's what it costs us to be dog moms in apartments, houses, and even a converted van!
Our ultimate takeaway? Every dog parent's lifestyle looks a little different. Sometimes a lot different. There's no one answer to "how much does it cost to take care of a dog?"—and what matters most is that both we and our pups feel fulfilled, together.
That said: There are some definite costs to be prepared for. Food and veterinary care are the most consistent expenses.
Kelsey and Kuumba (and fosters), living in an apartment
TL;DR: Kelsey spends about $4,000 total on dog-related expenses each year. You can find them on Instagram at @boundinghusky!
Where do you live with your dog?
- Apartment life! There was an extra deposit to move in with a dog along with $75 pet rent per dog.
How much did you pay for your dog?
- My current dog was less than $100. Fosters don't cost me anything up front.
What did initial supplies cost you?
- “Normal” dog stuff was probably $200 (collar, leash, bed, treats, brushes). We also run canicross — initial mushing stuff was probably ~$300 (and we’ve added to it over the years).
How much do you usually spend on dog food each month?
- $150-$200 depending on if it's the off season versus mushing training.
What about treats?
- $200, which includes fosters because I buy them all at the same time.
How much do you spend on toys?
- Not much. Maybe $50 every couple of months. Not a regular expense!
What about grooming?
- We groom at home. It's $25 for the cost of treats and grooming spray.
Veterinary care each year?
- Unfortunately vets are expensive here! It's $80 just for a clinic visit. We probably spend between $600-$800 a year for a couple clinic visits, heartworm tests and refills, flea and tick prevention, and vaccination shots. This is for one dog — the fosters' veterinary costs are taken care of through the rescue. I do have insurance that covers a good portion of this as preventative measures!
Boarding or pet sitting when you travel?
- $0 for us. On the rare occasion I leave without my dog, we have family and friends that we trade off watching dogs with!
What have your training expenses been like?
- $100-$200 a year for various courses or in person trainings or clinics. Mostly for fun — like cooperative care webinars or trick training.
Anything else specific to your lifestyle with your dog? (Favorite activities you both love, special training courses, anything like that to help add context!)
- We travel a lot with the dogs. We’ve probably spent $200 to supe up and figure out the best inside of the car to make it dog friendly for road trips. And then spend extra on hotels that allow dogs — plus the entrance fee for the races themselves.
- Many county trails around here cost extra with the dogs, too — maybe $5 to enter plus $2 a dog. This doesn’t seem like much, but it can add up if you don’t have the up-front funds to do the annual pass.
Elisabeth and Zelda (and fosters), living in a house near LA
TL;DR: Elisabeth spends just under $2,000 on dog-related expenses each year. You can find them on Instagram at @zeldathemostchill!
Where do you live with your dog?
- We live in a house.
How much did you pay for your dog?
- She is a rescue so I paid an adoption fee to the rescue, which typically covers the spay surgery and all vaccinations. This was about $500.
What did initial supplies cost you?
- It was six years ago so is hard to remember exactly. She's a small dog, so we needed basic things like a food bowl and bed.
How much do you usually spend on dog food each month?
- I feed her a fresh human-grade dog food brand which is about $105 per month.
How much do you spend on toys?
- She’s such a laid-back girl, she doesn’t play with toys — she just wants to cuddle!
What about grooming?
- I cut her hair myself because her hair grows fast so she tends to look matted quickly. I ordered her a low-noise cordless trimmer for around $36 a few years ago.
Veterinary care each year?
- Thankfully she’s been pretty healthy until very recently. Due to her breed, she does have issues with her teeth so I would take her to get a non-anesthesia teeth cleaning one to two times a year, which costs around $250 per visit.
- Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease recently so the initial vet bill was very high after she spent two nights at the animal hospital and had to get an MRI, spinal tap, and tons of blood work.
- We have pet insurance for about $55 a month that covered those emergency vet costs.
Boarding or pet sitting when you travel?
- I’ve never boarded her but I’ve had friends stay over my place to dogsit.
- She travels a lot with me and has even been to Mexico City. I used to have her travel on the plane as an ESA but after COVID airlines stopped offering that as an option. Now it costs anywhere from $100-150 PER flight to have her travel with me on the plane under my seat storage.
What have your training expenses been like?
- None for us. She’s always been a pretty laid-back dog so I’ve never hired a trainer for her or pay for any kind of training.
Anything else specific to your lifestyle with your dog? (Favorite activities you both love, special training courses, anything like that to help add context!)
- I am very fortunate that I have a very calm, friendly, and gentle dog who has never had any behavioral issues. She was a dog that I fostered for a few weeks before adopting. Temperament and energy level were both important to me after I had a high-energy, reactive dog.
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Haley and Scout, living full time in a converted camper van
TL;DR: Haley spends about $2,000 total on dog-related expenses each year, though it was much more (greater than $4,000) earlier in our training journey. You can find us on Instagram at @paws.andreflect!
Where do you live with your dog?
- We have been on the road full time in our converted van for over a year now! Before that we lived in three apartments that all had pet fees.
How much did you pay for your dog?
- Scout's adoption fee was around $200 including her spay surgery and initial vet checks.
What did initial supplies cost you?
- We kept it simple and actually won a "new dog" basket at a raffle event. I probably spent around $100-$200 to make my first apartment ready for a canine roommate.
How much do you usually spend on dog food each month?
- Around $40 a month, adding to $480 a year.
What about treats?
- Around $20 a month, so $240 a year.
How much do you spend on toys?
- About $50 to $100 a year. Our favorites have lasted a long time now!
What about grooming?
- We got very lucky with a "wash and wear" dog. We invested in some natural grooming products from Legendary Canine, but Scout rarely actually needs to be bathed or brushed.
Veterinary care each year?
- We had some tough decisions to make when Scout started having seizures about exactly how many tests we’d run. Scout was loosely diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy at the end of 2021 and went on a twice-daily anticonvulsant medication in the middle of 2022. During this period we spent around an additional $1,500 on tests like in-depth bloodwork and speaking to a neurologist.
- She takes an anticonvulsant every morning and evening. This is around $40 to $60 for a two-month supply, so $240 to $400 a year.
- We also give routine preventatives. $140 a year for flea & tick, $100 a year for heartworm, so $240 annually.
- Her annual vet visit is about $200 once a year, and seizure-specific appointments for bloodwork are about $100 each once or twice a year.
Boarding or pet sitting when you travel?
- Before moving into the van, we sometimes had to travel without Scout and hire someone to watch her for around $50 a day. Since living on the road full time, we haven't had to pay for this at all.
What have your training expenses been like?
- In our first two years together, Scout’s fear-based dog reactivity was a huge problem. I easily spent $3,000 to $4,000 on training consults, group classes, videos, and structured boarding during that period.
- At this point in our training journey, we average around $300 to $500 for continuing training education each year.
Anything else specific to your lifestyle with your dog? (Favorite activities you both love, special training courses, anything like that to help add context!)
- We’ve spent a lot of money on Scout’s training over the years. For us, paying for information has felt necessary — but there’s a lot of free content available out there too.
Allison and Addie, living in the suburbs of New Jersey
TL;DR: Allison spends about $5,000 total on dog-related expenses each year.
Where do you live with your dog?
- We live in a house in New Jersey, surrounded by a lot of farms and parks. We wanted to wait to get a high energy cattle dog mix until we had the space and backyard to make sure she gets the exercise she needs.
How much did you pay for your dog?
- She is a rescue, so just her adoption fee which supports the rescue, Burlington County Animal Alliance in NJ. I think it was about $300.
What did initial supplies cost you?
- We went to a large retailer in a rush the day before we knew we were adopting her, and wasted money on some low quality pet gear, probably spent around $250. I spent the next year trying everything on the market and that's what led me to start Juniper!
How much do you usually spend on dog food each month?
- We spend around $100-$200 on dog food and treats each month.
How much do you spend on toys?
- Around $20-50 a month, she is always getting a new toy or two.
What about grooming?
- Her grooming costs us about $100 every 6 weeks.
Veterinary care each year?
- She's a puppy so the first year or so was expensive with shots, exams, and spay, around $2,000 that first year. We also pay $40 a month in pet insurance.
Boarding or pet sitting when you travel?
- $25/hour, she has a dog sitter 3 hours a week as well as $150/night when we are away.
What have your training expenses been like?
- Mostly my own time and effort! We did pay for a few puppy classes early on, around $100 per class.