Consider the ongoing costs of owning a dog, warns Grantham pet expert Sara Barnes

With Christmas (yes I said the ‘C’ word) not that far away many people will be considering adding a new furry pet to their family, writes Sara Barnes of Who Lets Your Dog Out Ltd.

Now we all know a dog is for life, not just for Christmas, but how many of us really consider the ongoing costs involved with having a pet?

After you have paid for your dog whether it be hundreds or thousands from a breeder, or possibly under £100 from a rescue, that is just the start of the expenses.

There is the basics you are going to need for your new family member, such as bed, toys, blankets, bowls, food, collar, harness, lead and of course the legally required dog tag will all come in around £300.

Don’t forget to insure your dog, just in case they have an accident or at least set up a savings account to help cover the cost, as a trip to the vets is roughly £80 and surgeries can be very expensive running in to the thousands.

An average dog has a monthly expense for food, poo bags, treats, flea/worming treatments and other bits and pieces is £150. This will vary depending on the food they eat, be it the brand, raw, kibble or a mixture. Don’t forget that if you have a dog that needs to go to the groomers then that needs to be added in as well, and most are around £50 per groom.

Add on top of that any help you might need in the form of dog walking, daycare whilst you are at work, which can range from £10-£50 per day depending on your needs.

And what are you going to do with the dog when you go on holiday? If it’s kennels then you could be looking at £20 per night or home boarding could be as much as £50 per night.

So all these costs add up, so it’s not enough to say that we can afford to buy a dog and get them set up in the home, you also need to be able to fund them on an annual basis to the tune of roughly £2,100, before you have holidays, weekends away, days out or even evenings out without the dog. Yes, family might be able to help avoid some of the day to day pet care costs if you need to go to work, but if not then you could easily add £350 per month to the bill if you work five days a week.

At the end of the day, don’t get any pet if you can’t guarantee you can cover their normal costs, as being re-homed because your owners don’t budget correctly is not fair on the pet.