FHRP

I think this is the worst thing. If that happened to me I would ask for a refund for that amount and then cancel the policy. Unfortunately from reading other reviews on facebook, it seems all too common. When I rang them during the week and I questioned my other dogs renewal they said they would email me the updated rates. I have received nothing.

They really should not have taken out the first months payment without agreement of the new policy anyway! Regardless of payment method. My car insurance renewal etc. always arrives well in advance so I can stop the renewal of the policy before the first payment.

Make sure you add a review and let them know what you think.

Their cover was good, but with almost every claim I've made I've had to phone to follow it up and payment has been slow. My last claim with my pup I rang weeks after putting in the claim and they said they were waiting on full history, which I had already provided. Looks to me like they've basically renamed their policies as a way to hike their premiums. The basics of what they sent me were almost exactly the same as what the previous policy was. I'm not prepared to pay 50% more.

Yep, I was just hit with it also. Interstingly they also took the first months out without any notice and then weeks later I received the renewal in the mail, but it's "print date" was nearly a month ago. When I rang to ask about the ridiculous increase they apologised I had a month taken out without notice, but it sounds like it's fairly standard. My second dog is due for renewal within the week and I've received no paper work. It appears to be calculated largely on the average size of the breed. My 21kg Vizsla is regarded a big dog, so her premiums whent up 50%. Although I've been happy enough with PetPlan previously, I can't afford to insure three dogs with their new premiums. I have cancelled one and told them not to renew the others. Time to get strict with the credit card and it's orignal use of pet emergencies!! I have made my thoughts known on their facebook page :)

There are a number of Working Gundog Club members in the Maitland area that train and trial in retrieving trials, it might be worth contacting the club http://retrieving.org.au/ra/wgc/index.html

I wouldn't think a healthy Labrador would need a coat in Brisbane? They already come equipped with a double coat, inlcuding a weather resistant undercoat! Unless he lacks the traditional Labrador coat or is old or infirm then surely a Labrador can cope with Brisbane day time temperatures? My dogs all have coats, but they are smooth coated dogs with no undercoat and we live in Canberra :) At times they are left with them on while I'm not home, but it's usually only my older boy and usualy the polarfleece type coats. There is a risk of a coat catching on something and causing an issue, just like with collars, but I regard that risk small enough to be outweighed by the benefit of keeping my old boy warm. I'd worry a bit about overheating with a more active dog in warmer climate.

It depends how bearable your boy is while the girl is in season and how tolerant you are! Seperating them is pretty straight forward, seperate crates, seperate toileting areas if possible or seperate toileting times, never let them together especially after the first few days etc. Even without an entire male in the house, you can't leave a bitch in season outside unattended anyway, well I won't, not even in a dog run (mine doesn't have a roof). However after about day 6 my boys become whinging obsessed idiots and in a small house on a suburban block it wears thin very quickly. It doesn't matter if they're crated near each other, in opposite ends of the house etc. I lose my patience pretty quick and send my bitch off to a trusted friend in the country that only has girl dogs and has secure facilities. Is it an option for the bitch to go back to the breeder if she comes in season while your boy is stil entire? Or maybe you will be lucky and your boy won't be as stupid as mine :laugh: Interestingly when away from the house my boys are pretty much fine and can trial and train even when they have a bitch at home for breeding. eta. Suprelorin could be an option. Be aware that it will most likely signifcantly reduce the size of your boys testicles and although I've never heard of a judge refusing a dog because of this, it could happen.

Finding collars to stop our long nose, long slim necked dogs getting to wounds is hard. When my Vizsla boy had surgery on his foot I looked at getting the Comfy Cone, but doing the measurements there wasn't a suitable size according to the websites. His muzzle was too long for any collar that fit his neck measurements. The normal cone from the vet not only stressed him but wasn't long enough to stop him getting to his foot I later discovered. And you can forget the cloud collar when a foot is involved :laugh: I hope Sailor continues to leave her wound alone, the only solution we found with my boy was to keep the wound bandaged which he left along for the most part

That was probably my own girl who got KC last year, and yes she was young, healthy and vaccinated. The KC was never life threatening or even terribly extreme but she had lots of congestion and was very uncomfortable for quite a while. She had several vet visits, anti inflamitories and antibiotics (plus 'non claimable' cough syrup, manuka honey, a vaporiser etc.). My vets aren't cheap so the pet insurance well and truly kicked in! However, I'm also rethinking future vaccination for kennel cough :D

My latest pup got his first two vaccinations (6 & 12 weeks) and was then titre tested at 16 weeks old, with a high positive titre result. He will not get the 16 week vaccination and I will revisit in 12 months to decide whether to 're-titre'. I will no longer have any further vaccination on a dog after the first two puppy shots without titre testing. I have not spoken directly with my pet insurance company about tire testing, but I seem to remember a friend said they accepted titre testing. I have not had any problems with claims with my pet insurance over the years so for me the risk of them refusing something is outweighed by the benefit of not over vaccinating.

Such a hard decision SaltyDog. Is Thabo your vizsla? Sounds like he overcame his previous health issues, I hope he can fight this one too. 12 months is a long time in a dogs life and I know I would be inclined to try too if there was a chance at another good year for him. Whichever decision you make it will be the right one for you and Thabo. Eta. I just read it was Jake the vizsla in your previous thread.

That's not what I said at all.

I'm sorry, but you have gone on and on about the breeds standard being 'fit for purpose' (isn't every breeds standard originally set due to their original purpose?) and then say that people who work their dogs in their original field don't care if they aren't standard?? There is a reason the standard specifies a certain height range, length, head type etc. To give them the best structure to do their original purpose!

What do you mean by "working"? You've got a pack scent hunting breed - are you talking about tracking? Personally that would not prove to me that your dog is fit for purpose (it's not breed specific and certainly not hunting ) but I suppose its better than nothing. (second bolding is mine) If you're trying to say that the show bred dogs in Australia are the same type as working Bassetts, I doubt very much that's the case. I'm not aware if there are any packs of 'working bassetts'in the country but this is the type used in packs in the UK, I doubt they'd do well in the show ring would you?

Haredown Whippets regularly has bowen and chiro done on her dogs, maybe send her a pm if she doesn't come into the thread soon.

I just paid $700 for hips and elbows, including scoring. Expensive I know, but still my choice of vet for xrays in this area. Lots of variation.

Hopefully your boy will be fertile again when your bitch is next in season Nicinoo1907. 6 isn't too old to breed from a male, my own boy has sired a litter at 11 years old and has another on the way! He's not a giant breed, but that probably makes the ages more comparable. If Cuda has physical issues due to age and size then you could have an AI done? This thread has been very informative and I have to say I am so glad the vet only had 6 month implants on hand when I got my boy done, which is what I wanted for him anyway. This information should be more readily available, however remember that the alternative to chemical castration is far more permanent :) Ideally there should be no need to castrate our stud dogs temporarily anyway, but if I ever have to again I'll be collecting from him first (which I did do this time).

Is someone throwing the dummies for you? I would suggest you start on an oval without cover and do a retrieve at his comfortable distance, but make sure you have plenty of room behind you. When he is returning with the first dummy, walk bakwards 4-5 steps so his return is a bit longer. Take delivery and then turn him around, get your thrower to throw a dummy into the same spot as last time and send Milo. The dog is then returning to a familiar area, but it's a slightly longer retrieve because you have backed up. Repeat this a few times so on the 4th or 5th retrieve you've increased the distance 15 or so metres. Increase it over several training sessions. I'd be hesitant to go straight from 30 to 40 metres, that's a big jump for an inexperienced dog. Remember to work on one new thing at a time, so if you're increasing distance, don't also introduce cover and/or terrain. You might need to shorten up your retrieves initially when doing this.

Happy to report that my boy who had a 6 month implant at age 9.5 years old, which appeared to wear off 14 months later, has sired a litter of 10 pups at 11 years old! About 19 months after his implant. I'm glad I didn't get him a 12 month implant going by reports in here.

:) Thanks but my only claim to fame is I have the litter brother of Lani :laugh:

Well done TSD, what a lovely achievement. Well deserved, you've certainly put in the training :)

Great stuff! How many runs today? Are you through the first day?? eta. I see there are 3 runs today. Go Em!!!

Go TSD and Em!!! Have the GSPs survived?

Both :laugh: My semi-retired 11 year old agility dog is now doing Rally and a few months ago we started Tracking I am not entirely familiar with Nosework, but I think it would be less physically taxing on a dog than Tracking? So might be an even better option? I find Rally much more interesting than obedience and even though my dog does have obedience trialing background, I think a dog with a fair amount of basic pet training, which is most agility dogs, could go into Rally quite easily. The added bonus for the agility people is that we're used to reading and walking courses :)