I had pet insurance available as a Union member. I paid on two policies. It was worth it to me- had a $2600 bill from an emergency that they covered.

Although I don’t have it now on my present dog. I probably should have gotten it on this one.

as I've paid bills for him now and once before.

Since the company we were with just raised it another $150 per yr.

I was surprised to find that ASPCA offers insurance not only for dogs/cats, but also for horses, at an extremely reasonable price. You can even pay it monthly. It doesn't cover mortality, per se, but covers a number of possible death-causing circumstances. It does not cover theft. I think I'm going to go with them anyway.

Wish we had insurance on one of the Great Pyrenees. He's developed an autoimmune disease, that they initially thought might be skin cancer--losing his hair in big scaley patches. The specialist visits, plus the meds, are killing us. And now, it may have all been for nothing anyway, since it looks like one of his knee surgical repairs has come loose. We have to help him stand up--pretty tough for old people with a 135 pound pupster.

Yes, the on line pet food company. It is administered by Trupanion, but it is specifically created for Chewy customers. My daughter bought it for her dog, They reimburse at 90 percent, and with certain vets they are able to pay them directly, because they have a relationship with the veterinarian whereby they can accept direct payment from the insurance. Otherwise, it works like any other pet insurance, you pay the bill and are reimbursed the percentage after the deductible. I have a different pet insurance on my dogs but am thinking very seriously about switching one of my dogs to this one. The other dog had a very serious medical condition about 4 years ago and the insurance paid over 8,000 on the bill. It saved her life because the emergency vet could use expensive therapies. We hesitate to change her because she would never be covered by a different insurance company for that condition, and although it s unlikely it would ever come back, we do not want to risk it.

My wife and I have owned four dogs over 21 years (sometimes a couple at a time) and we've never had the insurance. Looking back over all those years, we would not have had occasion to use it once. That is, obviously, due to having good fortune with pet health (although our German shepherd/mastiff cross has been hobbled by arthritis for years, but it's not something pet insurance would cover).

That said, the newest addition to our family is a one-year-old Bernese mountain dog. At five months, she was playing hard with another dog in the neighborhood and came home limping. We took her to the vet after it didn't get better a couple of days later. She had a partially-torn cruciate ligament in her right rear leg. It required a couple of weeks of minimal on-leash activity (mostly getting out for poops and pees) and she healed up nicely.

But the cost for fully torn cruciate ligament surgery is close to $5,000. Yikes! That made us think twice about whether we should have pet insurance. A few of our neighbors swear by it. They say it's saved them considerable money.

Still, for us, four dogs over 21 years would have added up to a whole lot paid in premiums for no claims. So we're mulling it over to this day.

This article on appropriate exercise for dogs and puppies pertains to all dogs but is especially poignant for Bernese Mountain Dogs, given their large size and potential muscular-skeletal issues. This piece is written by Nash, a New Zealand physiotherapy and preventative care specialist. Visit her blog for more information.


I have recently been getting a few young dogs coming in for AMRT sessions for arthritic changes and joint pain. So, I decided to do a newsletter ‘series’ for dogs that will include exercises and care from the young dog through to the older dog. The purpose of the suggested exercises and care will be to support preventative care for joints while ensuring your dog stays fit, no matter their age.

“Exercise not only builds puppies' bodies, it helps build their minds” is the motto that has been ingrained in us, though exercise that’s not appropriate for a puppy’s age and development can cause significant and irreversible damage.

An exercise that resulted in a simple sprain for an adult dog could leave a puppy with a misshapen or shortened limb, so the subject of age-appropriate exercise is one that should be taken seriously.

The first concept to understand when it comes to puppy exercise is “growth plates.” Growth plates are soft areas that sit at the ends of the long bones in puppies and young dogs. They contain rapidly dividing cells that allow bones to become longer until the end of puberty.

Growth plates gradually thin as hormonal changes approaching puberty signal the growth plates to close. In puppies, this closure is normally completed by approximately 18 months old.

https://bmdccv.org/bits-and-bites#:~:text=Growth%20plates%20gradually%20thin%20as,soft%20and%20vulnerable%20to%20injury.

If you do, and the next time I do (I am currently thinking about it again) I suggest buying one and making it a high deductible policy choice to lower the monthly premium. I think even a thousand dollar deductible may make the monthly premium more affordable.
Vet bills can blow you out of the water; but if it is between shelling out thousands of dollars on a surgery or therapy etc or making an insurance purchase every month --I would go for the insurance purchase with a high deductible.

I have always carried insurance on my dogs; they are no longer here after living well into their senior years because I was able to afford the needed surgeries (cancer) and the water therapy/conditioning for arthritis. The insurance was a peace of mind for my pack of dogs. Of course it will not cover a pre-existing condition or there are clauses regarding that. I have used Pets Best, Trupanion and one other I think it was Pet First. Pet First (if that is the name) was difficult to deal with and slow to pay. The other 2 worked well, but there is plenty of follow up involved with the claim filing. They follow up with doctors and hospitals.

I hope you have success with George's treatment. Keep us posted. on edit: sorry, George belongs to another poster. I read about his situation yesterday.