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How much does a dog really cost in Australia?
Find out what your dog will cost this year and over their whole life. We built this calculator in our Tranmere grooming salon using real 2026 prices: our own grooming prices for your dog's coat and size, Adelaide vet and council fees, and Australian insurance averages by age.
The short answer
- A typical adult dog, each year$3,000 to $5,000
- First year, before the price of the dog$3,800 to $6,100
- Over a typical 12 year life$42,000 to $67,000
For a dog that is insured, eats mid range dry food and is professionally groomed at the right interval for its coat. Daycare adds about $2,400 a year for each day a week. Use the calculator below for your own dog.
What a dog costs each year, by size and coat
Every figure here comes straight from the calculator above, for a 3 year old dog with accident and illness insurance, mid range dry food, $25 a month each on treats and toys, a monthly flea, tick, worm and heartworm chew, home dental care and council registration. Grooming is the Dog Love price for that coat at the interval our groomers recommend: a Full Groom every 6 weeks for curly and fleece coats, a deshed every 6 to 8 weeks (more often in spring and autumn) for double coats, and a wash every 8 weeks for short smooth coats.
| Size | Curly or fleece coat | Short double coat | Short smooth coat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 8 kg |
$3,725 | $3,313 | $3,021 |
| Medium 12 kg |
$3,960 | $3,598 | $3,190 |
| Medium 18 kg |
$4,286 | $3,795 | $3,375 |
| Large 30 kg |
$4,945 | $4,600 | $3,872 |
The first year with a puppy from a breeder
The first year adds puppy vaccinations, desexing, setting up at home and puppy school. These figures do not include the price of the puppy itself.
| Size | Curly or fleece coat | Short double coat | Short smooth coat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 8 kg |
$4,572 | $4,160 | $3,868 |
| Medium 12 kg |
$4,871 | $4,509 | $4,102 |
| Medium 18 kg |
$5,197 | $4,707 | $4,287 |
| Large 30 kg |
$6,010 | $5,664 | $4,936 |
Over a typical 12 year life, those same dogs cost $42,000 to $67,000 before the purchase price, because insurance and vet care rise as they get older.
The first year: one off costs
- The puppy. Cavoodles cost $4,000 to $6,500 from breeders, Groodles $3,000 to $6,500 and Labradoodles $3,000 to $5,000. Australians paid $1,419 for a dog on average in 2025. Rescue fees are often around $500 and usually cover desexing, microchipping and first vaccinations.
- Setting up at home. $250 to $600 for a bed, crate, bowls, lead, harness, collar and tag.
- Puppy vaccinations. About $304 for the full course at an Adelaide clinic.
- Desexing. $400 to $605 for boys and $515 to $785 for girls in Adelaide, depending on weight.
- Puppy school. $99 to $299 for a course in Adelaide.
- Microchipping. In South Australia puppies must be microchipped by 12 weeks, so a breeder should have done it before your puppy comes home. Dogs born after 1 July 2018 must also be desexed by 6 months of age.
- Registration. $43 a year for a desexed, microchipped dog in Campbelltown, Norwood Payneham and St Peters and the City of Adelaide, or $86 if your dog is not desexed.
Grooming is the cost most people underestimate
Coat type changes the yearly cost more than almost anything else you choose. An 8 kg Cavoodle with a Full Groom every 6 weeks costs about $997 a year at Dog Love. An 8 kg short coated dog washed every 8 weeks costs about $293.
Curly and fleece coats keep growing and tangle between grooms, so stretching the gap usually means much more brushing at home or a shorter clip next time. See every service and weight tier on our Adelaide grooming prices guide.
Insurance rises every year
Accident and illness cover for a small dog averages about $894 a year under age one, $1,153 at two to three, $1,496 at four to five and $1,890 at six to seven. French Bulldogs cost about twice as much to insure as the average dog. The calculator ages your dog year by year, so its lifetime total includes those rises.
A serious illness or injury commonly costs $3,000 to $10,000 at the vet. In 2025 the average insurance claim for hip surgery was $9,268, and for bloat it was $5,223.
Daycare, walks and boarding
Daycare is the biggest optional cost. Dog Love daycare in Tranmere is $50 a full day for small and medium dogs up to 19 kg, so one day a week is about $2,400 a year. Adelaide daycare generally runs $40 to $65 a day; our guide to dog daycare costs in Adelaide explains what to look for. A 30 minute walk costs about $27, and a standard Adelaide kennel about $60 a night.
How long dogs live, and why it matters
In the largest study so far, of more than 580,000 dogs, half of all dogs lived past 12.5 years. Small breeds tend to live longest: Poodles have a median of 14 years and Maltese 13.1. French Bulldogs (9.8 years), Bernese Mountain Dogs (10.1) and Great Danes (10.6) have the shortest lives. Cavoodles, Groodles and other crosses have not been studied as breeds yet, so the calculator uses the crossbreed median of 12 years.
Getting a puppy? Our new puppy grooming guide shows what their coat will need as they grow.
Where these numbers come from
- Dog Love salon prices, Tranmere, Adelaide
- Moneysmart, getting a pet (Animal Medicines Australia, Pets in Australia 2025)
- Walkerville Vet price list, Adelaide
- National Desexing Network, Grange Vet Clinic
- Canstar, insurance by age and premiums by breed
- Finder, accident only cover
- Compare the Market, pet surgery bills
- PetSure, most expensive conditions
- Dog and Cat Management Board SA
- AWL boarding and Hedgegrove kennels
- Mad Paws, Adelaide dog walkers
- Lifespan by breed, McMillan and colleagues, 2024
We checked every price in October 2026 and update the calculator when prices change. Your own vet, insurer and suburb may differ, so treat the result as a careful estimate rather than a quote.
Questions people ask
How much does a dog cost per year in Australia?
Most adult dogs cost $3,000 to $5,000 a year when they are insured, eat mid range dry food and are professionally groomed. Without insurance or salon grooming it can be closer to $1,500 to $2,500. Daycare adds about $2,400 a year for each day a week.
How much does a puppy cost in the first year?
Before the price of the puppy, the first year usually costs $3,800 to $6,100. That covers vaccinations (about $304), desexing ($400 to $785), setting up at home ($250 to $600) and puppy school ($99 to $299), on top of food, grooming, insurance and vet care. A Cavoodle from a breeder adds $4,000 to $6,500.
How much does a Cavoodle cost per year?
An 8 kg Cavoodle groomed every 6 weeks at Dog Love, insured and on mid range dry food costs about $3,700 a year. The first year is about $9,800 including a $5,250 puppy, and a whole life comes to about $56,000 over 12 years.
What is the biggest cost of owning a dog?
For most dogs it is insurance and grooming, then food. Insurance rises with age, from about $894 a year for a puppy to about $1,890 by age six or seven. Curly and fleece coats often cost $1,000 a year or more in professional grooming. If you use daycare, it quickly becomes the biggest cost of all.
How much does dog grooming cost in Adelaide?
At Dog Love in Tranmere a Full Groom is $100 to $199 depending on weight, a Tidy Up $75 to $175, a wash and dry from $45 and deshedding from $50. How often your dog needs it depends on the coat, and the calculator works out the yearly cost for your dog's coat and size.
Does the calculator include inflation?
No. Everything is in today's dollars, so you can compare it with your budget now. Insurance and vet costs still rise as your dog ages, because the calculator works through each year of their life.
Prices checked October 2026 by the Dog Love team in Tranmere, Adelaide.