First-Year Supplies and Expenses
The first year is always the most expensive because a lot of purchases and costs only occur once. The following chart will give you an idea of what you can expect dachshund ownership to cost.
First-Year Dachshund Expenses
Item |
Cost |
Comments |
Veterinary expenses |
$250 |
Includes four office visits and vaccinations. |
Spay/neuter |
$150 |
Price can vary with sex and age of dachshund. |
Preventive care |
$150 |
Includes monthly heartworm, flea, and tick preventives. |
Food and treats |
$400 |
|
Pet supplies |
$300 |
Includes crate, carrier, dog bed, bowls, collar or halter, leash, second leash after first gets chewed up, nail trimmers, brushes, identification tags, pet odor remover, shampoo. |
Training Classes |
$100-$400 |
Consider training your dachshund for at least a full year. |
Boarding kennel |
$100 |
For a well-deserved week's vacation … for you and your dachshund! |
As you can see, your first-year expenses can easily total more than $1,500. This is assuming that your dachshund is healthy and suffers from no chronic illnesses, experiences no traumas or injuries, and doesn't develop any allergies. If your dachshund suffers from disc disease (with chances being one in four during the lifetime of the dachshund), treatments may cost as much as $2,000 or more.
Make sure you keep a savings account for emergency veterinary care. Experts recommend that you start with $500 and keep adding to it every year until you have $1,000 to $1,500 in savings. This way you will be able to afford most emergency care or unanticipated surgeries.
Your puppy will most likely come with two names: a registered name and a call name. The registered name is your dachshund's “official” name, the name by which the AKC records all of her achievements in AKC competition. The first word in the registered name is usually the breeder's kennel name. After this kennel name, you will be able to create a name for your puppy, if your breeder hasn't already given the puppy a name.
The call name is your puppy's nickname. Often a breeder has pet names for all the puppies in the litter, and the puppies may already know these names. This does not mean, however, that you have to keep the puppy's given call name.
