Dog breeds that originate in Australia - such as a kelpie, border collie or silky terrier - can be the cheapest to insure, costing $611 a year on average.

While dogs that originate in America or Canada - such as a Boston terrier ($914) or American bulldog ($1282) - can be among the most expensive.

The average cost to insure a dog is $716 a year, data research company Mozo found.

"While it's well-known that breeds prone to health conditions or behaviour issues will have higher pet insurance premiums, what is lesser known is just how much doggy DNA can add to the cost of cover," Mozo's personal finance and insurance expert Claire Frawley said.

Breeds from the United Kingdom cost an average $787 to insure, while European ($825) and American/Canadian dogs ($846) were more expensive.

But research found it's not just where your dog's DNA is from that counts. Size matters too.

Larger dogs cost 26 per cent more on average to insure than smaller dog breeds.

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"However, this is not the case with all breeds, with French bulldogs and Boston terriers having financial pawprints disproportionate to their tiny size," Mozo said.

Bullmastiffs ($1310) and French bulldogs ($1291) are the most expensive breeds of dogs to insure while Silky ($511) and West highland terriers ($512) are the cheapest.

Flat-faced dogs prone to health issues tend to come with costly insurance premiums, while working dogs tend to be cheaper to insure than designer pooches

Ms Frawley encouraged dog owners to shop around for the best policy to suit them, and said some people could save up to $729 by switching to a comparable policy.

"Taking the time to compare policies and providers is a must," she said.

Mozo compared insurance policies from 35 providers for 20 popular dog breeds.

The yearly cost of a comprehensive cover policy, with excess at $200 and benefit level at 80 per cent for each breed, were collected from the following insurance providers: Knose, Pet Insurance Australia, Petcover and Coles.

The cost of insuring each dog was found by taking the average cost of pet insurance for each breed across the four providers.