Does your dog like to feel the wind whipping over his/her face while out for a drive? Mine does, and jumps at any opportunity to try to talk me into taking him for a ride. Therein lies the problem, jumping! If you are a “dog” person then you understand how cute it is to see your beloved pet enjoying themselves so thoroughly during these rides. Picture it—the window is down and you look over and see your dog’s ears flapping in the wind with their eyes seemingly dancing at all the different stimuli as you dart past different places and sights. Who doesn’t want to see their dog enjoying life?
Years ago I remember seeing a commercial that has stuck in my mind. It went something like this: a woman was driving and looking over to the passenger seat to happily smile as she watches her pooch leaning out the window. The pooch was having the time of his life and looking back and forth at “mom” and then hanging out the window. This went on for several seconds and I couldn’t help but smile at how much fun the dog was having and living vicariously through the mom’s joy. Then a voice-over said, “You wouldn’t let your two year old lean out the window, so why would you let your best friend?” The scene suddenly became the same mother looking over to see her two year old son hanging out of the window of that same moving car and also enjoying the wind whipping through his hair with beaming eyes. My emotion went from elation to horror. I had never thought of it from that perspective!
I immediately began to look through the many options for properly restraining a dog in a car. There are many options out there for purchase and I would recommend finding one that works for your particular breed and your dog’s activity levels while driving. Remember that some equipment implies protection but might not do the trick in the event of an accidcent or impact. Case in point, I purchased a safety harness for my dog but quickly discovered that it did not activate and prevent lunging out of the window or walking around the back seat. I needed to find something to keep him still and unable to have as much freedom. I tell him, “if I have to wear my seat belt then you do too”. This also applies to any animal that I transport. I still open the windows enough to let the air blow through the car but not so much that they may jump out at the sight of something oh-so-exciting.
Kula, an 8 month old Golden Retriever student of mine, was recently driving with his dad. Fortunately dad had properly restrained him in his harness. Unfortunately something irresistible caught Kula’s eye and he tried to jump out of their Jeep. The result was a broken leg and broken paw. It could have resulted in death but thank goodness the harness was attached! This accident reminded me of how important safety, while riding in cars, is to an animal’s health and I wanted to use this incident as a reminder to us all. Kula is on the mend and now has colorful (casts)reminders of his ordeal.
