Dog taxidermy cost calculator

Work out what having a dog preserved costs across the whole job rather than the headline rate. It runs the studio's per-pound charge against your dog's actual weight, adds the setup fee, the monthly freezer charge while the body waits its turn in the queue, getting it to the studio, and the base or case at the end. One thing before any of it: the body has to go into a freezer straight away, that step costs nothing, and it is the step with a deadline attached.

§ 01 Your numbers

Change anything. The answer updates as you type.

Dog's weight (pounds)

The dog's actual weight, which is the single box that moves this estimate most. Preservation work is quoted against weight almost everywhere it is offered, because the labour and the machine time both scale with the size of the animal. This is why two people can ring the same studio, ask for the same thing, and be quoted very different numbers.

Preservation rate (dollars per pound)

What the studio charges per pound of the dog. Freeze-drying, which is what most pet studios do, is billed this way; a traditional skin mount is more often quoted as a flat price by size, in which case put the whole quote in the setup fee below and set this box to 0. Our default is ours and editable: a quote from the studio you are actually talking to beats it.

Studio setup / minimum fee (dollars)

The fixed part of the quote before any weight is counted: taking the dog in, the preparation work, the posing and the finishing. Most studios also carry a floor price, so a very small dog does not simply cost its weight times the rate. Set the flat quote here and the per-pound box to 0 if you were given one price for the whole job.

Getting the dog to the studio (dollars)

Few studios take pet work, so the one you find may be several states away. This line covers frozen shipping with the courier and packaging that requires, or your own fuel and time if you drive it. Set it to 0 if the studio is local and you will hand the dog over yourself.

Freezer storage at the studio (dollars per month)

What the studio charges to keep the dog frozen while it waits its turn. It is small every month and it is the line people leave out of a mental estimate, which is exactly why it is here: over a year of queue it stops being small. Set it to 0 if your studio folds storage into its quote.

Months the dog waits before the work starts

How long the studio says its queue is, plus the run itself. Preservation is slow work and a studio processes animals in turn, so a wait measured in months is ordinary rather than a warning sign. This box drives the storage line alone, so ask for the studio's real backlog and put it here.

Base, mount or display case (dollars)

The wooden base, habitat groundwork or glass case the finished mount sits on or in. This is the genuinely optional line and it is usually the smallest one: you can take the mount bare and add a case later, or skip it entirely. Set it to 0 to see the job on its own.

Estimated cost

$3,825

Studio setup / minimum fee$400
Preservation work (45 lb at the per-pound rate)$2,700
Getting the dog to the studio$300
Freezer storage (9 mo)$225
Base, mount or display case$200
Total$3,825

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$1,500 to $5,000 is where a mid-size dog with a genuine queue lands: the per-pound line now leads the bill, the storage months add a visible pile, and frozen shipping is often part of it because the nearest studio that takes pets is not nearby.

StudioGet the quote in writing↗Rate, minimum, storage and what the base costs.MemorialSmaller keepsake options↗A paw casting or preserved pelt is a far smaller job.

What this assumes, and where it could be wrong

Every one of these is a place the number could be off. They are here because you should be able to check our working, not because we are hedging.

THE DEFAULTS ARE OURS; THE STUDIO SETS THE REAL NUMBER.

Every line here is priced by one person's workshop: the per-pound rate, the setup or minimum fee, the monthly freezer charge, and the base or case at the end. We have put in figures we think are reasonable starting points and made every one of them editable, because a written quote from the studio you are actually talking to beats our defaults every time. Nothing on this page is drawn from a federal statistic, because a taxidermy price is a craft quote rather than something anyone measures and publishes. If a studio's quote is far from what this page shows, the studio is right and this page is a placeholder.

Freeze the dog first, and decide everything else afterwards. This is the part of the process with a deadline attached, and it costs nothing. Preservation work of any kind starts from a body that has not decomposed, so it goes into a freezer, wrapped, as soon as possible, and it can wait there for weeks while you find a studio, read quotes, and work out whether you want this at all. Vets will often hold a dog frozen for a short while if you ask. Nobody makes a good decision in the hours after a dog dies, and freezing is what buys you the right to make it later.

The weight box moves this estimate more than every other box combined. Preservation is quoted against the animal because that is what the work scales with: a bigger dog is more surface to prepare, more mass to dry, and more machine hours. That is why the pose, the expression and the base, which are the things people agonise over, barely shift the number, while the dog's size decides most of it before anyone picks up the phone. Weigh the dog, or use the last weight from the vet's records, rather than guessing.

The wait is real, and it is billed. A freeze-dry run takes months for a single animal, and a studio works through a queue, so being told the mount will be ready next year is ordinary rather than a warning sign. The dog stays frozen for that whole period and the storage line runs the entire time. It is small monthly and it is the line most often missing from a mental estimate, which is why the months box is on the form. Ask for the studio's current backlog in months and type that in.

A mount is a preserved body, not a sleeping dog, and studios will tell you so themselves. The fur, the frame and the scale are your dog's; the eyes are glass, the pose is chosen and fixed, and the result reads differently in a room than it does in a photograph. Reputable studios ask for reference pictures and talk expectations through before taking a deposit, and that conversation is worth having before the money rather than after. Some owners find a paw casting or a preserved pelt sits better with them, and both are far smaller jobs.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to taxidermy a dog?

There is no single price, because the dominant line is charged against the dog's weight rather than against the job. A studio quote typically stacks a setup or minimum fee, a per-pound preservation rate run against the animal, a monthly charge to hold the body frozen while it waits in the queue, whatever it takes to get the dog there, and a base or case at the end. The calculator above totals those from your own numbers, and the box that moves it most is the dog's weight.

What do I do in the first few hours?

Get the body frozen, and leave every other decision for later. Wrap the dog and freeze it as soon as you can; if that is not possible at home, ask your vet, who will often hold a dog frozen for a short period. A frozen body can wait weeks while you find a studio, compare quotes and decide whether you want preservation at all. It is the one step with a deadline and it is free, which is a good reason not to let the expensive decisions crowd it out.

Why is freeze-drying priced by the pound?

Because the machine time scales with the mass it has to work through. Freeze-drying pulls water out of the tissue over a long, slow cycle, and a heavier animal holds more water and occupies the chamber longer. So the rate is quoted per pound of dog, and a large breed can cost several times what a small one does for work that looks identical on the shelf. A traditional skin mount is more often quoted flat by size, which is why the form lets you put a flat quote in the setup fee and zero the per-pound box.

Why does it take so long?

A single freeze-dry run takes months, and a studio that accepts pets is running a queue of them, so the total wait is the backlog plus the run. That is normal for this work and not a sign of a studio stringing you along. It matters to your budget because the dog is held frozen for the whole period and that storage is usually billed monthly, which is the line the calculator adds for you. Ask the studio for its backlog in months before you commit, and put the real figure in the form.

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