Once taken into our homes, dogs rapidly become a treasured family member. Many of us could not visualize our homes without their playful or warm companionship. In fact, a survey released by the American Pet Products Association reports that 72.9 million U.S. households own a pet and that same survey disclosed that Americans spent over $50 billion on their pets in 2011 alone. Yes, I said "Billion". Generally, we don't conceive the expense involved in taking a pet into our homes-for example a dog will require nearly $900 per year while cats are to some extent less expensive at roughly $700 per year.

Let's review some straightforward steps you can take to defend the safety and well-being of your family and dogs. Ideally, you should take your pet for consistent veterinary examinations and make sure that his immunizations are up-to-date. If controlling your dog's conduct is a challenge for you, find an obedience class in your area. Obedience classes can aid you and your pet to build a trusting bond in which he will learn to follow your command. Oftentimes these trainers will give information about specific breed's predispositions and how to deal with bothersome or impetuous behaviors.

While you tend to your pet's discipline, be dedicated in setting up safety measures by directing your children in the proper way to behave around animals. Most importantly, you must never leave a small child alone with a dog. According to a press release on The American Society of Plastic Surgeons' website, under "How Not to Be a Dog Bite Victim", ASPS's President states that "the majority of reconstructive surgeries to treat dog bites are performed on children". Of the 29,000 reconstructive procedures that were performed as a result of dog attacks in 2011 the most critical injuries were inflicted upon young people. Many times these injuries were received during everyday activities with a well-known dog.

Your children must know a few safety strategies if they are going to spend time around dogs. In laying the ground rules:

·         Teach them to never provoke or abuse a dog-they should be careful around dogs even those with whom they are accustomed.

·         Tell your children to never approach or bother a dog that is sleeping, eating or caring for puppies.

·         Caution your children about approaching unfamiliar dogs.

·         Educate them or role-play with them on how to behave if a dog pushes them down-making sure they know to roll into a ball and protect their face and head.

Finally, you should phone your local agent to make sure you have adequate protection under your homeowners or renters insurance. Most homeowners or renters policies cover dog-related events; however, some insurance companies have begun to decline coverage on certain breeds since they are more liable to turn on or hurt someone. Your agent should be able to clear up this concern and if you find that your homeowners doesn't include your pet, inquire about obtaining protection under a separate personal liability or umbrella liability policy. Be aware that if your dog does wound someone and you do not have enough insurance to cover the incident, you can be held personally accountable for any damages (including legal expenses).

So many of us take the adoption of a dog into our homes lightly-never considering that we must have the income to provide a safe and stable home for our pets as well as our family. The added expenses oftentimes catch us off-guard but the comfort and enjoyment that your dog brings to the family is worth the expenditure. The rest is plainly education and readying for those unanticipated events. If you have taken the above safeguards under advisement and have implemented them, then you can rest assured that you have done everything in your power to maintain the safety and well-being of your family and pets. Enjoy your dog!

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This blurb will review the increasing popularity of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and companies' need to insure they have sufficient insurance coverage to address these specific risk exposures.

As the latest social media technologies present new opportunities for the business market as well as individuals, the challenges are a critical interest that must be addressed. Many organizations are overlooking these opportunities and risks at their own jeopardy. Those who assume a proactive attitude can enlarge their client base, develop new business and increase their brand recognition. Those who do not can be subject to negative advertising and possible legal claims stemming from employee or consumer allegations. A memo dated May 30, 2012 published by the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) reveals the increasing danger that businesses run into concerning their social media standards. It is paramount that businesses adequately inspect their risk management policies and insurance protection to include social media vulnerability.

In regard to employees' social media use, businesses need to ascertain what types of control are right for their specific situation. Do assistants use social media as a part of their job? Are they allowed to use company resources even when posting on personal sites? In the NLRB memo mentioned earlier, many businesses were cited as using unlawful practices to control their employees' social networking activities. Many businesses were vague or too broad in the language used and the language could possibly be taken as a censorship of their free speech rights. Walmart was supported for their social media practice because they made clear any ambiguous language so as not to ignore any associate's First Amendment or state-constitutional free speech rights. Failure to enact appropriate controls have the potential to lead to illegal employment practices, misleading advertising, discrimination against a legally protected status (e.g. race, gender) or breaking of federal and state laws. There could also be other dangers to those businesses under the purview or supervision of a regulatory body.

In regard to business records management (RM) strategies, Symantec among other security control organizations accentuate the importance of building a proper retention plan to safeguard against risks. A Forbes.com article about social media risks included a declaration from Gartner Group estimating that by the end of 2013 half of all corporate litigants "will be asked to produce material from social media websites for e-discovery". Lack of a dependable RM policy could undermine the ability to produce records mandated by the court as well as increase the possibility of unintentionally releasing facts that would otherwise be kept from public exposure. Development of a clear-cut and executable program can protect against legal liability or an embarrassing public relations snafu.

The community likes the right to connect through social media so the business industry needs to respond, adapt or lose an opportunity to realize the great possibilities that come with the multiplying social media technologies. One way some organizations are taking advantage of the chance is by developing "canned" text or pre-approved topics/statements that may be posted by employees. This approach can be an smart way to launch a proactive social media policy and safeguard their interests at the same time.

In essence, businesses need to acknowledge the risks and concentrate on social media policies in regard to crisis/risk management, intellectual property, client/employee privacy, and compliance with federal and state laws and industry regulatory restrictions. With the increasing use of technologies, businesses should also speak to their insurance agents to ensure they have proper insurance coverage - some providers require special riders in order to administer coverage against social media exposure.

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In this point I'd like to verbalize about the property and casualty insurance industry. This is the scene where you go to shelter your personal equity like your automobile, dwelling, motorbike, recreational vehicle or sparkles Also commercial businesses shield their substance and a host of other things like worker compensation. Worker compensation is where the businesses insure themselves against on the job impairment of their employees. They may also insure a fleet of vehicles, or inventory of their produce.

Then theirs a parcel of certs, insurance binders and notice forms that agents use periodically. A certificate of insurance is authentication that you actually have an authentic current insurance policy with sufficient insurance. A lien holder similar to a commercial bank may constrain a builder for example to show evidence that they actually have the appropriate amount of coverage since the institution has an absolute interest in the item in question. In the insurance business the institution would be referred to as a Holder.

Business must preserve themselves from all kinds of perils. If someone is harmed while on their property they may be chargeable and are accountable to claims cataloged against them. So they secure insurance from an agent then the agent has to complete the right forms to shield their business from legal suits.

These ACORD forms are then delivered to an insurance company for submission. The carrier then process the forms to bind the policy, settle down claims and things as that.

Every state in the States has its own set of laws so there's a proper ACORD forms that's legal in each and every state. Some forms are accepted across the country like the certificate of insurance form number 25 but others demand their own version. For example, the personal auto form number 90, there is one of them for every state due to the deviating laws in each state. Now you see the reason there are so many ACORD forms! It's an imposing undertaking to keep these forms legal seeing how often the laws change.

Independent insurance staff all over the country must deal with a number of different things that they guard. In the industry that's known as a risk. It's really tedious and they have over seven hundred forms that they need when doing the paperwork on each article. For instance, when you guard your truck the agent has to develop an application form then they need to print an auto id card. If you're involved in an accident then they have to execute a claim form. So, you can just think of how many forms they have to keep track of. In fact they have a batch of over seven hundred forms at their grouping.

These forms are created by a non profit organization called ACORD. They license their forms to software vendors for distribution to the insurance companies. You can get more information by clicking on one of the links in this article; there you'll find samples and directions on how to complete the forms. Also, training videos are broadcast so it's a great over all learning experience.

The best program purveyor is Forms Boss. Their software will track clients, prospects as well as create any one of over seven hundred ACORD forms. They've automated the procedure to save time and money. Plus, it's really simple and affordable to use. To check them out click here.