How Much Does It Cost to Adopt a Dog?

Interested in adopting a dog? You are not alone. 

As people learn about the horrors of puppy mills, dog adoptions are becoming the preferred method of getting a dog.  

This is good news to the more than 127,000 dogs currently looking for a home on Petfinder.com.

But even as more people choose to adopt, they don’t know the cost to adopt a dog prior to starting the process.

So, we decided to sort through the adoption posts on petfinder.com to find out the cost to adopt a dog?’

How Much Does It Cost to Adopt a Dog?

After looking through 100’s of posts on Petfinder.com, we found that the cost to adopt a puppy ranged from $61 to $1,750 with most costs falling between $200 and $500. The cost to adopt an adult dog ranged from $50 to $1,200 with most costs falling between $100 and $350.

As you might expect, the cost to adopt a dog varied based on a few factors; age, geographic location, interest and organization type all had an effect on the cost to adopt.

Across the board puppies fetched a higher price than adult dogs. Senior dogs and special needs dogs were at the lower end of costs. 

How Do These Factors Affect The Cost?

Age

The age of the dog has a big impact on the cost to adopt that dog. Puppies have always been in high demand and many people are willing to pay a higher price to get one.

People tend to believe that it is easier to train and bond with a dog if you get them as a puppy. But this means you need to know how to train a puppy.

People tend to under estimate the amount of time it takes to train a puppy. At the very least they need to have the time to take them to a training class.

You also need time to reinforce what you have both learned at home. The lack of training can result in a dog being returned to the shelter due to behavioral problems.

This brings me to the other reason puppies are more expensive to adopt. Puppyhood only lasts for a few months. Because of this, there are fewer puppies available to adopt compared to older dogs.

Geographic Location

Where a dog is available for adoption will have a big effect on the cost to adopt. Locations with a higher cost of living like cities and northern suburbs tend to have higher adoption costs.

This is partially due to the higher cost for medical care, dog food, and housing. It is also due to the fact that these populations tend to have more disposable income to spend on the dog they want.

We see the opposite in locations with a lower cost of living. These areas will generally have lower adoption costs due to the lower cost of care and have less people willing to pay a premium for a dog.

However, there are exceptions to this. It has become a common practice to transport dogs from lower cost areas in the south to higher cost areas in the north. In these cases the adoption costs may also reflect the cost of transport.

Interest

Most government run shelters and some rescues charge a flat fee based on age. But some rescues will base the cost of adoption on the demand for a particular dog. Dogs in high demand tend to be purebred or mixed breed “designer” dogs.

Rescues justify the extra fees by stating it helps pay the medical expenses of a dog in need. Sometimes it states that the extra costs goes towards the general care of less adoptable dogs.

Non-designer mixed-bred dogs tend to have lower adoption fees.

Organization type

The type of organization will have an effect on the cost of adoption. City run shelters that are looking to free up space to take in new dogs tend to keep adoption fees low.

That was our experience when we adopted Charlie, a Golden Retriever rescue from a local city shelter. I can’t remember the exact cost to adopt him but it was low.

Of course that many years ago. But the cost of adoption at a city shelter is still low today when compared to rescue groups.

You can still adopt dogs from local government shelters but you may be competing with local rescue groups.

This is due to rescue groups can may take these dogs from the shelter before anyone else has a chance to adopt them. Before you get upset, let me tell you why rescue groups are doing us all a favor.

Rescue Groups

Every time a rescue group takes a dog from a shelter they are opening up space for another dog.

Unlike many rescue groups, government run shelters have a limited amount of space to work with. Rescue groups on the other hand often utilize fosters volunteers which allow them to hold onto a dog until they find them a home.

Some rescue groups are breed specific, meaning they only deal with one type of dog, like a doodle rescue. Others will take in any dogs in need of a home.

As more people choose to adopt the demand for rescue dogs has increased. This allows rescue groups to be more selective in who they adopt to. Having gone through the process already we provide you with the tips and tricks you need to find a rescue dog in Rescue Dogs: Tips on How to Get One

Rescue groups serve another purpose. They will often vet the dogs before putting them up for adoption.

Since rescue groups use foster homes to house their dogs, the host gets a chance to see what the dog is really like to live with. This allows the rescue group to deal with any medical or behavioral issues before placing the dog for adoption.

What’s included in the Adoption fee?

Adoption fees are often a bargain once you realize what it covers. Although it can vary most cover: 

• Medical check-up
• All required age appropriate shoots
• Heartworm testing, prevention and treatment when necessary
• De-worming for puppies
• Spay or neuter
• Cost to board or foster the dog.
  • This includes items like food, treats, pee pads, toys etc.
• Microchip

Some places also include in their fees:

• Dog License
• Collars
• Identification tags
• Flea and Tick Prevention
• Dental Checkup
• Training Classes
• Grooming

These days there are so many places where you can go to adopt a dog. Which one should you choose? We look at the pros and cons of each and touch on where you should not go for your dog adoption in Dog Adoption – Finding Your Perfect Pup

Additional Fees

Application fees

In addition to the cost of the adoption fee some rescue groups require that you pay a non-refundable application fee in order to have your application processed. This fee is to pay for the processing of the application. Fees typically ranged between $10 and $25 per application.

Transportation costs

Some rescue groups will ship the dog to you for an additional cost. The transportation costs we saw ranged from $50 to $500 for ground transportation. 

If the rescue routinely transports dogs to a certain area they may include the cost to the adoption fee rather than charge it separately.

Spay or Neuter Deposits

Rescue groups are now offering allowing puppies to be adopted prior to being spayed or neutered. But they still want all dogs to be fixed.

So rescues and shelters are now requiring a refundable deposit at the time of adoption to ensure that the dogs are fixed. The deposit request we saw ranged between $75 and $250 dollars.

What is a Benefactor Dog?

A benefactor dog is generally a purebred or designer dog that people are willing to pay a higher adoption fee to get. The idea behind benefactor dogs is that the high fees help support dogs that need medical attention or for the care of dogs that are harder to place.  The adoption fees vary for benefactor dogs but are always higher than the standard fees for the rescue.

How We Determined the Typical Cost to Adopt a Dog

To find the typical cost to adopt a dog we took a sampling of the thousands of dogs that were available across the US on petfinder.com at the time of writing.

Since rescue groups and shelters are free to charge what they want, the “typical” cost may change. 

In order to make the comparisons between the different regions, ages, health and organization type we concentrated on a few breed types.

This included mixed breed dogs and the 5 most popular dog breeds; the German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, French Bull Dog, Poodle and Poodle mix.   

Beyond the Initial Cost to Adopt a Dog

So far we have focused on the cost to adopt a dog from a rescue. But the cost of dog ownership doesn’t end there.

There are basic items you will need in order to take care of your new dog. Things like food bowls, food, collar, leash and toys to name a few.

Annual visits to the veterinarian will be needed to ensure your pup is healthy and up to date with all their vaccines. Taking care of your pup will be an ongoing expense, so make sure you know what the costs are before you adopt and that you have the means to cover them.

If you are a new dog parent you may be wondering what you need to take care of a puppy. In What You Need for a New Puppy we go over the essential items you must get for any dog.

I hope you now have a better idea of what it will cost to adopt a dog

Other related posts you may like:

• The 9 Best Places to Find a Goldendoodle Rescue
• Labradoodle Rescue: Best Places to Find One
• Mini Goldendoodle Guide: With Updated Information 2021
• What is the Right Dog for Me?
• Dog Adoption – Finding Your Perfect Pup
• Rescue Dogs: Tips on How to Get One
• Poodle Rescue: 8 Best Places to Find One