What Your Homeowners Insurance Covers For Pets

Your cute little puppy is a great addition to the family. Your new bouncing bundle of joy puts a smile on your face until you find him happily chewing on your shoe, or the leg of your chair. This you can control, but what about when your puppy gets bigger and decides to tear up your neighbors flower bed or possibly bites someone?

As much as we train and love our pets, we do have to have protection for the the not so proud moments that can happen. It is a good idea to be vigilant about your dog’s interactions with visitors to your home. Typically, the liability portion of your home insurance coverage should cover the actions of your pets if they damage items that you don’t own or if they injure people who do not live in your house.

Be aware that there are certain types of pets that can make it difficult to obtain home, renters or condo insurance. Dog bites make up one-third of all homeowner insurance liability claims, according to the Insurance Information Institute. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and about 885,000 require medical attention for these injuries; about half of these are children.”

In general you can purchase home insurance protection for your pets indiscretions for most types of domestic pets. Some insurance companies will provide you a list of certain types of dogs that they may consider not insurable. What they are basing their information on is the breeding history, temperaments and the risk factors. So, if a particular dog breed has a documented history of attacks or bites, some insurance companies may consider this risk to be too high, thus causing the company to deem the breed UN-insurable.

Common dog breeds that are often not considered insurable include:

* Akita
* Alaskan Malamute
* Chow Chow
* Doberman Pinscher
* German Shepherd
* Pit Bull
* Presa Canario
* Rottweiler
* Siberian Husky
* Staffordshire Bull Terrier
* Wolf hybrids

Exotic animals, such as snakes, tigers, etc., also may fall in the not-insurable category. Check with us today to see if owning any of the pets above has limitations. When you apply for home insurance, disclose information about any pets you have to ensure your policy will properly cover you involving your pet.

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Tips For Traveling On The Road With Pets

Pets to many are family members. When we travel on road trips or to the beach, we like to take our dog with us. As you would want to keep any of your family members safe while traveling, also consider your pet.

Prepare yourself and your pet before the trip.

If your pet is only accustomed to traveling in the family car except for the trip to the veterinarian, you may want to start out with introducing them with small rides perhaps to a dog park, beach or area they can get out, have fun and know that every time they get in the car, it is not to the vet’s office.

If you are planning an overnight trip or even longer and plan to stay at a hotel, call ahead of time to be sure the hotels in the area’s you plan to stay will accept pets and even if they charge more will be good to know.

On the Road

Plan to break up your trip by heading toward Rest Stops that offer bathrooms, food and a place to stretch your and your pets’ legs. It will renew your energy and your certainly do not want to be fatigue to set in. Be sure you have a water dish and possibly bottled water for them too. There are also those times when someone asks for a bathroom break not on the schedule, remember your pet may not be able to help a bathroom break in the car.

Talk to your veterinarian for advice on planning your pet’s mealtime and bathroom break schedule.

Your Pets Safety While in the Car

Just like you would with a baby or toddler, consider a car seat or carrier for your pet. This will help to protect them in case of an accident and also minimize any distractions for the driver which could lead to an accident and make your auto insurance increase.

Never, Never leave your pet in the Car Alone

Leaving your pets in a parked car with the windows up could be detrimental. Your car can heat up to 120 degrees in just minutes according to the Humane Society on warm days. In Florida during the summer, every day is hot!

Make sure you take your pet with you or have someone stay with them if you have to run into a store, bathroom etc., even for just a few minutes.

Being prepared ahead of time will help you and everyone with you have an easier and more enjoyable trip, even for your pet.

 

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of tiverylucky.  at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Fun Game To Teach Your Dog To Sit Stay and Retrieve

Playing games helps your dog release energy, feel useful, bond with you (the best part) and learn commands like sit, stay and retrieve. Teaching your dogs tricks is great but when they run around happy because they just accomplished a goal in a game even better!

Indoor games are great anytime and when the weather is too hot, too cold or stormy. Be careful to not let your dog overheat if playing outside, make sure they have plenty of water and if you notice glassy eyes or a lot of panting, take a break and let them cool down. Start out slow when it comes to running and jumping for your dog, so they can gradually work into a routine of exercise.

Now onto the fun!

Hide The Treat: This game is good for teaching your dog to sit, stay and retrieve.

Break up a large treat into 4 pieces or use small treats. Place them in your hand and close it up leaving an opening by your thumb for your dog to smell the treat. Ask the dog to sit, then smell the treat and tell the dog to stay. Walk into another room and hide the treat behind the door, a chair or someplace on the floor to start so your dog will get an understanding of the game. You can move onto other hiding places like in a couch or a little higher on a chair (if they can reach) as you go on. Then call the dog to come into the room and encourage them to find the treat. Once the dog does a bunch of sniffing around and accomplishes the goal your dog will be happy for the treat and you letting them know they just did a good thing. This builds up confidence in the dog and a bond between you both.

Go back to the same spot you started at and ask the dog to sit, smell and stay. Walk into another room they cannot see you in and hide another treat and repeat until all 4 treats are gone and then let them know they are great and the game is over by moving on to something else.

You could also put the dog in a room while you hide the treats then bring the dog out and let him or her smell your hand with one treat in it. Take the dog from one room to another for the treats, giving a hug, pet, telling them “Good Dog” or all three each time they accomplish the goal of finding the treat. You can make the first room easy and make it more challenging for the next three rooms. Try not to hide the treats in the same places, as your dog is smart and will keep going back to those places from memory.

Enjoy!

 

Photo Courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net