insurance agents out there? Dog damage related

[Rock'n Robin]

Our dog has been getting out of the yard by digging under our gate. DH has adjusted the gate twice (it has to be totally redone but can't until last frost is passed) and I put boards under it, but he moves the boards. Even now I have the kids' wagon in front of it upside down. The kids are instructed to put him on a chain I got him but sometimes they don't. This is important because he lost his county tag and nametag last week (I found his rabies tag but not the other two).
Today he got out. The next door neighbors just got a nice, new 6" deep concrete driveway poured. Now it has a bunch of pawprints in it.
This is easily going to cost us over $1000 to fix. Our tax refund that was going to pay off our trip...gone. At LEAST--we may have to dip into savings. We are just getting ahead and were going to get some landscaping and maybe redo our kitchen floor, but all of that money might go too, who knows how much this is going to cost us. Our neighbors have always been great and we have to make this right.
Is there any possible way this is covered under homeowners insurance? I know if he had bitten the neighbor insurance would step in one way or the other.
Not to mention yet another dog on his way out the door. I love dogs; I don't know why we can't keep one more than 5 years. The healthy ones turn into psychos; the well behaved ones die young from disease.
Robin M.

 

[Marseeya]

The only thing wrong with the dog is lack of supervision, IMO. Some of them are just total escape artists.

I'm sorry you had to learn such an expensive lesson. Our dog has easily cost us thousands over the years. Some of them are just pains in the butt.

 

[ahutton]

Depending on how your policy is written and what Exclusions may exist, it is possible the dog's "property damage" he caused could be covered by your policy. However, it may cost you much more in increased premiums to submit something like this than it would to contact the company who did the pour and inquired about a repair of the area damaged. If it were me I would find out about the repair first, then decide if I want to report it to my insurance. It might cost much less than you expect to fix it.

 

[Pugdog007]

I'd try to run away too if my owners chained me in the backyard

 

[AZKathy]

Years ago, while at WDW, our house sitter thought we were coming home three days prior than we actually did. She left our two big dogs in our home for three days. Well, you can picture the entire carpet and our bed, etc. I tried to get our home owners insurance to pay for the damages (thousands) but there was a clause on page 33 that said any damage done by domesticated animals would not be covered. I asked if our dogs had gone into our neighbors house and done the same damage, would my home owners insurance cover THAT damage (I was really mad) and the reply was yes, that is what liability part on our insurance is for. Now, remember that if you file a claim, you will probably have to get higher premiums for that. This was in 1999, and our experience with dogs and damages. Talk with your agent and see if it would be covered prior to filing a claim.

Good luck

 

[Rock'n Robin]

OK Pugdog, I think that was totally uncalled for. He was NOT being chained up in the yard until he started escaping. Even then we were not chaining him if someone was outside with him--and often not even then. But he has lost his tag, and he ran across a busy road at least once last week. If he would get picked up he has no identification. I have already called to get a replacement county tag but I don't have it yet. THAT is why he is being chained up. I am not one of those people who chain up the dog and let it live its own pathetic life. This dog has 3 kids to play with, sleeps on my bed for God's sake, is spoiled rotten. But if he is out and spots a neighbor or the neighbor's dog he gets out of the yard to "visit". He always comes home but since I had the report about him running across the road I am very worried about him all of the time--hence the hypervigilance and the chaining up. I am glad you didn't say that to me in person.
I am calling my agent tomorrow to check things out and DH is meeting the concrete guy over here tomorrow.
Robin M.

 

[ZachnElli]

I'd try to run away too if my owners chained me in the backyard

Oh, please! Did you even read her post? Because we all know it's better to have dogs just roaming free!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Thanks for the backup Z&E.
My insurance agent tells me that our liability coverage will fully cover the replacement cost. Whoopee!
I am hoping the dog can stay with us. I know this was a one-time thing and as long as the fence gets fixed he will be fine.
DH was not happy this morning...another neighbor 3 doors down called and said "I don't want to be a snot, but we're getting our sidewalk fixed today, can you keep your dog in the yard?" These people have never called us once in 8 years until today. It's not as if the dog was specifically out of the yard to ruin the driveway. Accidents happen and we are being responsible.
Robin M.

 

[momrek06]

These people have never called us once in 8 years until today. .

AWESOME about the insurance for sure BUT I bet it is now getting all over the neighborhood how your pooch got out and so now everyone is probably assuming your pooch will be getting in there yard!!!

Really, was that call from your neighbor even necessary. RUDE!

 

[golfgal]

Great news about the insurance. An idea, is it possible to line the bottom of your fence/gate with landscaping rock so the dog can't dig? Would that work?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I'd try to run away too if my owners chained me in the backyard

Was that really necessary? It's obvious that they are trying to take care of their dog and not let it escape. They are trying to keep it in their yard when it needs to go out so it doesn't cause damage and become roadkill.

Hindsight is wonderful and I'm sure if they knew the dog was going to ruin the driveway they would have walked the dog on a leash that day, but I wasn't supplied with crystal balls when I adopted any of my dogs or cats or when I gave birth to my children and I doubt the OP was, either.

We do the best we can with what we are provided. At least she's not just letting the dog escape and over it.

 

[jbdreamer]

I am actually smiling just picturing you dog running through the wet cement. It reminds me of something you'd see in a corney Disney movie. It had to make you laugh a little.

I am so glad you were able to get the insurance to cover it. What a naughty dog!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Oh I guess it was a little funny, and I hope the neighbors feel that way someday! But they have always wanted a concrete driveway--they were the first house on the street so they had to get blacktop, as the subdivision rules state, blah blah...but now a few other houses have cement so they finally switched to cement, and voila--here comes the dog!
I may try to bury some landscape rocks. I would stack pavers by the gate, but that is the gate we use to get the mower in the backyard. We have had freeze warnings the past 2 nights. What happened was DH fixed the fence last summer because the post was rotting, but the post he replaced it with warped, and now it's not lined up right. No sense putting another post in with cement until it's warm for good.
Robin M.

 

[Evil Queen]

I'd try to run away too if my owners chained me in the backyard

I'm guilty of this too. We lost our fence to a hurricane last year. It took 4 months or longer to get anyone to even come give me an est. on repair or replacing. Some never sent me the est .and some it would still be a few more months for the repair.

I just got a delivery of panels to replace the fence and we should have it completed within a couple of weeks.

My dogs are chained up to runners a few times a day, so they can at least get some exercise and fresh air (plus use the restroom).

In many cases it's needed.

 

[kejoda]

I'm glad everything is working out for you Robin. I also hope you get an apology from Pugdog.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Our black lab is really an escape artist as well. I finally found something that worked. Electric fence wire along the underside of the fence. We kept it active for about a month, two years ago, and have only had to turn it on for a reminder once since then. It's a great deterrent and also teaches the dog to stay the heck away from the underside of the fence. And NO, not everyone can stay at home all day to pet their dog. I'm gone from the house for 4-6 hours a day and YES my two larger dogs stay outside during that time. They are in a very safe, fenced yard. Heck, all they do is sleep all day in any patch of sun they can find or in their heated bed!

 

[Lanshark]

Tell him to just put nose prints next time that way CSI can't track him down. Oh yeah.... For Gosh sakes don't let him put his initials next to the paw prints. It's a dead give away.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

This does remind me a little of the poster who forgot to lock her cat(s) up when having her hardwood floors refnished. When they put down the varnish, or whatever it's called, the cat walked across it before it was dry. At least that was an easy fix.

So far our dogs have just done cosmetic damage, but the kitten in my signature caused a $150 repair to my DD's laptop keypad, which I wrote about on the DIS. I wasn't too happy with her. And when my DD is home from college she'll still leave the laptop open when she's not in the room even though I've told her I'm not paying for another repair.

 

[lisajl]

Ahh...welcome to pet ownership! The good, the bad and the expensive!!

Glad insurance covered it! One of our cats keeps clawing up the carpet. Not the couch, just the carpet. We are considering Pergo flooring!

Robin have you tried invisible fencing? My neighbor has it for her dog, she does not even keep that collar on him now. Reggie knows not to go past a certain line or he will get zapped. Umm...it does hurt a little. I had a hold of his collar (one of the days he was wearing it)when he got near the line. Not a good feeling.

Lisa

 

[ducklite]

I've been lurking on this thread, I'm so glad that the insurance is paying. As long as you've got a good history of no claims and on time payments, I doubt that your rates will go up over this--in the big picture it's really not that big of a loss.

Anne