poodle proud

Thankyou to those whose posts have been kind and informative I have not been on dogzonline for 18 months or so. But last time I was here people didn't flame you for being upset about something or not choosing a title of a post with pinpoint accuracy.... It might not apply to you Winterpaws but some people struggle to afford pet ownership but do want to try and have their pet's interests looked after. Increasing the burden of that puts some people out of the market and then some people have to make decisions about euthanasia rather than scraping funds together for operations and treatment.

Oh dear....I feared this was probably the case. I imagine shopping around probably won't yield a more reasonable premium. I don't get worked up about much but I think they just expect people will just keep paying it. I understand the premise that if you claim, your premium is recalculated, however, just giving themselves scope to increase premiums while making out like they are doing you a favour is just wrong. And for all those insisting on correcting me about it not being a 'scam', I shall endeavour to alter it, although I imagine most people would realise this is a vent...

I know. Hence, why I wanted to find out what I would be up for in later years. She even said because it had increased "so significantly" it was "unlikely it would go up again for a while". What to make of that I wonder.....

Hi Janba, no, we have never claimed for Osca. It's just the way they are calculating premiums now.

Bundy's mum, I am aware of this however my child sponsorship does not even go up $10 per month in 1 year...... And neither has my pet insurance in over the 5 years of having it....

Ok, so we are not strangers to pet insurance and (until this point) have believed it quite useful. So I get the annual renewal information for the policies and Bow wow meow pet insurance says that they now calculate premiums on a "risk-based method". So the preface it by saying " It hardly seems fair that the same premium is charged for both a 10 year old Great Dane and a 1 year old miniature fox terrier where, in reality, the veterinary risk and cost for these pets differ significantly!" So you are thinkingh initially, fair enough, I see their point. And I'm thinking to myself, well Osca is 6yrs old so ok his premium might have gone up a few dollars per month. No, his premium rose from $30.60 to $41.10 in 1 year. So needless to say I was furious, got on the phone to make myself heard and of course the girl says there is nothing she can do. I asked her what the premium would be for a 10 year old and she says "there is no maximum premium". Of course there isn't... So I am at a loss with what to do. Is anyone ecstatic with their pet insurance provider or does this seem like the new wave of scamming owners as most of the companies are all underwritten by Hollard Insurance? Would love to hear your thoughts. PP

I totally agree. I have had many a phone call returned by Susan or Rod. I recently rang to find out how much fish oil to give my dogs based on their weights. At the time they had no idea I was a regular customer but still returned my call within a few hours and talked me through it. They got nothing out of it but it sure helped me.

Thanks Fru Fru. I have my fingers crossed I'll see some results. Time will tell. Hope your new pup does ok on it. Sigh.... Oh for a brown poo to add to my collection lol. I apologise, perhaps I wasn't clear. They have been on nutro for about 1 year. I have gradually noticed coat changes over probably the last 6-9 months but they werent drastic. It was really the last two grooming visits that showed the coat to be becoming brittle and more sparse. He has been well in this time in himself but I had wondered if perhaps it wasnt the food that was causing the coat to be poor, that is I don't have the confidence to put it down to the food just yet. Hence why I am trialling a different food first. He has also had 3 seizures in the past 2 years which we think was related to a flea/tick treatment but the vet couldn't conclusively rule out epilepsy. These things couple with his upset tummies I admit makes me reluctant to try raw feeding. I worry about the bacteria and his ability to cope with raw. I'm not ruling it out and will do some more reading. It's very encouraging to hear the successes your dog has had with raw. I'd like to see improvement in their overall health and get rid of their itchies. If I don't see a substantaial improvement in them soon I will give RAW a proper trial Thanks very much for the websites.

They were on the lamb and rice variety. That's good to know about the dehydrated meat, I didn't know that but it makes sense. But it was more the maize in it that concerned me. Thanks poodlefan. I hadn't thought specifically a thyroid issue but had wondered if something else was going on. I'll give the new food a couple of months and then yes we will be at the vets. He had bloods done about 2 years ago and everything was fine but things can change (though I hope not). Thanks Sonia, I will have a read. I confess I havent explored or persisted too much with raw. I'm open to a raw diet but it just seems that any time Osca gets an upset stomach (which in the past has been often) it's always after a RMB. The vet has reccomended sticking to dry food. At the moment I will but I may re-evaluate if I don't see improvement.

The ingredients look pretty good. I might save it as a backup. Thanks kitkat, I did consider it but sadly the first ingredient is maize. I bought some of the proplan at petbarn and so far so good. Osca has to work a bit at chewing it but not too much. I certainly won't wait as long this time before switching if they don't do well on it. I'm impatient to see how they go on but I'll be good and do the changeover gradually Thankyou everybody for your help!

Thanks anyway Mish13, I'll ask my mate google to find me the best deal ;) And thanks Sheree, you have raised some very good points. Osca had some teeth removed that were in bad nic before we got him. His remaining teeth are in good shape. I couldnt tell you the names of the teeth he had removed but he had two up the top and two down the bottom removed. I have previously looked into The Hills Science TD and even the zd but wasn't happy with the ingredients list. Because Osca has such a sensitive gut and skin a lot of foods don't agree with him. It's almost impossible to find a food that suits sensitive guts, skin and provides good tartar control. Cavalier_rescue_QLD That's exactly what happened to Osca's coat. I was in a petbarn one day and the nutro rep was there. I told him what had happened and he couldn't believe it. He said that Nutro was better for their coat than EP (of course) but I certainly havent found that to be true. I know that some dogs don't do so well on foods as others. It is just a pain because they love the nutro. I'll look into natural balance. I think one of the online stores I buy from sells it.

Thanks! Would you mind telling me where you get yours from? Thanks Aziah. Sadly though when I do that they turn their nose up at it. But that's what I get for having poodles ;)

Thanks everyone, I haven't considered any of those before. :p Osca is 5.5 yrs and Midnight is 1.5. I am looking for a food they could both eat because they eat each others food anyway. Ive tried separating them but then they won't eat ;) Can you give a senior formula to younger dogs? Edited to ask Mish13, what is the proplan kibble like? Is it really hard or does it crumble without too much effort?

Hi all, I had my poodles on EP duck for quite some time. They didnt love it but they ate it. When supply of EP got low I switched to Nutro which they love. The only problem is that Osca's coat has become very brittle and sparse in the year they have been on it. I'd go back to the EP but the biscuits are much harder than the nutro and Osca has had some teeth removed and I think he finds it hard to eat. I know I could add water to soften but I did this before and he didn't eat it. I can't do barf because their guts are sensitive and don't tolerate it. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks PP.

We first saw Osca at his previous owners place cowering under their dining table and barking at us from there. He wouldnt come near my husband for 2 weeks. Over the past few years its been slow but he's made stacks of progress. Socialisation has helped. Initially they let us work a bit back from others in the obedience class. They also told us to bring his mat to class to make him feel more secure. It's important not to pander to them, only reinforces the anxiety as others have said. It's like a little kid, they fall over and look to you for how they should react. If you fuss it warrants their distress. If you tell them they're ok and to keep going they don't get as upset. Your parents need to be the calm, confident ones in the dog's storm. Osca barks at other dogs from his anxiety. When I see other dog's coming I talk myself into the calm, confident persona tell him to relax and walk straight past. If Osca starts to get worked up (anxious whining or barking) I give him a soft, short & sharp "hey!" just to snap him back to reality and out of the anxious state. Exercise is important too. A tired dog doesnt have the energy to stay in that anxiety for as long. I'm no behaviourist but Ive seen Osca do so well with building his trust with a select number of people. Probably about 10 people he feels comfortable around. He now has a much more measured response to strangers. The other day he went to a stranger (albeit timidly) for a pat. UNHEARD OF! They are so worth the effort, time and patience. Good luck to you and your parents.