PuppaCosts · methodology

Where our numbers come from.

Every cost on this site is a range, not a single number. Each range is a product of two things: a baseline — what real owners typically pay for a given procedure in a given country — and a set of modifiers for size, region, age, and clinic tier that change the answer for your specific dog.

Source tiers

Tier A — Industry / insurer claims & surveys. AVMA Sourcebook, NAPHIA State of the Industry, AAHA standards, Morris Animal Foundation Lifetime Studies, PDSA PAW Report, insurer claims reports (Trupanion, Healthy Paws, Lemonade, ManyPets). These set our baselines.
Tier B — Reputable cost guides. Rover True Cost report, Forbes Advisor, CareCredit, PetMD, NerdWallet. We use these to fill gaps where Tier A is silent.
Tier C — Commerce price extraction. Chewy, Amazon, Pets at Home, Petbarn. Used for food, supplies, and acquisition cost.
Tier D — Geographic indices. Cost-of-living indices, vet density data. Used for region multipliers.

The cost model

estimate = baseline(item, country, tier)
         × size_factor(breed, item_category)
         × region_factor(zip / postal)
         × age_factor(age, condition)

Every multiplier is applied to all three points of the range — low, median, and high. We preserve the spread because uncertainty is real and useful information.

Breed health probabilities

Lifetime cost projections add an expected-value layer on top of the recurring costs: each breed carries a list of conditions with rough lifetime incidence (e.g. BOAS in French Bulldogs ~50%, GDV in Great Danes ~26%, mitral valve disease in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels ~72%), each mapped to an expected treatment cost. We sum (incidence × cost) across all known risks. Sources are peer-reviewed where available (Morris Animal Foundation Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, VetCompass, ACVIM consensus statements, OFA database).

Refresh cadence

Every baseline row carries a last_verified date. We refresh Tier-A and Tier-B sources quarterly, and Tier-C commerce prices via automated extraction monthly. Pet inflation is real — vet costs rose ~7% year-over-year in 2024 — so freshness is part of the product.

What we don't model (yet)

Insurance annual deductibles vs per-incident deductibles (we use the more common per-incident).
Insurance condition limits and exclusions — surfaced as footnotes, not pricing.
Charity / non-profit clinic pricing, which can be materially lower than our economy tier.
Pre-existing condition penalties (insurance specific).

Questions or corrections to a baseline? Email methodology@puppadogs.com.