It's a big responsibility when committing to any pet, aside from the time and care you have to give it, you need to consider the expenses.
ASPCA recently calculated the yearly cost of owning a dog and it averages to be $15,000! They figure it’s $1,001 for a small dog, $1,214 for a medium-sized dog and $1,448 for a large dog.
When you factor in the expected lifespans of the dogs, it pretty much averages out to a lifetime total of $15,000.