Happy 4th everyone; have a wonderful, fun and safe day. A reminder to keep all of your dogs locked up in the house safe and sound.
I am often at a loss for words; sometimes I just don't know what to write about as ponder my morning blog. But all it takes is a visual; just one and I've got my blog theme for the following day. Yesterday I was driving down to San Diego; it was moving day for my girls so we headed down to help out. We were driving along and there in front of us in the back of an SUV was a Great Dane with the window completely down. I gasped as I noticed that the dogs body filled the window; his entire body and half down his legs were there at the open window. If anything happened; a bump in the road, a sudden acceleration that dog would go flying out of the car and onto the freeway. I yelled through my car window "close that window;" and oddly enough they did. When I shouted out of anger they were several cars ahead; perhaps they realized how dangerous this was for their dog just at that moment?
The traffic was heavy; not bumper to bumper, we were moving and about 1/2 hour later a guy pulls in front of me with a big German Shepherd in the bed of his truck. The dog stood well over the edge of the truck in height; and was attached by a thin leash which was tucked into the truck bed tool box. The leash was in no way going to save this dog's life if an accident occurred or the dog lost his balance. I don't how many articles that I have read where a "truck dog" lost their life. They sped up ahead of me; leaving me shaking my head yet again.
As the owner drives in the comfort of the truck cab the "truck dog" hangs on for their life in the bed. It may look like a great ride for the dog; their head in the air, ears flapping in the wind. But this is a dangerous situation for the dog; a life threatening situation. Many dogs have slipped out the back of a truck; unnoticed by their owner they are dragged to their death. Others fly out from a sudden stop or acceleration. Dogs should accompany their owner in the cab and preferably in the back seat of the truck.
A little further down the freeway a car whizzed by with a very large Golden retriever hanging out the window. This was not just a head hanging out but 3/4 of the dogs body. One wrong move and that dog was going to end up on the freeway. Again I was left shaking my head; hence my need to blog about this issue today. Below are several articles I found on the subject.
Pets in pick-ups
Dogs riding in pick-ups
Dog days of summer
Our job is to protect and care for our dogs; keep'm safe and inside the truck.
makes my blood boil when I see that around here - I don't get where people's heads are at when the do that!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working at a kennel, we were waiting for a gentleman to bring in his GSP. He never showed and later called to say his dog had jumped out of the bed of his truck, leash attached and was dragged until owner realized. The dog had to be put down due the road rash on his legs and testicles.
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