Dog insurance

Sorry if this has already mentioned, I may have missed it but this whole dog insurance malarky, would it not be an idea to have to only pay third party if your dog is in one of the top 20 dog breeds most likely to be/become aggressive? I know this is somewhat hard to judge with every dog having the potential to become aggravated and snap at someone, but breeds such as bull terriers, rottweilers, GSDs and so on (with somewhat of a reputation and more commonly used as guarding breeds) are possibly more a problem?

N.B. this is merely an idea, by no means am i suggesting everyone owning one of the breeds mentioned should have to pay third party ....

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

I'll hold my hands up, I never have my dogs on a lead when we are in the fields. It only comes off when I am in certain fields that give me enough of a view to be able to take it off

I was the same when I used to walk our Alsatian. Just because of his breed I wouldn't walk in public with him off the lead, people get funny about Alsatians, and with good reason the reputation they have! As long as I could see there was no livestock about or people approaching then he was allowed off, he was so obedient off the lead anyway but I was never willing to take the risks.

[ophic]

What is this insurance for though? Your already liable for any damage or injury your dog causes, even on your own land.

Our old GSD Byron grabbed a burglar climbing into our kitchen window, and pulled him down on to the worktop, and sat there growling at him until they were discovered in the morning. Outside the kitchen window there is at least 10 yards of our garden. The only bit of the window that opens is a fairly narrow pane at the top and its well above head height.

The judge ruled that because the guy wasn't more than 50% inside the house, he wasn't actually burgling, and that the dog pulled him inside. Miss Ophic had to pay damages to the guy, and Byron was taken away to be assessed. Fortunately, being the intelligent, well behaved creature he was, he came back shortly after.

Sometimes you wish he wasn't so well trained, and had ripped the intruder to shreds.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

Sorry if this has already mentioned, I may have missed it but this whole dog insurance malarky, would it not be an idea to have to only pay third party if your dog is in one of the top 20 dog breeds most likely to be/become aggressive? I know this is somewhat hard to judge with every dog having the potential to become aggravated and snap at someone, but breeds such as bull terriers, rottweilers, GSDs and so on (with somewhat of a reputation and more commonly used as guarding breeds) are possibly more a problem?

.

I should imagine any pet insurance policy already has this in place. I think mine pays upto a million quid if one of my dogs was to person, property or other animal. (not sure of the correct rule but its somewhere near that).

You could bounce up and down all day to get Bob to snap, and being half breed of your top 20, he is supposed to be categorised with all the riff raff that do. However I reckon you've more of a chance with Honey showing her true colours and shes none of your list of top 20....

so how can someone anyone put any dog into a category? The law for this would be somewhat flawed, as you can't judge every dog on a preconception of a breed, or indeed heinz 57.

[the_lone_wolf]

Has anybody mentioned that your 3rd party liability risk is already covered by most home insurance providers, meaning it's double handed to insure yourself for the same risk again...

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

Has anybody mentioned that your 3rd party liability risk is already covered by most home insurance providers, meaning it's double handed to insure yourself for the same risk again...

Your home insurance usually has a get out about "if not covered by other insurance" otherwise cars/cycles/photographic gear/credit card purchases would all be double insured (depending on what insurances you have).

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by simesb

Your home insurance usually has a get out about "if not covered by other insurance" otherwise cars/cycles/photographic gear/credit card purchases would all be double insured (depending on what insurances you have).

Err... So don't take out dog insurance and your TP liability cover is valid, making the supplementary dog insurance worthless

I thought this was obvious?

[dizzyblonde]

The third party thing is just part of dog insurance in general, or house.
Your house insurance can't pay you for massive vet bills if poochy is knocked over, or has a cut paw....which costs one of your arms, legs or kidneys if you aren't insured.

Come on it costs less than 15 quid per month to insure each of my dogs. I've had to use it once when they had a big scrap(thankfully one has grown balls and the other has decided she can live with him without eating him ).
Sure the 50 quid excess stings a bit, but compared to thousands if you aren't covered if poor dog has broken leg and internal bleeding (and any other really nasty thing you can think of for illustration) on top of over night care, operation, drugs......

...I'd rather pay my premiums thanks, and my home insurance.

[fastdruid]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle7052392.ece

Druid

Nobody is sure of exactly what this insurance will be yet. As these are just proposals but knowing the government they could end up being pretty ridiculous.

I havent read all of the replies to this and ive only jut got out of bed so most of this post could be drivel.

There was one report that mentioned that chipping all dogs could lead to them being tracked from above, so if an attack does occur then they can pinpoint where and when the attack happened. Wether thats true or not i dont know but even that is stupid idea in itself. My dog is already chipped and she isnt being chipped again.

I think somebody mentioned that you should prove you can control your dog to a certain extent before having a license for the animal, the kennel club already have something similar in place for the bronze award basic training, but i cant see chavs turning up to their local village hall on a friday evening for puppy training by a fat woman who has her dogs face on her jumper can you? I did and i loved it. A couple of weeks ago i saw some chave loitering outside the local spar, one of which had a staffy. They found it amusing to watch the dog eat chips that were thrown on the floor and pour beer onto its tounge, these people have no brains!

I still think dogs will only attack if provoked. You tease the dog and beat it when its a pup then it will be wary of people for life and it will go for you if you p*** it off. Even approaching it when it doesnt want you to, be it enetering their territory or outside a shop, whatever, to them its threatening. All the kids that have been mauled in the past by dogs have in some way P***** the dog off therefore provoking the animal, but you shouldnt leave kids with dogs anyway imo

My collie has nipped me quite a few times, for wht reason i can never figure out but its never an angry nip, its always through play. Shes even nipped my 4yr old nephew. Ive told him countless amount of times not to tease her so when she did he deserved it. If it went any further and attacked i would have no problem taking the dog out the back and drowning it in the pond but i know for a fact she wouldnt go any further, so if this insurance is a seperate one from a usual pet insurance then pffff... im not paying it.

Probably havent covered everything and like GG, ive lost track of what im saying now

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

The third party thing is just part of dog insurance in general, or house.
Your house insurance can't pay you for massive vet bills if poochy is knocked over, or has a cut paw....which costs one of your arms, legs or kidneys if you aren't insured.

True but unrelated to the point I was making, the proposals put forth are for dog owners to be forced to take out 3rd party liability cover in case their dog bites someone, but this risk is already covered by most people's home insurance

As for vet's bills, we self insure...