Are you watching the Westminster Dog Show?

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I am (and I can't believe the Pomeranian didn't win the Toy Group!  What is it with poodles?), with occasional cutaways to the Olympics.  Of course, I'm grading papers at the same time.  I don't know if you've noticed, but many of the commercials during the dog show are dog-related, which makes sense, and some of them talk about what the companies are doing for dogs.  The one that really struck me as odd is the one for Progressive Insurance.  It follows the ones from their ongoing ad campaign with the goofy cashier who gets all worked up over discounts.  It's not available for viewing on their website at this moment, but you can check via the link above to see if it's up yet.  They don't give any details, but the implication is that your dog is covered by them through insurance that covers your car or home.  I gotta ask.  What exactly does this mean?  Does it cover emergency care, or what?  
As you probably know, I'm a great advocate for health insurance for pets (and people, too, of course, all the more so since I do not have health insurance myself).  I find myself of two minds about this commercial.  I like the idea that they are covering pets in any way, and I hope it makes people realize that insurance for pets is a good idea, but I also think that it might make people think that this kind of coverage is all you need.  It's not.  You need basic health insurance so that you won't have to make decisions based on what you can afford rather than what the dog needs.  This is especially worth remembering in February, which is the dental health month for pets.  Even though most vets offer a February discount, it is still an area of care that a lot of pet owners neglect, many because of the cost.


Off the soapbox now.  Check out the WKC website.  The poster for this year's show is fabulous.

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