Insuring your breed
Each breed of dog is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses, behavioural characteristics and common health complaints.
Discover what factors you should be considering when you're choosing dog insurance for your best friend...
Discover our guides to insuring your dog based on their breed, which you’ll find under the heading of their breed’s ‘group’ (as recognised by the Kennel Club). Each link below will land on a specific dog’s breed information page, where you can explore some key considerations as you search for the right pet insurance policy…
Utility dog breeds
The ‘utility’ group was created for dog breeds whose ‘purpose’ for being developed no longer exists (the Dalmatian, for example, was originally bred to accompany horse-drawn carriages ). Due to the wide variety of dog breeds included in the utility group, there aren’t many shared traits, like you’d find in dogs of other groups.
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Gundog breed group
This group includes dogs who were bred to find and/or retrieve game, as well as those who flush or point out prey. Gundog breeds tend to be highly intelligent and enjoy an active lifestyle that involves plenty of exercise. While the appearance of gundogs varies from one breed to another, some breeds in this group may differ slightly if they’re bred for working versus showing.
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Toy dog breeds
Dogs in the ‘toy’ group are bred for companionship, instead of to work or compete in specific sports, so there’s a lot of variety in each toy breed’s appearance. In general, however, dogs of the toy group do tend to be smaller in size – meaning they often adapt well to living in both urban and rural settings.
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Terrier breed group
Most dogs in the ‘terrier’ group were bred to manage pest control, which means terriers are often small, high-energy dogs with powerful personalities! Thanks to their ancestors being developed to hunt vermin, terriers love to dig and can have a high prey drive that compels them to chase small animals.
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Hound breed group
Within the ‘hound’ group, there are ‘scent hounds’ and ‘sight hounds’ – both of which can exhibit a high prey drive. Although most breeds in the hound group were bred as hunting dogs, scent hounds used their sense of smell to find prey, whereas sight hounds were bred to chase prey.
Pastoral dog breeds
‘Pastoral’ group dog breeds were originally bred as high-energy dogs with lots of stamina, to herd and/or work with livestock (like sheep or cattle). Along with a tendency to herd those around them (including animals and people!), their intelligence means that these dogs are usually fantastic at canine sports, such as agility.
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Working dog breeds
‘Working’ group dog breeds have been developed to fulfil a huge variety of roles, from pulling sleds to search and rescue work. While dogs in the working group are often medium or larger sized, and require lots of daily exercise, they’re usually very loyal and build strong bonds with their pet parents.
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Crossbreeds
A ‘crossbreed’ dog has parents of different breeds (e.g. a Labradoodle’s parents may be a Labrador and a poodle), instead of both parents being of one specific breed. While there could be recognised characteristics seen in certain crosses (lurchers having a high prey drive, for example), there’s less predictability as to the traits a crossbreed dog will inherit.
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