New Puppy Mommies in here *blerk*

[Awks]

Got our new puppy on Saturday. I was in tears this morning and I'm a pretty experienced dog owner. Its just so hard moaning cow that I am He is a 9 week old cocker and is a beautiful, cuddly boy but is a massive shitting machine. And not in the garden either.

So any new puppy owners want to weep in here then please do.

Learning so much from this! Sorry about all my questions, but this is our first pup! Any tips on insurance - what to avoid or what to look for specifically?

Booked him in for his first injections on the 10/9...sure little Floyd will hate me that day!

moosemama - so lovely to hear that your Wheathen was so wonderful. We put a lot of thought into breeds and the wheaten sounded just right for us....provided I can be strong and hold my nerve when he's crying the first few nights!

Floyd comes wormed from the breeder - will i have to worm again? What about flea stuff....?? So much to learn!

Who could do that to puppies- just abandon them?

Callie has got top marks for health bar being mildly dehydrated due to not drinking much She perked up just as we got in the car with her to the vets. Better safe than sorry, though, I'm glad we had the appointment, and the vet checked her for pretty much everything that could give those symptoms and we will go back if we see any in her big sister or in her again.

I know - so so awful. Some people are just cruel!

Ohalvo, it's best to go for a lifetime cover policy and a minimum of £7,000 per year cover if you can afford it. The pet insurance market is a bit wobbly at the moment. Three insurers tried to pull out last year and Axa have pulled out this year, so it's safest to go for a dedicated pet insurance company, such as Pet Plan or Pet Protect, rather than a multi-insurance company if you want long-term security.

These links might help:

Money Saving Expert

The Telegraph

Don't just take their basic cover advice from quotes at face value. Make sure you read the policy documents and terms and conditions carefully, as some have exclusions eg, not covering the full cost of cruciate ligament operations or excluding all dental treatment.

Pups need to be wormed every two weeks up to 12 weeks old, then monthly until 6 months before going onto an adult worm and flea protocol. Your vet will be able to advise you at your first appointment.

Roasted, so pleased Callie is feeling better and the vet is happy with her.

We had been looking at a John Lewis one about 20 pounds a month - 7500 per year plus 7500 dental. I know you suggested a dedicated plan but this seemed to be the best I could find under 20 a month - should we consider upping our budget for thins do you think? Thanks moosemama!

Is it whole life? That's what we are looking for. Apparently the NFU is a good policy and they pay up quickly - according to my mum!

Is that a time limited or lifetime policy though Ohalvo. Some policies offer £7,500 for the year, but then won't pay for those conditions again after that year is up. A lifetime policy covers every illness for life, although some do stipulate a maximum lifetime benefit (usually between £20,000 and £30,000).

Bear in mind, whatever policy you get, the premiums will go up and up every year, so the lower the starting premium the better. Some insurance policies went up by 40% last year, even for people that didn't have any big claims.

Hi Sally Bear - says 'treatment limit per year' 7500. Does that means it is reinstated at the end of each year, or that its for life I wonder??? Going to keep googling and will keep you updated! Found a pet plan one for 22 per month but lifetime cover is only 4000....hmmm!

There are a few threads on here over the past couple of months about insurance, with people saying whether they've had good or bad experiences with individual companies.

On one thread someone said NFU had been great, on another someone said they'd never use them again, but that's a similar story for pretty much all the big ones.

My dogs were always insured with Pet Plan and Pet Protect, before we had to cancel their policies as their premiums, plus old-age supplement made it impossible for us to afford it for 3 dogs. I never had any problems with either company trying to wriggle out of paying or any customer service admin problems, but they are slightly more expensive than some of the general insurance companies.

Treatment limit per year will be the limit for all illness or injury treatment in one year, rather than per individual condition.

You need to check if that's 'Annual Cover', because if it is, it means that any conditions that come up in a given year immediately get treated as a pre-existing condition at renewal and will no longer be covered.

Best way to be sure is to read the policy documents and terms and conditions.

OK Sally Bear and moosemama - checked out JL pet insurance.

Says as follows :

John Lewis Pet Insurance offers long term cover for your pet, which means you?ll be able to claim for ongoing conditions. There is no time limit on how long treatment can last and we'll pay up to your chosen vet fee limit each year as long as we can continue to offer cover, your premiums are paid and the policy is renewed each year.

For example, if your dog gets arthritis you?ll be covered each time they need treatment up to your chosen vet fee limit each year, as long as you?re insured with us and your premiums are up to date.

Can I rely on this cover year after year?

Yes. As long as your Pet Insurance policy is renewed with us and your payments are up to date we'll keep providing cover.

Once your pet reaches the age of nine or over, the excess alters and you pay the Vets Fees Cover excess chosen, or 20% of the treatment costs, whichever is greater, for each condition, in each period of insurance.
If your pet has an accident, they'll be covered for dental treatment they need as a result, but any regular dentistry isn't covered.

Any thoughts? sounds quite good to me..I think! So the chosen vet fee limit would be £7500 per year for us...

I think that sounds OK Ohalvo.

I haven't had a quote off them yet. Might go and check them out now.

Biggest problem I'm having is that Lurcherboy is nearly 8 and some insurers won't cover him for life now. It works out different if I put crossbreed - which technically he is, as he's a mix of 4 different breeds and Lurcher isn't actually a pedigree breed anyway, but they always seem to have Lurcher down as an option instead. One insurer does say they're crossbreeds, but asks for the dominant breed. If you put greyhound they refuse to insure them after the age of 5! Would have problems there with Pip as well, as we have no clue what his dominant breed is.

Oh dear - they certainly do try and make it as confusing as possible! I'm going to call them tomorrow to have a chat and find out more - give them a try, you never know! Thanks for all your advice too - it is much appreciated! Keep me updated as to how you get on!

They really do. Which is why I keep balking and haven't managed to get a policy up and running yet. I'm worried I'll end up committing to something that doesn't meet our needs, but as dh says, better some cover than none with a pup that isn't in the best of health anyway and likes to eat all manner of things he shouldn't.

Pet plan was £27 as opposed to JL at £35. Hmmmmmm.

Olly had second jab. Also kennel cough and got a thorough check over. He's in fine health apart from ear mites which is now being treated. I had noticed his ears were funky so cleaned them, but thought it was just spaniel ears.

Anyway, he will be fine, he's wormed and doesn't need doing again for 3 months now! I've got ear cleaner, ear ointment and will do this twice per day. Back in 10 days to make sure his lugs are sorted.

Then I had to take big dog for boosters, kc and he is in great health apart from slightly underweight but keeping weight on him has always been hard! Only wish I had the same issue!

Just a word of warning for everyone if you use tennis balls to play, I don't mean on the odd occasion but every day. They act as a sort of sandpaper and can flatten dogs back teeth! Back to rubber balls for big dog again.

A quick word on insurance. We went with More Than for pup and 2 year old as they seemed to offer the best value. Took it out the day he arrived so was gutted to learn it didn't kick in for 14 days. Cost us over£200 when he was ill one week in :(

Jax, you can buy dog specific tennis balls which are less sandpapery, Lurcherboy's beloved pink tennis ball was specifically for dogs, but can't think for the life of me where we got it from.

The other thing to remember is that if your dogs is any larger than Collie sized and they catch the ball mid-flight while moving forwards they can get them lodged in the back of their mouth/top of their throat, so you need to be careful with that as well.

Sally was that £27 for £4,000 or £7,000?

Good point MOG, most have 14 days, but some will exclude anything that shows symptoms within the first 30 days - although will treat accidents during that period. Again, it's a case of (excuse the pun) paw-ing through the small print.

£27 for £7k moose.

Just checked, Pip's quote was £21.32 for £7,000 Covered for Life Classic with Pet Plan.

I was going to go with them, just wanted to read the fine print again before I committed, when I realised they do have Lurcher in their breed list and if I put Lurcher for him his quote goes up to £30.12!

Not sure what to do now, as we don't actually know what his breed is, just that he's pointy with long legs, but the vets have him down as a Lurcher, so if we put crossbreed I assume it will invalidate the insurance policy, might have to ring them.

You'd probably have to do a doggy DNA test!! read this!

I have heard that they are particularly picky with dental stuff and you have to make sure your vet checks the teeth every 12 months. That's easy enough to ensure though, you just need to ask them to check them over when they get their boosters each year and most do it automatically then anyway.

Pet Plan were very good when we lost my lovely Boxer x boy. He had lots of tests, treatment and surgery for cancer the year before and they paid up promptly without question. Then, when it returned a year later (vet screwed up tests and he was misdiagnosed with wrong type of cancer by a locum during the foot and mouth crisis) they were on the ball again and paid up without question. The only surprise was that because he had to be pts mid-year, they didn't pay out. Can't remember exactly, but something to do with the amount we were claiming vs the as yet unpaid premiums for the rest of that year.

Just called them and explained that both dogs were either of unknown parentage or in Lurcherboy's case, he is a mix of 4 breeds, as he's the offspring of 2 crossbreeds, but that they both appear to be lurchers in appearance and they quoted me the original lower price for Pip and £20.00 cheaper for Lurcherboy, so definitely worth calling them.

Now have a price of £21.29 for Pip for £7,000 lifetime cover and £22.45 for Finn or £43.83 joint cover.

Just need to speak to dh, but I think I'm going to go ahead with that. Just not sure whether to go for individual cover or joint, as Lurcherboy's premiums are bound to shoot up quickly due to his age.

I know some people who have done those DNA tests to find out their crossbreed or lurcher's heritage. Unfortunately they are really shonky and people have had some very strange results back suggesting breeds they know can't possibly be in their dog's mix.

Still think it'd be a fun thing to do though.