Kayo and the Truck Seats

Kayo and the Truck Seats

Kayo is our dog; he is a rescue dog, three years with us he is now four years old. He is a very, very skittish dog, very loving but fearful of much that is ‘new’ to him.

He has sensitive ears, so much so that walking him on rainy days is a chore—tire and road noises make Kayo panic.

Gail and I go to a restaurant, Lefties, with friends every Friday. It’s a ritual for about a decade.

Kayo, though fearful of my truck at first, now just loves to be in his place, leashed, in the rear cabin of the truck. I travel most everywhere with him when the weather is cool enough, we are retired and mostly the truck is used to take the dog to his next walk!

So, one evening, 5:30 as usual, we took the truck to Lefties with Kayo. Winter had just started; it was rainy and dark. Everyone had changed tires from Summer to Winter, many with studs. As mentioned Kayo is very sound sensitive—unfortunately Gail wanted the windows down, even with the cool, the rain and the noise.

When we arrived back, more than an hour later, Kayo had eaten, ripped, torn, the seat backs of the truck to taters! White stuffing was everywhere! The metal backing of the seats was exposed—they were destroyed. And Kayo was apologetic by the looks of him. Like lightning causes a dog to panic, so had the road noises and the passing vehicle lights on the rainy roadways.

Sad but true, what had happened had happened! I called Nissan to price the cost of replacement seats and was told it would be around $3000. In that call, the service advisor, a dog lover, suggested I try the thunder jacket for anxiety for Kayo in this type of situation. It apparently worked wonders for his highly anxious dog with similar issues.

That cost put the repair on hold for me. In my mind, there was no way this could possibly be covered under insurance so I did not even try.

Gail however, thought maybe insurance would cover the repairs. So by my birthday, she had contacted our insurance to see what they could do…Lo and behold, our comprehensive coverage did indeed account for such unpredictable circumstances. Our insurance adjustor, Clyde Gomas, got everything in motion as soon as Gail called.

$2385 was the total cost of repairs—both seats were heated and had side impact airbags! The full costs were approved, minus our $250 deductible.

Yesterday, March 20, 2017, the repairs were concluded. My truck now looks like new.  Coincidentally,  also on the same day,  we received a package from Clyde and Shea at Meloche Monnex (TD Insurance) for  Kayo. When Gail opened the box, she put the contents on the back-top of the couch. As she looked for a note; the dog grabbed that contents and ran for his bed. The contents was a stuffed bear for him!

All’s well that ends well. Special thanks to Clyde and Shea at TD Insurance (Meloche Monnex). We received excellent service throughout this ordeal-service that went way above the norm. Thanks to Clyde and to the Nissan repair team for their kindness, consideration and attention.

Doug, Gail and Kayo