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Would you give up 10 percent of your annual income to own the dog you want?
Would you pay more than that? Some people will. The median household income in the United States was $70,784 in 2021 before adjusting for inflation, according to the Federal Reserve. Ten percent of that is roughly $7,100. Are there dog breeds that cost that much to own over the dog’s lifetime?
The answer is “yes.” Here are top three most expensive breeds in 2021, according to Prudent Pet Insurance:
- Samoyed, $14,000. This loveable and gorgeous pooch is a native of Siberia. It’s luxuriant coat and love for human company make it a coveted companion. But it is prone to health problems. Ultimately, a Samoyed could cost you the equivalent of nearly 3,000 gallons of gasoline, according to current prices by the AAA.
2. Lowchen, $12,000. It’s also called the “Little Lion Dog” but there’s nothing little about its lifetime price tag. Once extremely rare, Lowchen are commonly presented in a “lion clip” – meaning its coat is buzzed short over the haunches, back and front legs, to make it look like a small lion. That’s an expensive dog to shave its butt!
3. Chow Chow, $11,000. One of the oldest breeds in the world, the Chow, is the one of the most popular breeds in China. It’s called the “Shongshi Quan” meaning “puffy lion dog.” If you want one, expect to fork over the lion’s share of your spare cash.
Even more interesting is that there are certain breeds, such as the Rottweiler, which don’t cost that much to buy but rack up expenses over their lifetimes due to health issues. A Rottweiler might cost $1,500 to buy, but because the breed is so susceptible to disease and hip and joint problems, you could spend $9,000 overall.
American dog-owners spend roughly $1,500 a year on their pooch. Pet parents of certain breeds spend much, much more. (This explains why there is such a thing a “pet insurance”!)
We love our dogs. We love our pocketbooks. But sometimes it’s hard to love both!
Until next time,
Hugs and Pug Kisses,
Candy
Sources and Links:
Most Expensive Dog Breeds in the World – Prudent Pet Insurance
Federal Reserve Economic Data | FRED | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org)
Pet Spending Statistics (2022): How Much Do Americans Spend On Pets? (finmasters.com)
Chow photo by Gabrielle Costa on Unsplash
Samoyed by No machine-readable author provided. Pleple2000 assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=394861
Lowchen Photo by Canarian – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33120446
