The Cost of Showing A Dog

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How much is too much to spend to try to finish a dog? To me, it is personal preference. Sometimes we have a dog that has an outstanding SOP but just can't seem to get any points in the show ring. Here are some things to consider when showing a dog.

First, lets talk food. The quality of food will help your dog to session faster. I feed my dogs 1777 from birth to fourteen days, by then they are almost fully sessioned, if not fully sessioned already. In fourteen days, for one dog, you will spend $82.88.

Next is sessioning. I will session out a high quality dog completely. My sessions cost about five dollars each per day for fourteen days. Doing simple math, for my high quality dog, I will pay two hundred ten dollars by the time my dog is fourteen days old. Again this is an average of my dogs. Some dogs take more or less time than that. A lower quality dog, I will session for about seven to ten days, but continuing to session in obedience. If this is the case, I will spend one hundred five to one hundred thirty-five dollars for my lesser quality shows. However, this dog will need to be on a higher ration longer, usually about a week. While on 1777 for an additional week, I will pay an additional $41.44 for food.

At fourteen days, my dog is ready to show. He is a high quality dog, one of the highest in the breed. Lets just say I finish him in fourteen days. Again, this is just an average. I want to save money so I enter in five dollar shows. Providing we do not count in payouts at the moment, I have just spent seventy dollars in entry fees. While showing, I switched his food to Pet House at day fourteen. I have now spent about twenty-one dollars on food.

Without factoring in payouts, salaries, stud fees or additional income made off of one dog, I have spent $383.88 on finishing my dog's championship. My variables included feeding the pup 1777 since birth, sessioning completely to fourteen days, switching to Pet House at fourteen days while showing, and finishing within an additional fourteen days.

Remember, things that can adjust costs are food quality, sessioning, and overall quality of the dog. Like I said, these factors are an average. Feel free to calculate the costs for one of your dogs.