Pricey Pooches

Ever wondered how much a dog costs over its lifetime? Well, wonder no more…

We all know that the love of a good dog is priceless… but what if we had to put a price on it? Bankwest has done just that in Family Pooch Index, the latest of their ongoing Social Indicator series of surveys. And according to results, that price is over $25,000.

That’s right, the survey found the average Australian dog costs its family $2452 a year in care – and that’s not including the average purchase price of a pooch, which currently stands at $585.

$1200 of this amount goes towards pet food and treats, with vet costs coming in at $450 per year and additional expenses such as grooming, dog dieticians, dog trainers and dog walkers costing the average household $405.

The breakdown
Other findings revealed that 50 per cent of Australians buy their dogs presents for special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas, 25 per cent pay for a dog groomer, eight per cent take their pets with them on holiday and five per cent have their pets in their will. People in New South Wales fork out the most for their dogs, while Western Australians spend the least.

The survey also revealed that 96 per cent of dog owners considered their pooch ‘part of the family’. Well, duh! If you’re not going to make your dog part of your family, why bother having one?

As to Bankwest’s claims that this statistic indicates ‘what many of us have suspected for a long time, namely that half of Aussie pet owners consider their pet to be equally important as their kids’… well, that may be stretching it just a bit.

Although, come to think of it, $25,000 in a lifetime is a lot less than you’re likely to pay out over your child’s lifetime, so maybe there’s a lesson learned there…

What do you think of those averages? Does $2452 a year seem about right, or are you still scoffing over the included cost of ‘dog dietician’? Let us know your thoughts!