Pet Insurance for Hunting Dog.....Yay or Nay?

[Bobbydee]

Good day Kind folks of the AO forum.

I have a question regarding Pet insurance for my hunting dog.

Is it worth it? and if so who do you guys use.

I have a pure bred Lab retriever out of prairiestorm that has gone through Goldwing kennels gun dog program. Received CKC jr hunter title.

I have obviously invested a fair bit of money into him already and would like to know if you guys with high calibre dogs insure them.

Any info regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks folks

[catnthehat]

I have always had our purebred dogs insured and it had paid off for my son as well
Some owners do not, however ,
Cat

[galspal]

I use Trupanion for my Lab and it has been amazing! We have put through just shy of 10k in different issues and they have covered everything!

Wouldn't have a dog without it

Cheers,

[SportHuntingHelp]

I just dropped $1500 on my chocolate lab I think pet insurance is a good idea.

[robson3954]

Oh hell yah. My gsp blew a shoulder ligament that required surgery...4K.
So many stories of guys without it shelling out 7-10k for things like knees etc.

Seems like over the life of a sporting dog you'll probably come out ahead.
Unless you have enough money you don't know what to do with it.

[aulrich]

If you are good at putting away money and leaving it, you can be self insured quite easy. I have friends who put 50$ a month away they typically max it out a 5k they have never had a dog go to 0 and they have had some pretty hefty bills. They have even used the vet fund to go on trips when a dog has passed.

I suck as not touching a bank account so we have trupanion, happily I guess it's been a money loosing proposition I have spent more on insurance than vet so far.

[WingmanGSP]

Originally Posted by aulrich

If you are good at putting away money and leaving it, you can be self insured quite easy. I have friends who put 50$ a month away they typically max it out a 5k they have never had a dog go to 0 and they have had some pretty hefty bills. They have even used the vet fund to go on trips when a dog has passed.

I suck as not touching a bank account so we have trupanion, happily I guess it's been a money loosing proposition I have spent more on insurance than vet so far.

X2
I believe the vets cost have gone up considerable since this pet insurance scam has developed.
Dropping $5,000 on a $750. bird dog seems outrageous to me.

Grant

[CMichaud]

How much does the insurance cost?

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by CMichaud

How much does the insurance cost?

i just looked it up

$5000 max incident
$5000 illness coverage
$400 dental
$500 deductible

is a touch under $60 a month.

AKA save your money

[Sneeze]

Originally Posted by Bobbydee

Any info regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks folks

Guys will tell you all sorts of things...

If I put $100 dollars a month into an account since I was 16 it would not be at zero for my vehicle insurance and the claims I have had.

If I put $100 dollars a month into an account for my house insurance I would not be at zero for my house insurance and the claims I have had.

Does that mean house or vehicle insurance isn't a good idea for me?

The purpose of insurance isn't to break even or make money. The purpose is so your not out on your butt when things go wrong.

A torn ACL can run 5k. Getting hit by a car can cost more. If you can't afford a 5k hit at once to keep your best friend alive, spend the $80 a month you can afford so your dogs knee operation doesn't keep you from putting braces on your daughter.

[albertabighorn]

Absolutely for all dogs its paid off in over 10000 worth of knees, stitches, ect

[Hydro1]

Originally Posted by aulrich

If you are good at putting away money and leaving it, you can be self insured quite easy. I have friends who put 50$ a month away they typically max it out a 5k they have never had a dog go to 0 and they have had some pretty hefty bills. They have even used the vet fund to go on trips when a dog has passed.

This^.
Right now I have 4k sitting in a bank account for hydro.
When I had 3 dogs, I had 12k in a bank account.

We do lots of hunting out of province and out of Canada so it's just easier for me.

[aulrich]

If the dog needs 12 k of vet intervention, there would be some hard quality of life questions asked. The way we extend companion animals lives these days pushes way into cruelty

[Teagan]

I look at it this way, I have had four hunting dogs so far and currently have two. If I were to get insurance for the young 1 year old I have I would be paying $70.00 per month for lets say 12 years. Thats 10K and I still would need to pay a deductible $250.00 per visit.

Hmmm I have never spent 10K on all of them combined on vet bills.

Sorry cannot justify, love my dogs, but I would rather the money be used for training and obedience, just my thoughts

Mick

[albertabighorn]

Originally Posted by aulrich

If the dog needs 12 k of vet intervention, there would be some hard quality of life questions asked. The way we extend companion animals lives these days pushes way into cruelty

Lots of assumptions in that post. Meniscus tears in each knee bill was over 10000 I paid my deductible of 250. She has a great quality of life, runs fine, no pain. Stitches and antibiotics for a laceration on her chin cost 800 dollars. For me it has saved my ass from being broke.

[Ruffy Hunter]

I've had pet insurance on 2 pet dogs. The company we were dealing with was pet care insurance, I would definitely not recommend this company they would fight us on every claim. Example she tore her right ACL running around it was an accident, they wouldn't cover it. Even though the policy clearly stated accedents were covered, so we had the vet fix it out of our own pocket. After that she never had a problem with the right knee then two years later after I bumped the insurance up to their best package she tour her left knee, when we put the claim in for that knee we were told again it would not be cover due to it being a pre-existing injury because of the other knee. In my opinion you're better off to try to bank some money every month and create your own emergency vet fund. So we have not bothered to get any for our new English / German wirehair pointer pup.

Good luck

[swifthunter]

I'd say it's probably a good idea, I never got it with my two labs. One has been fairly good with no incidents but the other has blown both ACL's with a ~$3k bill for each one it would have been nice to have the insurance. It sucks having cost of a treatment deciding your dogs fate.

[densa44]

Its the deductible that gets my attention, and the "you're not covered for that" stories I have heard.

Did you know you can haggle with the Vet and shop around? I do it all the time.

[Sierra1]

I have a working dog who is now retired. I had him insured his whole life. I was lucky and he never had a serious injury when he was young. But he's lived to 13 and is still going...and has a good quality of life. I added up all I've paid for insurance and all I've got back...I'm ahead.

[ant12hony]

What if your 10k dog gets run over?? Or shot?? You are then out of a good/best friend and lost a lot of money!! I think it would be a very good idea!

Anthony

[Hydro1]

Originally Posted by aulrich

If the dog needs 12 k of vet intervention, there would be some hard quality of life questions asked. The way we extend companion animals lives these days pushes way into cruelty

4k per dog.
12k 3 dogs.
My old (dead now) running walker racked up a 2500$ vet bill from running into a single strand of barbed wire. No broken bones or anything. Just lacerations, to the chest and neck.

Lots of relatively "minor" injuries can tally up quite the bill in a hurry.
Not going to put a dog down if it's quality of life will remain the same.

[aulrich]

Yea I know if you take a fart at a vet office it will cost 500$. But in the end insurance is only a what if pre-payment plan. So you can be self insured or insured through a company but it's good to have your buddy covered.

[Rancid Crabtree]

I'll be the cold hearted one and suggest keeping a spare dog.
We use border collies in our daily ranch work, some of them become quite valuable. It's a tough job that carries some risk. We always have a couple young dogs coming up in the event of losing one to injury ( very rare ).
I'm not sure the insurance policy is worth paying, I've never had insurance.
I have a similar view on our ranch horses.

[Bobbydee]

Thanks for all of the input guys.

This will help in making my decision.

Definitly going to get a few quotes and review some of the policies as to what is covered and what is not before i make a decision.

Some very valid points were raised on this thread that i would not have considered before.

Thanks again.