If you told them your dog was a Shepard, and the clerk checked the uninsurable list and found “shepard,” no amount of special pleading that your dog was really a gentle and harmless shepard will work. ALL shepards are unsafe and uninsurable (to the company). However, if you say that “shepard” was wrong, and it should have been beagle, and beagle is not on the uninsurable list, then you are probably OK.
The difference is that interpretation doesn’t work when forms are the medium. Fuzzy logic is not in the bureaucratic vocabulary.
I think she looks like a cutie-patootie I really don’t see any predominant breed in her. I agree with the advice to call the insurance company back and ask for a new quote that includes a small-medium sized dog of very mixed breeding.
I used to have a dog that I assumed was a St Bernard. Mostly because she looked and acted and shedded just like one. When I was getting bids on my first home, a couple of insurance companies turned me down.
When I started telling them that Brandy was a dog that I had found starving to death by a dumpster <insert long story about bringing Brandy home, trying to have her fixed but she was too weak…lots of details about how Brandy and Fred got along…more details about how she is a big dog that needs regular hair cuts because its so hot here in Arizona> they would give me a quote just to make me shut up.
I have Liberty Mutual, and had to pass the dog test too. Same story…had to guess at the breed of my mixed-breed mutts. Luckily one is a lab mix (he’s been accused of being part pitbull, but he doesn’t resemble a pit at all now that he’s grown) and another that I finally called a border collie mix. And of course, the boxer.
I’d find another company and definitely go with “border collie mix”…which looks more likely anyway. Sweet doggy!
When my ex and I bought our first house, the homeowner’s insurance agent we contacted came out to where we were living to meet with us and go to the new house. When he opened the car door, our border collie/Samoyed mix crawled up in his lap before he could get out of the car. I was embarassed and tried to drag him out. The agent laughed and said “I guess that answers the ‘vicious dogs’ question!”
sorry this has happened to you. Keep trying with other agencies.
Ours did, after first refusing us coverage altogether. Out insurance agent went to bat for us and demanded they act decently, and eventually they agreed to an exemption for the dog. We later switched companies; sadly, that dog is no longer with us, but our new company never said a word about our two current dogs of the same breed.
Very possibly the case. It’s all the same reason that I’d guess that bright orange Porsche Boxters don’t get as many speeding tickets as black Chevy Cavaliers.
Also, there’s a good chance that Pit Bull is at the top of the list simply because so many people mistake their dog (or the dog that bit them) for a pit bull.
Of course, we’re talking about actuaries, they may have made the appropriate adjustments so the list made sense.
Also, I noticed that the author of the article (which I didn’t read) that contained the list, mentioned in the comments section that the issue with Great Danes is at least partially just due to their shear size. The fear is that they may hurt someone just by jumping on them, not by attacking/biting them. I could see an overly excited 70lb Great Dane Puppy greeting a stranger hello as they walk into their house and accidentally pushing them back out the door and onto the concrete.
Check out these Hovawart pictures (scroll down to see the black and tan ones) - that probably isn’t what Dixie is, but does she ever look like some of them!
We have pit bulls. We have Farmers Insurance. The only thing our agent asked was, “Does the dog have a bite record?” He didn’t and we’re covered.
I do pit bull rescue. It is very difficult for people to get homeowners insurance or to find rentals/apartments that will take their dogs. We recommend State Farm and Farmers Insurance.
Our insurance company, when we had Dobermans, told us to post “Caution, Guard Dogs” signs instead of “Beware the Dog.” Then they were OK with it.
BUT, as a landlord, even tho’ I accept pets, I wouldn’t allow a Shepard. DNA testing sounds good.
But I will say that if your dog gets loose, as my dobie did once, the neighbors will raise holy hell and even claim attack. And my dog was chickenshit.
We tell people this, too. Literally “Beware of Dog” means, “hey, we have a dog, be aware of that” but nowadays it can be used against you as evidence that you know your dog is dangerous. We wouldn’t even suggest “Caution” or anything else. “Guard dog on duty” is fine though. Also, “[breed name] crossing” “Dog in yard, keep gate closed”, and things like that will alert people to the fact that you have dogs on the property and in the house without implying they might be dangerous.
I had one, and my vet was in collusion with me about labeling it a shepherd mix - Llugh was used by a breeder of shepherds to put the wolf characteristics back into his line of shepherds.
And totally socialized - to the point where he was loose in the yard with my baby turkeys and assorted chickens. Never touched a bird except for the one turkey that fell out of the brood box into his bedding and bonded with him - Llugh let him snuggle during the night and kept the bird from dying of cold. Puppy followed Llugh around for about 20 months, until he ended up as our dinner.
Several people had already mentioned German Shepherds (which is not the same as “shepherds”, GSD are a subset) as being “scary”, but I don’t get it. In Spain, Shepherd Dogs of any kind are considered extra-good for houses with children… they’re supposed to train easily to understand that “little kid, even if unknown = part of my herd”. I still miss my uncle’s Lagún… bestest, most patient dog ever (Dog knows he had reason to murder my cousins more than once; the most he ever did was yip in pain at their mistreatment).
ETA: Ah, after reading, I suspect it may be due to people being scared of any dog bigger than an envelope handbag and to people thinking any dog which is “big, not hairy, not skinny, not black, not sad-faced” is a GS… :smack:
I agree, and I spent a lot of my childhood going to dog shows. In my personal experience, the general tendency (yes, I know there will be exceptions) is for bigger dogs to be calmer and more laid-back, smaller dogs to be feistier and more snappish. I’m more wary of an unfamiliar Dachshund than I am an unfamiliar pit bull type (nearly all of the latter I’ve met were super-friendly).
I can see being concerned about a bigger dog accidentally knocking down a smaller or fragile human out of sheer exuberance, but with temperament, smaller dogs would concern me more. Of course, I think a lot of that has to do with training (or lack thereof) and the human personalities that favor the various dog types.
Cute dog. Border collie mix, I say. Now I know someone who says all dogs with black faces & tan eyebrows are part Rottweiler, but that just isn’t so. (There are also people who think if a dog has any purple on its tongue at all, it’s a Chow mix.)
DNA tests are pretty cheap for dogs, but they are also not all that reliable. If you do that, check for one with a lot of breed samples available.
As to Beware of Dog signs, in Colorado that is an affirmative defense if your dog bites someone: they were warned. Of course this only applies if they were bitten in the yard where the sign is attached and not, say, while strolling down your front sidewalk. According to the cops, signs are also good at keeping prowlers out of your yard (they are also good at keeping COPS out of your yard, heh).
Having known one Great Dane in my life, I suppose I can understand that. She thought… well, I convinced her she was a lapdog. I think my legs have had poor circulation ever since.
I don’t have a dog in this fight.*…but I have a question for the insurance companies:
Why not make a profit by selling the home owners insurance to the OP, but with a simple clause stating that dog bites are not covered.?
There’s a lot of stuff that insurance doesn’t cover, and is usually stated clearly in the policy: life insurance doesn’t cover suicide, car insurance doesn’t cover the windshield glass, home insurance doesn’t cover floods,etc.
So instead of getting anal about defining speicific breeds of dogs, semi-breeds, mixtures, etc…why not just remove all doggy-related issues from the policy, and make everybody happy?The insurance company makes the same profit, the buyers get the coverage they want. What am I missing here?
(I’m assuming that the OP wants the insurance for its fire and theft coverage…she doesnt seem concerned about problems with her dog.)
I really don’t see any predominant breed in her. I agree with the advice to call the insurance company back and ask for a new quote that includes a small-medium sized dog of very mixed breeding.
