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Cost of owning a dog in the UK

Pick a size, add anything you already know you will pay for, and see what a dog costs to set up, each month and over its life. The base figures are PDSA’s, so they are a floor rather than a guess.

About £12,483 over 12 years

Roughly £83 a month once you are set up, and £1,527 in the first year.

Setting up: bed, lead, collar, bowls, car restraint, first vaccinations, puppy wormers and neutering£531
Essentials each year: food, insurance, boosters and check-up, flea and worm treatment, toys£996

Setup and essentials are PDSA’s figures at 2024 prices. They do not include vet bills for illness or injury, which insurance only partly covers. Vet prices have risen about 13% since 2024 (ONS).

What the numbers include

The setup cost covers a bed, lead, collar and tag, bowls, a grooming brush, toys, a car restraint, the first course of vaccinations, puppy wormers and neutering. The monthly figure covers the yearly check-up and boosters, flea and worm treatment, insurance, food, toys and poo bags. PDSA priced all of it online in 2024.

Bigger dogs cost more each month mainly because of food and insurance. Their lifetime cost is not always higher, because large breeds tend to live shorter lives.

What they leave out

The biggest missing cost is illness. Insurance pays most of a big bill, but not the excess, not any co-payment, and nothing above your limit. A long-term condition in an older dog can add hundreds of pounds a year on top of the premium. Our insurance calculator shows how much of a real vet bill you would still pay.

Prices have also moved since 2024. The Office for National Statistics’ index for vet and other pet services rose by about 13% between the 2024 average and August 2026. Pet food and products rose by nearer 4%. Treat the essentials line as a minimum.

Where you can save

  • Buy medicines online with a written prescription. The CMA found vet medicines often cost far more at the practice, and the fee for a written prescription is being capped.
  • Keep them lean. Food is one of the biggest regular costs, and an overweight dog costs more at the vet as well as at the till.
  • Insure early. Lifetime cover taken out while a dog is young and healthy avoids the exclusions for conditions that have already appeared.

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