Are Siberian Husky's the new Pit or Rott?

Insurance companies may think so. Where will it end? How many of our gentle breeds are going to be branded as aggressive in the future?


http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/03/26/pet_owners_insurance_firms_in_dog_fight/

Omg... that is ridiculous.. that insurance agency even had Yorkies on the list

these list are the biggest bullshit...

every dog you can turn into a deadly weapon...

no dog is born evil...

http://gprime.net/flash.php/thepitbullproblem

Insurance companies could care less about the people health, who have been biten. They are only concerned about the money they will loss. They are only doing this because they see it as a chance to get more money and its a shame responsible dog owners must pay the consequence for owning a dog. All the breed specific stuff is just stupid and means nothing. If a dog has teeth it CAN bite but as the article says, mostly from improper training. So ignorant!!!

A YORKIE, OMG!!!

Yeah I know

Wow, but at least they are fighting it.

Our issurance company is fine with the Dobe. No $ increase, but if she bit anyone, they would cover us and then refuse to re-insure us. That makes more sence to me than just saing no in the beginning

At least someone's got it right

I have a husky and a dobe

Our first home insurere said huskys used to be the number one killer/bitter becuase people kept them in packs so when one attacked they all attacked. I guess they used to be thought of as bad by the companies but it lessened with pits and what not. I think with overbreeding the yhave realized these dog are really mouthy and most people are not ready to deal with it. I definately see my husky as more "dangerous" than my dobe.

the companies are in it to make money. we will only go to one that doens't discriminate. Its not even that I really blame them for doing it though,we all know how horrible some people are with their dogs. I wouldn't trust most people enough to say I'd insure their dogs. I'd also be wary of people with mroe than two dogs and I have four! os I'd never insure myself

hah I thought this thread was going to be about how amny people are buying the dogs now...oh well...

As for the list, it doesn't suprise me or really concern me. There's so many insurance agencies out there that if one has a policy like this, it's not going to be hard to find another agency of similar quality and cost to cover you. They're simply being over protective and looking for new money markets.

Unfortuantely this 'black flag' list is the norm for all the insurance agencies in my area. I called every homeowner's insurance company in the phonebook (anonymously) and not one would cover a dobe, most wouldn't even cover the GSD. I had to call back and omit the fact that we owned the dobe to get anyone to even consider us. The last company in the book took us, but cautioned us that if our GSD ever bit anyone they would drop us. (not quite so bluntly, but the understanding was there)

Why not use a franchise insurance agency?

Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about getting homeowner's ins through the car ins company, etc? If so, we tried that, too. No one around here is very enthusiastic about covering a dog on that list.

There are national homeowner's insurance agencies...not just locals...I may have misunderstood your saying you hit the "local establishments", though.

At any rate, I find it hard to believe that no one will insure you...have you tried AllState? Tehy didn't mind my two huskies (over the phone quote, 2 minutes ago).

No, no, we did get coverage. But only after I called all the agencies in our phonebook. It was the dobie they didn't want to cover, but I know huskies are on most lists, too. Just doesn't make sense to me, that's all.

It's just covering their asses...our society is too litigous (sp?)...we sue for anything. Too many agencies suffer losses over dog bites, so they're simply trying to cover the potential for mishap.

It's the same reason why my BMW 328i costs me $15 more a month than had I purchased a 318i...otherwise the same car, and a driver who would drive both the same way, but the 328 has a bigger engine (faster car).

Funny Story

I was taking a walk. Behind a fence, in someone's yard, was a husky. A beautiful, well-behaved dog. Now, normally, if I'm walking past someone's yard, and there's a dog in it, the dog barks. What was this dog doing? Sleeping. He knew I was there, but he couldn't care less. Ooo, he's a vicious beast!

True. And I can see their side of it. But I think if the company is really that concerned, why not take the time to personally assess the temperment of each dog looking for coverage? Yeah, yeah, it's too much work and it's much more convienent (for them) to just lump all breeds into categories, eg. "bad" and "good". Oh well.

If you go to a small place they usually will take it into consideration. We only got away with byron with one of them because my moms friend was our agent

That's what we ended up doing. The agent at the small office in the next town over has a GSD herself, and agreed the breed list was a bit much. She was very nice about giving us a policy - though we still didn't mention the dobe for fear of rejection. It was literally the last place, and we HAD to get coverage or we couldn't move into the house.

When people get a dog they are supposed to tell the ins company, but I know many who have owned dobes and never reported it. Believe me it's not something I like to do (omit information) but we really had our backs against the wall at the time.