Dog pregnancy and Insurance

planetf1

I have a Cockapoo !!!!! who is a little over 2 years old.

We plan to breed her just once as a life experience, and have had several checkups with the vet, have visited a stud, and have a ovulation test lined up. We've also spoken to a number of people, red books, beeb read the riot act etc.

But we forgot to ask about insurance - focused more on the other care related issues....

Im also fully aware that our existing insurance (axa) will not cover anything related to pregnancy/birth, just as with other pet insurance policies.

I'm also prepared to stump up the £££ (yes it could even be >£1000) for any required ops etc should complications arise.

However I was wondering if there is any form of insurance (ie risk mitigation) for pet pregnancy. I thought I'd read about it at some point - although it was very expensive - £200 or something just for this period. (obviously the risk is far higher)

Does such a thing exist?

Also what about once puppies are born? Can they be covered in any way. I'd assume NOT for the first few weeks (quite a number will die/be ill etc), but when we got our puppy I know our breeder had arranged the petplan "freebie" insurance for 6 weeks. Is this just for the new purchaser?

We also plan to keep one puppy ourself should things work out, and would do the same as we did first time around - get a decent full life policy (ie AXA)

Sagz_2

http://www.breederplan.co.uk/

But as someone who has worked with rescue dogs for 30 years I HAVE to say please don't do it.

Rescue centres are having a really bad time at the moment with more and more dogs bought in and less being adopted.

OK the pups you breed may be sold, but what about their pups, and their pups pups? How many generations away from a rescue dog would your pups be?

planetf1

Thanks for the reply. I do respect/understand your comments

It does appear that policy is really geared to regular breeders (and pedigrees) -- not what we're planning to do. But thanks. it's given me more google keywords to search for...

arlybarly

My German shep had pups a couple of months ago and my insurance didnt cover anything to do with birthing at all or anything to do with pregnancy. BUT i have the cash to pay for any emergencies that may have occured anyway so wasnt that bothered. If you are going to breed make sure you have a couple of grand at least spare cash.

narabanekeater

we got the 6 weeks free imsurance when we had our puppy jabbed for the 1st time

foreign_correspondent

hmm, just what the world is short of, more mongrel pups... sorry, but I cannot see any compelling reason to breed your dog, but plenty not to. You sound like a caring owner so please consider all aspects of this decision carefully.

... do you have homes lined up already? It is very hard to sell pups at the moment and litters are ending up being given to rescues as they cannot be sold nor given away. If this is for a 'life experience' do think very carefully whether it is worth it - there are plently of life experiences that are less risky and ethically problematic. Bear in mind that about 8,000 healthy dogs are put to sleep every year, just because there are more dogs than homes, so the best way people can help the situation is by not adding to it. If your b1tch had eight pups, I wonder how many of the new owners may go on to breed from them...?

and yes, you are right, vets bills could be very costly - I dont know of any policies that cover breeding costs, so if you do decide to go ahead, please ensure you have a couple of grand spare at short notice otherwise you could end up in this predicament:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/19/pay-1-200-vet-bill-or-we-ll-put-dog-down-115875-22195777/

I am sorry, I know that is not the answer you wanted, but I think it is worth going into this with eyes open to the potential implications of your actions. I know you will think I am mean, but I haven't seen many things meaner than the results of the unwanted dog problem created by overbreeding.

As far as practicalities go, you also need to consider what the breed specific health checks are that should be carried out for your dog - presumably she would need the ones for inherited problems in cockers, and the ones for inherited problems in poodles.... then there are the checks that should be carried out on the stud...

Also, remember that good breeders stipulate that if any of the new owners cannot keep the pup, at any point in it's life, that you will take it back. Can you commit to that? It happens quite a lot that people have to give dogs up due to mariage breakdowns, moving to places that don't allow pets, new babies, and changing work patterns etc.

devildog

As a "life experience"- for who??
As far as I am aware there are not any specific policies for dogs in whelp. Puppies that are KC registered have a 6 weeks insurance coverage( some reassurance for future purchasers)
If you know what you are doing then puppies should not usually be ill/die-a much more likely(although not common) situation is that mum could have complications and need an emergency caesarian(which in theory she may not come out of) or she could refuse to have anything to do with her pups and you would have to spend quite a few weeks feeding them every couple of hours(day and night!)
Yes it would be an experience but would it be worth that experience if something went wrong?
Too many people do it for the wrong reasons, like to 'earn' a bit of money. because it would be nice to have puppies or because it would be nice for the dog/family.

gettingready

Just wondering - what breed is the dog in question anyway?

cyberbob

planetf1 wrote: »

I have a Cockapoo !!!!!

You have a mongrel that is not recognised as a breed from the KC. You have no experience breeding.

This so called breeds (which are cross breeds and mongrels) seem to be bred by people just wanting a quick way of making money.

Please don't breed the world doesn't need any more mongrels. The shelters are full of them already

MaximumImpact

I have 2 Neo -mastiffs, both intact, one female and one male. The female has perfect colouring/registration and the male who is from expensive breeding stock. The average price of buying a KC registered mastiff is between £800 to £2500 dependant on proven bloodline. I could quite easily allow mine to have pups tomorrow and make a killing............or end up with a big litter of unwanted pups.....

People don't have the money to buy dogs at the moment, the shelters are full and all because of the lack of cash....I am not willing to take the risk with KC registered dogs, why on earth would you take the risk with a mongrel??????

We bought our 2 because we love dogs not to turn them into money making machines, perhaps if the financial climate had been better then we may have bred from them but we sat down and weighed up the pros and cons and decided that although it would be a shame to waste such a good bloodline, it would be more of a shame to have to destroy unwanted puppies when they won't sell........

Lobell

Have to agree wholeheartedly with Foreign Correspondant here. The overpopulated dog world, particularly the rescue centres, do not need another mongrel litter. Rescue centres are full to capacity with dogs that originated with back yard breeders such as yourself who wanted 'just one litter'.

I see no mention either of any of testing for the breed specific conditions known in both Cockers and Poodles. Especially as both breeds are affected by hereditary eye conditions. You don't yet know if your !!!!! might be affected as the onset is later in life. Even if your b1tch isn't affected, she could be a carrier of the gene. What dog are you using and what is his eye test status? If he's a carrier too, you are potentially bringing a litter of puppies into this world that could be blind by the time they are 5 or 6 years old.

A vet check does not highlight these conditions - a proper eye test needs to be carried out on BOTH DOGS by a specialist opthamologist at significant cost.

Oh, and if you do produce puppies that go on to develop a hereditary condition that you could have tested for and didn't, then be aware that owners can sue you for selling defective goods that you didn't take reasonble steps to prevent. Puppies fall under the Sale of Goods act and, surprisingly enough, a blind dog isn't considered in law as fit for purpose as a family pet. I don't think you'll find any insurance policy to cover your legal fees in that case either.