Insurance recommendations

RunToEarth

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I have our working retriever insured though basc with agria pet. They are absolutely 100% and I really rate them, but my premium is about £30 per month and Im looking at adding a pup to my policy which will logically double it.

Just wondering who everyone else insures with and whether they have any recommendations for shopping around before I commit to agria?
 
I didn't know Tesco did pet insurance - I'll have a look now!

Another retriever CT, im a convert 😬 In fact we started out with another seven but they've almost all gone to new homes now in time for me to whelp!
 
I've gone with More Than just now. Was with Tesco but doing a comparison the same policy for a new customer was £14, I was paying £24! And that was for a time limited policy (2yr old lab, neutered and no claims) with £3k vets fees. Now on max benefit policy with £8k vets fees for £22.
 
I cannot praise more than enough they have dealt with various problems over the years with my dog and the claims department are good. They pay into my account within 7 days also a lot of the big referral surgeries will discount you as they direct claim via computer with more than x
 
Just been on more than and they've quoted me marginally more to insure both dogs than I'm currently paying with agria for one! Plus the excess is less. If they really are recommended I think I will put both on a policy with them and cancel Furys existing policy after the new policy kicks in?

CT, not announced it on HHO but we had a litter from her in July, all of the puppies have gone to friends and family which I'm over the moon about (although saying goodbye was still hard)
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One thing that has annoyed me today when insurance shopping is I click pedigree and then type golden into the breed selection and it comes up with the option "goldendoodle". In what world is a goldendoodle a pedigree?
 
Oh dear god, how did you manage to re-home? I'd end up with a lot of dogs! Thank god I have all boys. That wee one on top in the corner, I would just spend all day snuggling! Which one are you keeping?

I've never heard of agria, probably very targeted for farmers? I used to love NFU, but their prices were crazy. More than do insurance for everything, so going to be competitive.

Goldendoodle? I'm presuming retriever x poodle? There was some poodle cross in the park today, massive, bouncy, desperate to say hello, fortunately the owner saw the OH didn't want interruptions. Definitely not a pedigree.
 
Well we'd had lots of people ask whether we were having pups from her so luckily they all had homes before they arrived, otherwise no way would I be able to advertise and sell them, they're just too cute!
This is Fox who we are keeping:

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Agria we found through BASC but I think they're also the insurance company that the KC push. They are good but just seem expensive compared to the few other quotes we've had today.

Yes retriever cross poodle, it seems to be a really popular cross on the likes of scumtree and preloved, lots of "F1 goldiedoodles" selling for between £600 - £1000 a pup which I though was a bit bonkers. Suppose they will be fairly similar to labradoodles. Just annoyed me that insurance companies are recognising them as pedigree.
 
Fox is fabulous! Must have been a hard choice from that squishy bundle!

Too right! That picture makes me want to scoop them all up and squeeze them! How did you choose, at such a young age? Is it a bit of a gamble or did he show signs of being best for what you wanted? (My only experience of picking a puppy involved a choice of two, one of whom was shy and quiet and the other cheerful and outgoing, so not exactly a difficult or nuanced decision)

Re. "pedigree" doodles, a friend of mine bought one recently for....wait for it...£1400! (laughs with a tinge of hysteria).
 
Well we both actually preferred one of the dogs but I decided two bitches would be easier than keeping a dog with mum.

We had three bitches to choose from and she is intended to be a working dog, so we went for the most bold of the three. She is also the one with the head most similar to mum, and she had a finer coat than her sisters. I've got two waiting to be picked up this week and when I took them all through the garden this morning she was straight into the bushes and the sugar beet so fingers crossed I've picked a good one. She's slightly smaller than the rest of the litter but bigger than mum was at her age. I'm really excited about her. 🤗
 
Congratulations then, slightly belatedly - do keep us updated on her progress, I am curious to know how you will go about training her (can you tell I don't know anything? My dog will sit when I put his dinner bowl down, and that's as advanced as we've got so far) and if there will be adorable GR puppy pictures too, that is a massive bonus :-D
 
Thank you, lots of photo updates I promise.

I winged it a bit with mum and whilst she is generally a good peg dog, she has some traits out working that I wouldn't necessarily want to repeat so I'm going to take this one training with the chap whose dog we used- he knows what he's doing so hopefully can square us up.
 
Re. "pedigree" doodles, a friend of mine bought one recently for....wait for it...£1400! (laughs with a tinge of hysteria).

Jesus, no wonder some idiots breed them indiscriminately. :(

Crikey, RTE, wait for your own whelping first before you set off training! The dog walker mate who's offered to have the boys for us is very gun dog focused. She has 2 springers, 2 cockers, a donated schnauzer, a fox terrier and has just got a GSD pup!
 
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Oh I'm due any day and pup is only 9 weeks old so we're still very much in the "outside wee wees" game stage.

I've gone with this chap because he has a lot of retrievers and with Fury I naively thought it would be like training a springer. She was loads easier but it did make me wonder whether the one size fits all mentality needed tailoring a little 😊
 
I used to know a chap who always had one of each, a beater over in Wales. I think it totally depends on the dog, but people tell me labs and retrievers tend to go round obstacles, whereas springers tend to go through. Certainly true of my bil's springer who had a foot long gash sewn up today. My worker is the same, straight through things, tons of injuries as a young dog.
 
It makes sense, I suppose that is what they are designed for - I will always send the spaniels into cover and dog in with them and I don't like using the GR for that purpose because it's not what her job is. She seems to have a lot more self preservation that the springers, who I would liken to our borderline neurotic ex racer.

But even if you have an "all rounder" HPR, I can't see anything else going into cover like a spaniel, IMO.
 
You need to watch my lab at work! (Tawny). She goes into cover that a spaniel would quail at, and at 900 mph. There is a reason she lives at the vets being stictched up. I wish she would behave a little more like a lab. She is an anomoly though.
 
Just be careful with insurance - most won't cover working dogs so that may be why agria is recommended (I have no idea if they cover working or not)
 
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