Puppy first-year cost
The first year is the expensive one: one-time vet work and gear on top of running costs, and a growing puppy eats more per pound than an adult.
- Spay or neuter—
- Puppy vaccine series & visits—
- First-month gear—
- One-time costs—
Running costs in year one
Puppy-rate food (— kcal/day at 2× resting energy), vet & prevention, insurance, grooming, gear, boarding.
| Food & treats | — |
| Vet & preventive | — |
| Insurance | — |
| Grooming | — |
| Supplies & gear | — |
| Training & boarding | — |
From year two the same dog runs about — a year.
How it is calculated
Spay/neuter is the average of the national spay and neuter prices from CareCredit's 2025–26 procedure study, adjusted for the state. The vaccine series is three DHPP doses, one rabies dose and two extra visits at the same national prices. Gear is the first-month list for the dog's size, from recorded retail prices. Running costs use the standard model with the puppy calorie factor; see the methodology.
The spay or neuter line is the mean of the two operations, because a puppy's sex is not known in advance — what it costs to spay or neuter splits them and gives the range.