westiemum

Troll 

Or Henry Hottie do something similar which wears really well. 

Grrrr.... rest my case from ages ago.   

Briard? 

Thanks to all the DOL brains trust for all your help and advice - very grateful.   And apologies to the OP for the thread high-jack... but maybe it might help... 

An update.  Please don't laugh too loudly but I had a light bulb moment this morning (which might help someone else - and yes I can be a bit slow at times! LOL!).  Anyway, this new little  westie girl apart from a couple of weeks in the breeders house I think has been an outdoor dog - and there's no doggy door here.  So the poor thing has probably been as confused as hell about toiletting since she arrived last Sunday week.  

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny autumn day here today - so I left the back sliding door open and bingo!  She's been wandering in and out every now and then for most of the day, and really enjoying following the suntraps around.  And yesterday we were visiting Leo the mini Schnauzer in the Adelaide Hills and she had a doggy door there and spent a lot of time outside with the boys.  And no accidents inside either in the Adelaide Hills or at home since Wednesday night - not even when I got busy this afternoon.  And the level of tension in the house has melted away.

We're moving to a new rental house next Tuesday so I think the key to this is easy outdoor access - so I've rung my favourite doggy door man - and I think what I'll do is put on a 'new' back door from gumtree and then install a doggy door - and then when I move out take my back door and doggy door with me and put the original door back on! 

Here she is.  Meet Mia, 4 years who now lives with Andy and me... 

Mia on the bed and Andy...

And Mia in a sun-trap on the lounge this afternoon...

Thanks tons MM - I've just walked around with her in the garden and she weed on the grass outside!  WooHoo!  So I've made a big fuss of her and given her a little treat! 

I've just sprayed the wee spots on the mat with white vinegar  and lightly sprayed the rest of the mat - will see if that helps. 

Sheena the trick to buying anything from OS is to work out the sweet spot for postage and to buy a number of items for the same postage in the same parcel - The postage is always expensive in AUD and its not exactly cheap here either.  AusPost prices are terrible as well.  But I usually find that the OS goods themselves are cheaper and so it usually works out in the end.  For example, if I buy a couple of shirts from Lands End in the US, the postage spread across three items is a stack cheaper than buying the equivalent product here. 

When it comes to seat protectors, I think the Orvis ones are very well priced for the quality compared with the expensive rubbish available here. So it then becomes a question of deciding if you want to suck up the postage.    When I bought my Orvis mesh back seat cover, IIRC I also bought a cover for the lounge which made the postage more palatable.   

Hope you don't mind me jumping in Aimeedog but I've the same problem. 

I have a new 4 year old westie here who's only been here ten days - and she is insisting on weeing inside.    Its now driving me up the wall and being in the middle of moving house is not helping.  I take her outside on the grass, she sniffs around for ages, occasionally does a wee outside which I reinforce her positively for but most times she just sniffs outside, then comes inside and next thing I know she's weed on the mat inside.  I'm taking her outside at least 5 or 6 times a day but she still wees inside.  I was going to roll up the mats she's been weeing on but I'm worried she'll then just wee on the carpet (this is a rental!).  I've been really diligent in trying to reinforce weeing outside.  

She's a lovely westie but this is really driving me insane.  I'm too busy to supervise her 24/7 - particularly since I was told she was house-trained.  Also had the same problem with a 4 year old female foster late last year - so maybe its this house?  But Andy, my older westie is genuinely perfect and never wees or poos inside.   Go figure.  Hoping the move next Tuesday to a new house might help with the problem.   

Really grateful for any advice anyone.  TIA!

Gorgeous dog! 

Yes they ship to Australia. 

Yes there are two underwriters - Pet plan are with Lloyds or a (subsidary of Lloyds?) now - and the rest are with Hollards - but the policies and PDSs vary a bit.  They all seem to have traps for the unwary - so it seems the trick is to be aware of those traps (eg the $300 consulation sublimit) and select the one that best suits your breed and pocket.  

I'm leaning towards Pet Barn at the moment based on the CanStar Report from early last year.  Anyone have any experience making claims with them? 

Just continuing to look at 'the fine print' of various policies - anyone know of a decent policy which doesn't cap consultations to a measly $300 per annum?  This seems ridiculous to me - one specialist consultation and you're gone for the year! 

Ah I see!  With pet insurance you have a yearly benefit claim limit that is set by your policy - it varies widely it seems from 7.5k to 20k depending on your choice of policy and level of premium.   There are also some exclusions which I don't like and think are unfair such as bilateral conditions (blow one ACL and the other leg then becomes automatically excluded :  

But yes in an emergency (or indeed for planned interventions) its always a risk that the claim might be later declined. But luckily for me I've never had a claim declined - and as with car or house insurance I find that one major claim can put you 'ahead' for years. 

So I suppose I'm still erring on the side of insuring for major accidents and illness rather than not.  Hmn....

From the Orvis website here.  I bought the grip tight windowed hammock seat protector in the hope it wouldn't slip around as much - and it doesn't.  And the window allows for much better air c irculation - particularly on hot days.  And it was much cheaper than my original back seat buddy.   Love it. 

5 minutes ago, The Spotted Devil said:

I do get the security of having pet insurance but I think it’s kinda crazy that it would cost me as much as my house insurance to cover my lot and yet there are so many things it won’t cover. Especially as I have 8 and 14 year old cats and an 11 year old dog. And they seem to change their conditions whenever they like. 

 

If you can budget well then I’d suggest putting away an emergency fund. Even if you take out insurance for 12 months whilst you save for it. Everyone should have one for themselves anyway. Mine sits on my mortgage but if you will be tempted to spend it then squirrel it away. 

Yep absolutely get that Spotty - the only glitch in that plan that I see is that vet costs, particularly for major illnesses have risen so much as human level diagnostics are now increasingly available for animals, its almost impossible to save enough  premium equivalents to cover even a minor illness.  I found this out with my mothers cat Mark's cancer - that cost thousands in the space of ten days of diagnostics and surgery - and while insurance won't cover the complete cost insurance is often the difference between saying 'yes' and saying 'no' (and we all know what that can mean  ). 

So I'm inclined to insure and review carefully each year at renewal time.  

Sorry Thistle, not sure what you're asking?  I insure (house, car, pets etc) for stuff I can't afford and I would battle to pay for myself - so yes emergencies are covered under pet insurance (assuming they aren't excluded under the policy) and depending on the level of cover you take out some routine stuff can be covered as well (although I don't usually bother to cover this stuff as I prefer to pay for that myself).  Is that what you were asking?

On 5/13/2018 at 7:15 AM, Boronia said:

Bow Wow Meow are not too bad

Thanks B - the only thing that makes me wary about them is they have one of the lowest annual benefit limits (8k) on the market. 

Hi All, still wending my way through this.  Have ditched PetPlan - they drop the amount of benefit payable to 65% after age 7 (but of course not the premium cost!)  which is a deal breaker for me.  

So are there any other insurers that people are really happy with?  

Thanks PK. Didn't know that.

Backseat Buddy or Orvis (but everyone knows I love Orvis!) LOL!!

Hi All,

While I know its been done to death, who's the best pet insurance company at the moment do you think?  (By best I mean value for money and easy to get paid out for genuine claims without a lot of tricky exclusions).   It's for a female westie who's just turned 4.   

I've looked at the Canstar Report from mid-2017 and narrowed it down to Pet Insurance Australia and Pet Plan. The major differences I see are Pet Plan are much more expensive (like double the monthly premium) but pay 100% of claims.  PIA are much cheaper but only pay 80% with an excess.  Both have $15k yearly benefit limits.

Thoughts?  Recommendations? 

TIA.  

While I know this won't make me popular, the solution is simple.  Make the effort and don't feed commercial dog food.  You can't know what's in it, it's made to maximise profits and not for your dogs health and in my mind its just Macca's for dogs.  Imagine being fed that  same gunk day in, day out?  

Thats terrific - I hope it all went well today!! 

Hi PM,  For older dogs I suggest a bed with a waterproof lining under the fabric cover such as those from Orvis (and before you freak at the price, you can buy the covers only which vastly cuts down on shipping) and pairing it with a Snuggle Safe and washable blanket (I find the $4 or $5 jobs from Ikea are ideal - wash like rags and dry quickly).  I've had my Snuggle Safes for years, probably since Mac was about 10 so about 2009 - and they are fabulous - work like a charm.  And they seem to have come down in price in recent years.