Meet Snickers! She obviously has a very active lifestyle. Snickers loves to bark at strangers, and will slobber heavily on anyone who gives her the chance. But Snickers never bites. That's important.

Did you know that you are legally liable for any injuries or damage that your pet causes? In other words, if your dog attacks the neighbor's kid, you are likely to be the target of a lawsuit asking for reimbursement of medical bills plus pain and suffering. The liability portion of your homeowners policy may cover such a suit.

So if it's covered by insurance, why should you worry about it? Forget it! It's insured! Keep that dangerous dog! Right? Wrong!

No matter how much liability coverage you have (if you don't know, ask your agent), it may not be enough. Juries tend to be very sympathetic to a child who has been maimed for life, and multi-million dollar awards are a real possibility. Juries are also very unsympathetic to people who knowingly harbor a dangerous pet. And punitive damage awards are not covered by insurance in many cases.

This has become a great problem area for the insurance industry. Most insurance companies now have lists of breeds that they will not insure. Even if your dog is the sweetest example of the breed, you may still have trouble getting coverage. Further, if you own a dog of any breed that has ever bitten someone, your insurance company may ask you to get rid of it.

As your agent, we never want to tell a client to get rid of a beloved pet. After all, that's pretty cold hearted. But insurance is a business. And if an insurance company perceives that you are more likely to have a claim than average, they would rather not offer coverage (except at inflated prices, or with inferior coverages).

This problem is not limited to dogs, although they are the most common problem pet. Insurance companies also don't like to insure people who keep poisonous animals as pets. We have even declined coverage for client who owned a four foot alligator!

Bottom line, if a pet shows aggressive or dangerous tendencies, it is a law suit waiting to happen. And that could result in bankruptcy, or the inability to get homeowners insurance.