Advice Needed on Play Biting and is Pet Insurance necessary?

Hi, Just after a bit of advice really, am looking at purchasing a pug puppy at some point in the near future, just want to get an idea of expenses first. Have been looking into Pet Insurance... I am assuming they don't cover paying for things like worming, vaccinations, neutering, general dental maintenance or nail clipping? Are there any dog owners out there who don't use pet insurance?

Also, it will be in a family with children and have heard they can "play bite" a bit too hard, will this be a worry and can it be easily stopped? I have bought myself a couple of pug handbooks to read but I am totally new to dog ownership....Only ever owned rabbits before... Cheers!

Although OUr Pugs are not insured, I think it's a good idea. Play biting can be dealt with rather easily usually. Substitution of a toy that they can chew on and yelping when bitten should do the trick. Check out Victoria Stillwell. https://positively.com/

Hello!
We have pet insurance for our pugs through Pets Bests Insurance. We have had it for over 3 years now and they've been great, they cover all of Papaya's specialists visits and medications :) They do offer coverage for shots, worming, neutering, etc is called Wellness Coverage but it makes the premium super high and I did the math I don't spend that much in wellness exams a year with my dogs. Yearly they get a wellness exam, full blood panel, fecal test and urinalysis and it's not that expensive at all. My dogs rarely go to the vet too, they don't get sick (knock on wood!) but I do feed them a balanced raw diet, so that might make a difference. I'd recommend insurance for sure and also a piggy bank for your pug. You pay out of pocket and then get refunded, so if you are like us and rarely uses credit cards and prefers cash or debit then a dog piggy bank is great!
I have a 14 week old pug right now, and he has made me yelp so many times since we got him. Those little teeth are sharp! And they like to go for your nose! I redirect this behavior towards a toy and he is getting better at it but I'd be very very careful around children. Puppies will be puppies and that's the way to play. I say my puppy is crazy because I can't believe such a little creature can have SO much energy, he never stops zooming and running! They grow out of it, with lots of reinforcement and training. My 3 year old pug is super calm now.
If you decide to get a pug just be patient, unlike most people think they are not couch potatoes. The first year and a half they are full of energy and all they want to do is play play play. Taking hem to puppy socialization and obedience is the way to go. Exercising them is a must too. A physically and mentally tired dog is always a good dog. Trust me, you don't want to be that pet parent at the dog park who has no control of his dog. Pugs are social creatures and thrive when properly socialized, they are also Velcro dogs (I love this part!) they will follow you everywhere and insist on getting lots of love and attention. Oh I would not change my boys for anything in the world.

Good luck!

Depends on the insurance I guess. I have 4 weeks free insurance from the owner with Petplan but have no idea if it covers things like worming. Vets do a puppy care plan though which can cost around £18 a month. The covers all worming, vaccinations, normally 2 checkups a year, microchip and a discount off spraying/neutering.

Yes puppies can (and from what I read probably will) play bite which isn't nice at all. The main problem I have with Winston is biting feet. He's 9 weeks old tomorrow and when I let him out of his playpen to explore the front room, the first thing he will do when he gets out is go for feet. It's not pleasant at all. It stings and feels a bit like being poked with a few drawing pins.

Winston has got a bit worse with time. I had him nearly a week ago. When he was first here he was more cuddly, always trying to lick my face. He would even come onto the sofa to have cuddles as he fell asleep on top of me. He took to using the puppy pads well too.

It seemed too good to be true that he settled so well. Nearly a week later and it's like he's trying to be the boss. He rips up puppy pads in his playpen and cries to come out. He is only quiet in his playpen if he's having food or sleeping. Then as said, when he is let out, he ignores his nice big puppy bed and toys that are in it, and just races towards my feet to bite them.

From what I heard, this is normal for a puppy, so now i'm carrying on with training to get him to behave better.

I've always dealt with play biting by teaching the "easy" command and the "quit" command. That way, my pug pup Karibi(& all other dogs we had in the family growing up) knows that she can still use the mouth to play as well as for whatever else(this is important - see below**), & I know that I don't have to worry about her biting too hard when playing with me or others("easy"), nor do I have to worry about her trying to play bite - even gently - with those who may be afraid of the concept("quit"... for the elderly or young children/toddlers/babies - though she has never tried to play with a baby like that anyway, of course! she knows better naturally, if that makes sense... very sweet girl, my Karibi<3; but I guess that goes for just about every other pug, too! haha).

Basically, easy makes her not bite/mouth so aggressively... she will ease up from straight up biting like she's eating, to normal but kind of "ouch" bites(think no blood or bruising, but maybe teeth marks(indents in the skin from the teeth pushing against it, without the skin breaking at all) or pink marks, y'know?), to gentle bites(pressure but no real marks left to speak of at all), to just touching with teeth, to not biting at all -- just licking instead, lol(she's silly like that!). Then "quit" is our go-to command for "stop everything you're doing", basically. We also use "leave it" to mean "don't put your mouth on that", but it's optional for use in this situation!

For the record, we use the word "quit" instead of "stop" because "stop" just means stop walking, specifically before crossing the road n stuff like that when going on walks - it's a different command for us. But you can use whatever words you'd like, of course! Just substitute them in. I would go deeper into this, like about how single words are the best; keeping clear, friendly & balanced tone; being sure to only use positive-reinforcements... but then, I'm going to just go ahead & assume you know how to train your dog on your own, so I won't butt in or anything, haha. I certainly don't want to be presumptuous, let alone

**The reason I don't(or rather, /we/ don't - when I say "we" I mean my partner, as well as those around me & my dog/Karibi in general, that is) completely discourage all biting from the start is simple: Dogs use their mouths in the same way that humans use their hands. Not allowing a dog to mouth things, inspect stuff around them, play, groom, and so on, is controversial. I am on the side of allowing dogs to use their mouths, for the same reason I'm on the side of not de-clawing cats(allowing them to use their claws)... I feel that it'd be taking away a huge aspect of their lives, & limiting them, in a way. I don't think it'd be fair to them. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to feel about this. The facts are as they are. You can take it or leave it, agree or disagree on a moral level... but yeah. This is my own opinion on the matter.

As for pet insurance: if you can afford it, get it. It's worth the investment, from what I understand. I'd get it in a heartbeat if I could right now(I plan to once I have the extra money for it). I've done enough research & read enough testimonials to see the value in it, for sure. But keep in mind, just like with every other type of insurance, you will want to shop around & educate yourself before jumping in - oh, & really take time to understand whatever plan you purchase & know not only each company's general costs, but the breakdown costs of each type of plans/coverage offered per-place. Hopefully that makes sense. Sorry, I'm not great at explaining things.

Good luck, in any case.

Just a silly question for those with pet insurance....is it like doctor's offices where you have to go to a vet that accepts that insurance?

It doesn't work like humans health insurance. In the case of pet insurance you pay upfront so it doesn't matter which kind of insurance you have and the veterinarian office you've selected. So, you pay upfront for the treatments, medicines, etc your pet got and then submit your invoices to your insurance. They will process the claims and refund you (wether a check or direct deposit to an account you have provided), you still have to meet a deductible and there's treatments and medications the insurance won't cover ( you must read the contract carefully) also depends of the coverage you have selected what percentage you get refunded, as an example we have 90% coverage, $100 deductible. So after we meet the deductible we get refunded 90% of what we have paid for treatments and medications.
In some veterinarian offices you'll see advertisement for a certain Pet Insurance company, that doesn't mean you will only pay a co-pay, you still pay upfront and get refunded. The advertisement is there to encourage people to get pet insurance, which I think is the best idea.
I some cases, if it's a VERY COSTLY emergency, you can submit a form in which your veterinarian agrees that he/she will wait for claims to be processed and the insurance will pay it directly to him/her. I've seen this form in the download options with my insurance. Still, the insurance will ONLY pay the %coverage and items they cover and you are responsible for the remaining amount. Some vets help their trusted clients this way, in case of a big emergency that requires lots of money upfront... Not all vets will do this. That's why I always recommend a dog piggy bank for emergencies. If you rarely use your credit card and prefer cash and debit as we do, then a piggy bank, just in case, is not a bad idea :)

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Originally Posted by PapayaThePug

It doesn't work like humans health insurance. In the case of pet insurance you pay upfront so it doesn't matter which kind of insurance you have and the veterinarian office you've selected. So, you pay upfront for the treatments, medicines, etc your pet got and then submit your invoices to your insurance. They will process the claims and refund you (wether a check or direct deposit to an account you have provided), you still have to meet a deductible and there's treatments and medications the insurance won't cover ( you must read the contract carefully) also depends of the coverage you have selected what percentage you get refunded, as an example we have 90% coverage, $100 deductible. So after we meet the deductible we get refunded 90% of what we have paid for treatments and medications.
In some veterinarian offices you'll see advertisement for a certain Pet Insurance company, that doesn't mean you will only pay a co-pay, you still pay upfront and get refunded. The advertisement is there to encourage people to get pet insurance, which I think is the best idea.
I some cases, if it's a VERY COSTLY emergency, you can submit a form in which your veterinarian agrees that he/she will wait for claims to be processed and the insurance will pay it directly to him/her. I've seen this form in the download options with my insurance. Still, the insurance will ONLY pay the %coverage and items they cover and you are responsible for the remaining amount. Some vets help their trusted clients this way, in case of a big emergency that requires lots of money upfront... Not all vets will do this. That's why I always recommend a dog piggy bank for emergencies. If you rarely use your credit card and prefer cash and debit as we do, then a piggy bank, just in case, is not a bad idea :)

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That's good to know. There is no way I would be willing to switch vets. lol

The play biting is worth worrying about. The above are good advice, but, especially with kids, it's all fun, fun, fun until someone bites too hard. It depends how old the kids are, I guess, but even with my husband it was difficult at first to get across to him that he should yelp and walk away if it got at all too hard. And she was determined - my puggy, I mean. She loved biting, and biting down hard. We had a tiny piranha for about two months and it was frustrating at times.

But it passes.

Insurance - I recommend PetPlan. However, I go via these brokers:

Home

They are really helpful and will advise you on the different options and help you decide what's best for you.

The important thing is to start insurance early. If you take out a policy after your pet has become ill, the particular illness is classed as a pre-existing condition and will never be covered by any insurance company.

Insurance does not generally cover the "regular" stuff like vaccinations or dental work, but many vets offer plans to help with that.

If you decide not to have insurance then you will need to have fast and easy access to a considerable lump sum in case of emergency. As a guide, it cost around £7,000 when Toddy's gallbladder burst and we nearly lost him. It cost around £4,000 when he had to have an emergency corneal graft to save his eye after an ulcer went bad. It cost around £4,000 when he had meningitis. It cost around £2,000 when Snifter had skin issues. It cost around £2,000 when Snifter had liver issues. Then there is ongoing medication. Many pugs need optimmune for dry eye - it costs £50 for a tube that lasts one month if you are lucky. Toddy needs ongoing hepatic support and the drugs cost around £70 per month.

We have been particularly unlucky with Toddy, but as soon as you need a specialist referral you are going to paying out at least £1,000 for any condition and if it is serious or things like operations or MRI scans are needed the costs can escalate frighteningly fast. Even if you don't need a specialist, if you are unlucky enough to need an emergency vet visit out of hours you are looking at around £200 before they even start.