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I just brought home my third Dachshund, so I am re-examining how much it cost to feed my dogs.
When I only owned one or two Dachshunds, I didn’t care how much I was spending on their food.
But now I have three mouths to feed.
I did the math and Yikes! Feeding three Dachshunds the way I’ve been feeding two will cost as much as a car payment!
I re-evaluated the foods I’m feeding them, and didn’t want my hours of research to go to waste, so I summarized it in this article.
Even if the information doesn’t prompt you to change what you are currently feeding your dogs, it may be helpful to you later.
How Much Will it Cost to Feed One Dachshund Per Month?
The minimum cost for feeding lower cost, descent quality kibble is around $41 per month and the maximum is around $71.
Feeding your Dachshund commercially prepared raw dog food will likely cost somewhere between $102 and $180 per month.
It surprised me a little that feeding wet dog food can cost just as much or more than feeding a raw diet.
The monthly cost for feeding a descent to high quality canned dog food ranged from $106 to $240.
You can expect to pay somewhere between $40 to $300 per month to feed a miniature Dachshund.
Some people want to feed their Dachshund raw food but don’t want to take up freezer space with it, handle the meat, or worry about thawing portions before hand, so they choose to feed freeze dried raw instead.
The cost for that will top out at around a whopping $300 a month for a miniature Dachshund.
Of course, the food cost will increase with multiple dogs in the household, especially if one also owns a larger breed dog.
Read on to see which foods I analyzed and how I arrived at these cost estimates.
What Are The Primary Factors That Influence the Monthly Cost of Dog Food?
Figuring out how much it will cost you to feed your Dachshund a month is more complicated than just price shopping for food.
The biggest factors that will influence the monthly cost of dog food are:
- How many calories your Dachshund needs to eat a day
- The type of food – canned, kibble, or raw
- The calorie density of the food
Different dog foods have different calorie densities, so an ounce of one food may contain 30 calories, while a ounce of another food may contain 100 calories.
If your Dachshund needs 350 calories a meal (see this article to calculate the number of calories your Dachshund needs), you may need to feed 11 ounces of one food and only 3.5 ounces of another.
Since dog food is sold as price per volume (ex. 5 lbs, or 80 ounces, per bag at $35.99 per bag), the food with the lower calorie density can end up costing you more.
Below, I have broken down the cost to feed a Dachshund by food type, listing several brands, and thus a range, in each category.
My Methods and Assumptions When Calculating Food Costs
Some things to keep in mind when you review my Dachshund food cost calculations are:
- My research was conducted in January of 2024. While the prices are most relevant closer to that date, they will be generally accurate for years to come because the cost of dog food doesn’t fluctuate that much.
- This information is primarily intended for myself. For this reason, I chose to compare dog foods that I most commonly feed, or would consider feeding, my Dachshunds.
- My miniature Dachshunds weighs around 11 lbs, and are moderately active, and require an average of 450 calories per day to maintain their ideal weight. This number of calories is what I used for my calculations.
- I chose chicken-based formulations in most cases because almost every brand makes one and consistency in protein source allows for a more accurate comparison.
- I used 4-6 lb bags of kibble for my calculations, because buying smaller quantities allows the food to be used before it goes rancid. Buying in bulk can reduce the cost.
- I didn’t use sale prices for these foods, but buying on sale will, of course, save you money.
- Used Chewy and Amazon for prices for canned, kibble and the freeze dried raw dog foods. For frozen, fresh raw dog food, because it can typically only be obtained locally or from a mail subscription service, I got prices from my local pet store in Seattle or directly from the company.
Now, let’s talk numbers…..
Disclosure: Many of the links on this pate are affiliate links (Amazon Associate or other programs we participate in). As an affiliate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
How I Calculated Daily and Monthly Meal Costs – the Math
In case you want to calculate the daily and monthly cost for a food that is not on this list, this is how you do it.
- Step 1: Price of food/ounces of food per bag, can, or case of cans = cost per ounce of food
- Step 2: Calories listed on the back of the bag (this will be listed in kcal, which is just a calorie) in kcal/kg/35.27 (the number of ounces in 1 kg) = calories per ounce of food
- Step 3: the number of calories your dog needs to eat in a day (you can figure that out HERE)/calories per ounce (calculated above) = number of ounces of the food your dog needs to eat a day
- Step 4: number of ounces of food your dog needs to eat in a day x cost per ounce of food = cost per day to feed your dog
- Step 5: cost per day to feed your dog x number of days in the month (I used 30 days in my calculations below for a fair comparison) = cost per month to feed your dog
Note: “x” means I multiplied, and “/” means I divided
Below are the costs for the foods that I calculated. I will likely add to the charts if I calculate the costs of additional foods.
What Does It Cost to Feed a Dachshund Kibble?
My first Dachshund ate low to moderate-quality kibble for the first 6 years of his life. He was my first dog as an adult and I didn’t know better.
By the time I had adopted my second Dachshund, I had worked at a pet store for over a year where I learned more about dog food nutrition.
Armed with more knowledge, I transitioned both dogs to grain free kibble an then fresh, frozen raw dog food.
While my Dachshunds still primarily eat a raw diet, they do eat kibble on occasion.
I would consider going back to a 50-50 raw and non raw (canned and or kibble) to reduce my monthly feeding costs though.
To compare, I calculated costs for one of the lowest quality kibbles I would feed, one of the highest, and a few in-between.
Note: slide the charts to the left (to see what is on the right side) if you are on mobile to see cost per ounce and calories per ounce.
How Much What Does It Cost to Feed a Dachshund Wet (Canned) Dog Food?
When I feed my Dachshunds kibble, it is never just out of the bag.
I sometimes, I add water to their kibble, but I prefer to add a bit of canned food as well.
Sometimes, I feed them canned food alone.
Because I prefer to feed them just canned food over kibble, looked at what it would cost to only feed them that type of food.
What Does It Cost to Feed a Dachshund Raw Food?
To me, the only true raw food is frozen, fresh meat. It’s very minimally processed and contains the original moisture levels.
However, I do feed my Dachshund freeze dried raw sometimes when we travel, and always when we are backpacking and the weight of my backpack matters.
I created two separate comparison charts for these food types because the cost is not directly comparable due to the lack of water (moisture) in the freeze dried raw.
Note: If you are thinking about feeding your Dachshund raw food, read this article first.
Fresh Frozen Raw Dog Food
Freeze Dried Raw Dog Food
As you can see, it’s unequivocal that freeze dried raw dog food is more expensive than fresh, frozen raw, and is the most expensive food type to feed overall.
Monthly Budgeting for Dog Food and Making My Choice
I haven’t made my final decision about what types of food, or what brands, I will feed my Dachshunds going forward, but here are the factors I am weighing.
Quality of food
I won’t compromise my Dachshund’s health to save a buck.
However, the reality is that I can’t keep spending the $500+ a month on my unbridled, and somewhat fiscally unconscious, buying of whatever I feel like for my dogs.
I have to find the right balance, which is the main thing preventing me from making a choice – I’m still researching ingredients and foods to make sure I’ve chosen the best one.
My budget
While I would settle for being able to feed 3 miniature Dachshunds for the same cost that I’ve been feeding two, my ideal goal would be to feed three while reducing that cost.
If I had my way, I would be able to maintain a similar quality diet to what I am currently feeding while reducing my monthly cost to $250, but that is not reasonable.
After doing some preliminary calculations, $400 is a better estimate of what it will cost, although I would be happy if I could bring that cost down to $350.
Accounting for other factors
Besides their normal meal, my Dachshunds also eat training treats, natural chews, and get food-stuffed enrichment toys.
While these items count toward their daily calorie allowance, thus reducing the amount of food given at meals, they cost just as much or more than dog food.
I also give my Dachshunds supplements.
Supplements can be expensive to purchase, but often last several months.
In other words, the cost of the supplement(s) may hit in a particular month but I only “use” a portion of that cost each month.
I will likely account for these costs in later calculations but, for now, I just wanted to look at the food itself.
I will likely go back to feeding kibble with a bit of canned at one meal and frozen raw for the other. At least for now.
Check out my article if you want see the food my Dachshunds eat. I will probably update the list with budget options in the future.
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