How much does an GWP cost?

GWP puppy price

We have not verified a current purchase price for the GWP, so this page publishes none rather than a guess. What we can tell you is what happens next: the first year of owning a GWP runs $1,700–$3,650 depending on the city, and that number is the one that decides whether the dog is affordable. A purchase price is paid once. The rest is paid every month for 12–14 years.

Purchase prices move on things that have nothing to do with the dog you take home. A litter from parents screened for the conditions GWPs are known for — Hip Dysplasia, Elbow Dysplasia, Progressive Retinal Atrophy — costs the breeder money before a single puppy is sold, and that shows up in the price. Waiting lists, coat colours that are in fashion this year, and transport from another state push it further. A cheap listing with no health paperwork is usually the most expensive option in the end, because the screening you skipped becomes a vet bill you pay.

Weigh the purchase against the total. Over 12–14 years, the money you spend feeding, insuring and treating a GWP dwarfs whatever you paid to bring one home, so a few hundred dollars of difference at the start matters much less than the monthly figure further down this page.

GWP first-year cost by city

The first year with a GWP costs $1,700–$3,650 depending on where you live. Year one is the expensive one: the vaccination course, neutering or spaying, microchipping, a crate, a bed, a lead and the first round of preventatives all land inside twelve months and never repeat.

Albuquerque is the cheapest city on this list for a GWP and Chicago the most expensive, a spread driven almost entirely by local veterinary rates and what a groomer charges — the dog is identical.

Looking for one city rather than one breed? The cost hub lists every city we have costed, with all breeds on a single page.

Monthly cost of a GWP

A GWP costs $110–$280 a month once the first year is behind you. That covers food, flea and worm preventatives, an insurance premium and routine grooming, spread evenly — it does not cover an emergency, which is what the separate emergency fund on each city page is for.

The monthly figure is the one you actually live with for the next 12–14 years. Food is the line that scales with the dog: a 60–70 lb GWP eats in proportion to bodyweight, so the large size class sets the floor. Preventatives are dosed by weight too, which is why the same tick treatment costs more for a heavier dog. Grooming is moderate for this breed, and where that means a professional appointment rather than a brush at home, it is the line most likely to surprise a first-time owner.

Insurance is the fourth line, and unlike the others it gets more expensive as the dog ages. Premiums quoted for a puppy are the cheapest they will ever be, so budgeting from the first quote you receive will understate the cost of the later years of a GWP's life.

How GWP costs compare with published US benchmarks

The widest published US frame comes from Rover, which put a puppy's first year of care at $1,460–$6,745 and each adult year at $1,930–$5,305 in 2026, purchase price excluded. Those are national bounds covering every dog from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane, so they are not a GWP figure — they are the frame the $1,700–$3,650 numbers above sit inside, and a sanity check on any quote that falls outside them.

Sources: Rover — the cost of dog parenthood (2026). Neither is our own measurement, and neither is a quote for your dog.

What drives GWP costs

Three things set what a GWP costs: size, health risk and grooming. Size decides food and drug doses, the breed's documented health risks decide the insurance premium and the odds of a large bill, and the coat decides whether grooming is a brush at home or a booked appointment every few weeks.

• Size. The GWP is a large breed at 60–70 lb. Food, flea and worm treatments, anaesthesia and boarding are all priced by weight, so this single fact moves most of the running cost.
• Health risk. GWPs are documented for Hip Dysplasia, Elbow Dysplasia, Progressive Retinal Atrophy. Insurers price the breed on exactly this list, and it is also where a four-figure bill is most likely to come from.
• Grooming. Grooming need is moderate for a GWP. A coat that needs professional clipping adds a recurring appointment to the monthly figure; one that needs brushing adds a brush.

Full temperament, exercise and health detail lives on the GWP breed page.

Is pet insurance worth it for a GWP?

Pet insurance is worth it for a GWP when a sudden four-figure bill would go on a credit card. That is the whole test. If you could absorb an emergency out of savings, a dedicated fund usually beats premiums; if you could not, insurance converts an unpredictable bill into a predictable monthly one.

For scale, the US average premium for dog accident-and-illness cover was $749.29 a year — $62.44 a month — in 2024, the most recent year the industry association reports. That is an average across every breed, age and state, not a GWP quote. A real premium moves with the dog's age, your ZIP code, the deductible, the reimbursement rate and the annual limit you choose, and only a carrier can tell you what a GWP costs to insure where you live. NAPHIA State of the Industry 2025.

Read the exclusions before you read the price. Hip Dysplasia is on the GWP's documented list, and anything a vet has already noted counts as pre-existing and will not be covered — which is why buying early, before the first symptom, is what makes a breed-risk policy work at all.

Take the insurance fit quiz to see whether a policy or a savings buffer suits your situation better.

Budget tools

Two calculators turn the ranges on this page into your number. The cost calculator takes a breed and a city and returns a first-year and monthly estimate for that combination; the comparison tool puts a GWP next to other breeds you are considering, side by side.

• Dog cost calculator — first-year and monthly estimate for one breed in one city.
• Breed cost comparison — the GWP against the other breeds on your shortlist.

GWP cost: frequently asked questions