Is Pet Insurance Worth It?

You can spot a true dog owner and lover a mile away. They treat their dogs like little (or big) furry children and go the extra mile to make sure their dog has everything it needs to live the healthiest and happiest of lives.

An eager topic of discussion from such canine lovers is pet insurance. Sure, human children have medical insurance or why not our furry ones?

Pet insurance is a very tricky subject when it comes to our canine companions. Upon a recent visit to our own veterinarian, I happened upon a handful of pet insurance brochures and started to compare and contrast the plans they each offered. Sure, they looked great on the surface but once you start to follow those little asterisk (*) that lead you to the find print, you realize that most won't even cover your dog's aliments.

Let's take the Labrador Retriever as a prime example of a dog breed that is mostly not covered by pet insurance programs. Why? Simply enough, they have what are deemed "pre-existing conditions" in their genes. No insurance program that I could find offered coverage for canine hip dysplasia, retinal detachment, OCD, skin allergies, etc. which are all found in this specific dog breed.

Coverage usually only means that routine vaccines, annual vet visits or an emergency procedure (such as eating a sock) are covered. In order to get medications at discounted rates, the monthly premium prices sky rocket.

If a dog owner is looking for coverage in those areas of greatest concern, they are best putting money away each month into a savings account for those problems associated with their breed. If that times never comes, then they have money to put towards other medical vet visits or a ton of new shiny squeaky toys for their beloved puppy.

The key to remember is that pet insurance is really only good for emergency, non-breed specific problems and not for maintenance of your pet's health. It is important to read the fine print before signing up for any insurance plan to make sure your money is well spent to ensure a long life of health and happiness your fur child. It's your money and your dog - make sure both are protected.

Knee Mend

A yearly checkup with the veterinarian has confirmed that Cheyenne is still on the mend for a stretched ligament in her back left knee.

After a handful of yearly vaccines, our vet still could not get Cheyenne to comment on her knee problem. The twists and pops of her knee in his hands didn't even get a glance from our 3-year old chocolate Labrador Retriever. Nope - our pup loves to use "avoidance" when something bothers her and even a broken toe during her puppy days didn't come to light until she was 2 years old and an x-ray done to diagnose Canine Osteochondritis Dessicans (OCD).

So what do we do now? We have 3 choices: 1) wait it out to see if she gets better or worse, 2) have the vet sedate her so that he can palpitate the joint freely without resistance or 3) have him perform exploratory surgery. After weighing the risks and Cheyenne's overall health and happiness, we decided to wait it out. Since it comes and goes, she is not in any pain so it may be on the mend all by itself. The good news is that we have x-rays from a couple of months ago to look back on should she seem to be getting worse and need further x-rays.

The prognosis is - if we continue to keep an eye on it and gets x-rays every few months, we can see if there is any arthritic change and decide what is best for Cheyenne as we go along.

For now we will continue to have playtime that limit any abrupt halts in running (such as running after a balls, stick, etc.) but let her continue to play, run, and have fun for her name is Cheyenne and she is a true Labrador Retriever!

What are Brindle Labs?

It seems that there are many new Labrador Retriever owners that are confused about what denotes a purebred Lab. Some believe that any mismarks, brindling or mosaic coloration demonstrates a mixed Lab breed or a non-reputable dog breeder. This, however, is not entirely true.

My own purebred chocolate Labrador Retrievers are from a long line of purebred sires and dams. Both lines were responsibly bred with both black and chocolates to keep the chocolate line pure and a beautiful shade of mocha. They come from highly reputable Cricket Hollow Farm that has built their reputation on almost 2 decades of breeding this specific dog breed. My breeder goes above and beyond with health guarantees, AKC limited registration papers, biosensoring, socialization, puppy aptitude testing, microchipping, dew claw removal, and if you should ever have to get rid of your dog, they make you sign a contract that says you will return the pup/dog to them so that it does not end up in a shelter or put to sleep.

They have also had brindled puppies!!

How do I know? Well, my girls are from the same line - just two separate litters and although the first litter came out dark chocolate, the second had number of brindled pups. Yep! Brindled pups from a very pure Labrador Retriever line and a highly reputable breeder. Cheyenne showed no sign of brindling when we brought her home even though almost her whole litter was brindle. The ironic thing is that even though both had no brindle at birth, the brindle is quite obvious after a summer laying out in the sun. My girls become a beautiful reddish-brown all over and Dakota's tail and Cheyenne's legs will become a awesome red. Beautiful cannot even begin to describe it - and I promise you that they are all Lab!

So, to answer some questions about brindle Labrador Retrievers:

1) What is brindling?
"Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cats, cattle, and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's coat." Labs with brindling have tan speckling on their forelegs, muzzles, and chest.

2) How does brindle happen?
It is all in the genetics. Why do two human parents with black hair have a brown haired child when there is no one else in the family with brown hair and it is not in their family line? Genetics.

3) Can brindle Labs be shown?
Short answer - no. The AKC only recognizes three coat colors: black, chocolate, and yellow. They allow for very little mismarking (if any) on the Labs in order to be in competitions.

4) Does this mean the Lab is sick or is more predisposed to illness?
No way! A brindle, mismarked, or mosaic dog is just as healthy as any other dog without color variations. It is only fur deep.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with brindle dogs - they make awesome canine companions and are as healthy as any other dog out there. However, keep a couple of things in mind when thinking about purchasing a brindle pup. 1) If you plan on showing the pup or breeding, look for another pup without color variations and 2) If a breeder tries to sell you a brindle pup for more money or advertises the pups as "special" or a "brand new color" run away very fast as that breeder is not reputable at all!