Paw & Pocketa little plan, a lot of love
← Back to my planOPEN NOTES / 2026.11

Sources & calculations

This first release combines retail price references with editable planning assumptions, not local quotes. Sales tax and shipping default to excluded; edit them in details.

Food: PetSmart CA/US 35 lb regular-price snapshots; Canadian basic plan references Costco’s 11.3 kg listing. US basic and premium food use editable assumptions.

Costs accrue by age-month. Food estimates use weight and life stage, or your actual grams. One-off costs count once; savings and time value stay separate.

Health and neutering notes refer to AAHA, CVMA and AVMA; breeds to AKC. Medical bills are user-defined scenarios without claimed probabilities.

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How the model works

  1. The period is [starting age-month, ending age-month). Routine costs are summed month by month, plus selected one-off events. Average = total / months; the first-year figure covers at most the next 12 months. Prices stay constant, without inflation. The ending age is an editable lifespan planning assumption, not a prediction.
  2. Adoption/purchase, starter supplies and enabled microchip costs occur at the start. Planned neutering is charged at the later of the chosen surgery month or start, only within the period; already-neutered dogs incur none. End-of-life care is placed in the final month. Earlier costs are excluded; turn off supplies you already own.
  3. Food/month = bag price / kg per bag × daily grams / 1000 × 30.4375 days. Auto food uses RER = 70 × kg^0.75; budgeting multipliers are 3 for age 2–3 months, 2 for 4–11 months, 1.6 for neutered adults and 1.8 for intact adults. Puppy weight is approximated as adult weight × min(1, 0.2 + 0.8 × age-month/12). This generic growth curve cannot represent each breed. Energy density 3600/3800 is also an editable assumption. Special feeding before 2 months is unpriced and totals are partial. Use actual body condition, food labels and veterinary guidance. Manual daily grams apply across the full selected period.
  4. The first 12 months form a simplified puppy budget stage; additional senior costs begin in the final 25% of planned life. Insurance uses an illustrative linear increase of 8% of base premium per year after age 5, not a quote. Annual dental/vaccine amounts are budget allowances divided by 12, not medical schedules. Other prices are editable examples, without disease probabilities.
  5. Time = walks/play + brushing + feeding/cleaning. The model adds 20 min/day for puppies and 10 for seniors, as editable planning assumptions. A paid walk replaces 30 min; daycare up to 60 min of walks/play; grooming 30 min of brushing; boarding replaces walking and other care for its nights. Each deduction is capped to its task. Time valuation never changes the cash budget.
  6. Insurance illustration = min(remaining limit, max(0, bill − ineligible charges − remaining deductible) × reimbursement rate). With insurance off, payout is zero. Upfront cash is the full bill unless direct payment is confirmed. Existing savings only reduce the funding gap, never count as spending and are not guaranteed sufficient. Real deductibles may be per-condition, annual or otherwise.
  7. Breed references use AKC, VCA and breed clubs. Three-part trait bars are editorial qualitative tendencies, not measurement scores. Calmness, destructiveness and independence require individual observation; breed or neutering cannot determine them. Weight ranges vary by sex and subtype; your custom weight takes precedence.

Assumptions & reference prices

Breed source

Chihuahua ↗Toy Poodle ↗Dachshund ↗Shih Tzu ↗Welsh Corgi ↗Shiba Inu ↗Beagle ↗Border Collie ↗Golden Retriever ↗Labrador Retriever ↗Samoyed ↗Siberian Husky ↗

Tendencies are a starting point, not an individual assessment.