Wow, great blog news

I just had to share this with everyone. In about 10 days this blog will be 2 years old!!! In dog years that is full grown. If you were around when I first started this blog almost 2 years ago, then you would know that it was started out as an example of how to start, monetize and promote a blog. I can honesty say that it has worked out great. This is my 198th post.

In that time the blogger format has changed and yet I still like the clean look of this blog as it is. I might change it in the near future but for now just plain white with just a few ads are fine. For those of you who are interested, the most searched word that leads people to this blog is "saluki."

Life insurance for your high valued dog

I was visiting some of the many dog breeding message boards today and one of the questions that came up was life insurance for an expensive litter of puppies. The breeder had 8 puppies that were valued at over $2K each and she was looking for a company that offered life insurance for dogs. Now she was NOT looking for medical/vet insurance for the pups but mortality insurance. Many people gave her some suggestions and she called them all. Most of the companies were out of business or were limited to livestock and not domestic animals.

So I went on a search to see what I could find. Boy, did I find a lot of mis-information out there. Many bloggers were simply not informed at all about the difference of the many types of dog, livestock and pet insurance policies there are. Most were confusing insurance related to vet care should the dog get sick or injured not mortality insurance should the dog die. Their poorly written article might also be an attempt at affiliate marketing for life insurance leads but they are misleading their readers. What I did find is that there is a very limited number of companies that do insure show dogs or prize breeding dogs.

If you are looking for such insurance I suggest you start on the AKC website and your own breed club website. They often have the best resources for breeders of high quality show dogs.

Insurance with your dog in mind

When you buy insurance do you have your dog in mind? Not many dog owners do. Quite frankly most people are looking for the cheapest auto insurance or homeowners insurance they can find. They often don't realize that some auto insurance policies will cover their dog should they be also involved in an auto accident with you. Some homeowners insurance policies actually discriminate against dog ownership.

The next time you are shopping for insurance, keep your dog in mind and ask questions. Often the cheapest policy is not the best.

A touch of personalization

Call me a bling fanatic, but I love little touches of personalization for my dogs. After all, they all wear dog tags with their name and my contact info on their collars. One of them has a food mat with his name on it (presented to me by a good friend) and another one has everything color coordinated.

Of course I love giving personalized gifts too. One friend had a dog that would always get out so I got him a dog collar for his dog that had the dog's name and his phone number on it, in neon, because the dog was always getting out at night. It actually came in handy once when he got a phone call from the local vet. Someone had found the dog and turned her over to the vet to call the owner. The people were just traveling through and did not have the time to wait for the owner.