Dog Car Safety

From LoveToKnow Dogs

A drive with your dog can be great, but it can also leave your best four-legged friend with an injury or infection. In this tip, Wendy Nan Rees tells you what you need to know to keep them safe.

Not a safe way to ride.

A Safe Place in the Car

By now I am sure you all know that it is totally unsafe to ever leave dogs alone in a car, no matter the season, but that does not mean it is not safe to travel with dogs. As a matter of fact, many dogs love to travel, which brings me to today's tip.

With four dogs, whether it is to go to the dog park or to the vet's office, it is an adventure just getting to my car, which can sometimes take ten minutes. Someone is always going to be stuck in the middle of the back seat. It is not safe to drive with a dog on your lap and it is not safe to drive with a dog in the other front seat. Should you stop short, they can go right through the front window and be hurt, possibly severely.

Still, so many of us have little ones that somehow, unless they are tucked safely in their car seats, will creep ever so slowly into your lap while you are driving, just so they can put their head right out the window to get that wonderful fresh air!

What is it that our dogs love so much about hanging their heads out the car or truck windows? I have heard so many great lines over the years. My favorite line is what my husband always says to the boys, "Get all those smells in all at once boys?" It must be like a smell-fest for them, or is it they get carsick and they need to have the fresh air? How about, they feel the need to have their eyes on the road, like we humans?

Dogs and Car Windows

Here is what I do know; it can be very dangerous for your dogs to hang their heads out the car windows, even though you know they love so very much to do just that. They can see something they like or don't like and try to jump out of the moving car. What if you are moving too fast to stop short?

Your dog can get an ear infection from the cool air rushing into the ear canal, especially if you have just come from swimming and you have not dried his ears out. Please know you do not have to go swimming. The air rushing in from an open window alone can harm your dog's ears. The general rule of thumb is that it is just not safe for our dogs to hang a full head all the way out a car or truck window.

Something else that can happen is they can be hit by debris that may be on the roadway. It can get flung up from the tires of the vehicle in front of you, or even your own vehicle. People in the country that live on gravel roads experience this when it has been really dry. The gravel on the road gets flung up and can create clouds of dust with particles a large as grains of sand. Your dog could also be hit by insects flying by, which may not sound like much,but what if it is an insect that stings? Like a wasp, which can sting repeatedly or a bumblebee that loses its sting and leaves a poison sac attached to your dog's nose if that is what happens to be out the window at the time.

A Compromise

Here is what you can offer your best friend so you both can enjoy the adventure of the open road. When traveling with Fido, be sure to have him secure in the back seat so there is no way he can jump out the car or truck window.

Then, have the window open just enough for him to see out the window and enjoy the fresh air, but not enough to put his head all the way out. For owners who have the luxury of a convertible top or who ride a motorcycle, you can get dog goggles to protect your dog's eyes when going for rides.

By employing a few safety measures, not only will you both enjoy your travels, but you can help to prevent any strange eye or ear infections from popping up while on your trip.