Dogs left in cars!

I sat in a parking lot for an hour before the cops showed up because I think they were sick of me calling 911. The people were inside eating at a restaurant, my husband was even willing to wait for the cops. I had also made a point of blocking them in till the cops showed up but they didn't come out. I did keep a close eye on the dog and he looked good but it was still to warm to leave a dog. When the cops showed up they went inside and had the owners come out and take the dog home, I just loved it.

For the sake of Sunshinegirl and her "shame on you" response, I thought this was worth repeating:

"But for the most part, in this discussion the people who have talked about leaving their dogs in AC cars were talking about rare occaisions when they had to do a thing and would only leave the dog for a few minutes in the AC car."

Paula

ORIGINAL: timsdat

First of all - For all of you who say you leave your beloved pets in the car with the motor running - have you ever given any thought to what happens if the motor cuts out for some reason????? It can and does happen. Shame on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gee folks lighten up.  If you are so worried how could you ever leave your dogs alone.  Try traveling with your dogs and never leave them in the car with it running for any reason.  I hope you have a really strong bladder!!!!!   I have left my dogs in the car many times with it running and never have had the engine stall or overheat. 

So far, your dogs have been lucky....

So far, your dogs have been lucky....

 
Yea, considering I haven't been hit by lightning, hit by a meteor, or abducted by big foot I guess you could say I've been lucky.  Come on folks get real.
 

I challenge anyone out there who leaves their dog(s) in the car for "just a few minutes" or "no more than 5 minutes" to put on a fur coat and sit in the car with the windows up and the car off on a sweltering or even mildly hot day and see how it feels to you, then keep in mind that a dogs' body temperature is higher than ours. If it's uncomfortable for us - imagine how it feels to them!!!!!!!! There just is no excuse. I understand that dogs are pack animals and love to go with us, but I stand by my opinion that they should only go with us if they can accompany us inside when we reach our destination.

Also keep in mind that even if it may not appear outwardly that the dog is in distress, it's brain could still be affected by the extreme heat - who's to say???

The bottom line is - could you live with yourself if your dog(s) died at your hands???? I couldn't. Even though I wish I could take them with me everywhere I go, I can't, but I feel good knowing that they are home with all their toys and each other in the cool a/c and will be so happy to see me when I get back!!!!! Not sweating their asse* off in the car dying or being uncomfortable for even one second.

ORIGINAL: Sunshinegirl

I challenge anyone out there who leaves their dog(s) in the car for "just a few minutes" or "no more than 5 minutes" to put on a fur coat and sit in the car with the windows up and the car off on a sweltering or even mildly hot day and see how it feels to you, then keep in mind that a dogs' body temperature is higher than ours. If it's uncomfortable for us - imagine how it feels to them!!!!!!!! There just is no excuse. I understand that dogs are pack animals and love to go with us, but I stand by my opinion that they should only go with us if they can accompany us inside when we reach our destination.

Also keep in mind that even if it may not appear outwardly that the dog is in distress, it's brain could still be affected by the extreme heat - who's to say???

The bottom line is - could you live with yourself if your dog(s) died at your hands???? I couldn't. Even though I wish I could take them with me everywhere I go, I can't, but I feel good knowing that they are home with all their toys and each other in the cool a/c and will be so happy to see me when I get back!!!!! Not sweating their asse* off in the car dying or being uncomfortable for even one second.

I agree with you 100%.  It takes just a bit of planing to figure out whether or not you should leave your dog home so that you don't have to take a chance with your dogs life and  leave it in the car for any length of time.

Here is an exerpt from the link below:


What about leaving the dog in the car with the air-conditioning running? Many people do this, but tragedy can strike -- and it has. For example, in 2003, a police dog in Texas died after the air-conditioning in the patrol car shut down and began blowing hot air. The air system's compressor kicked off because the engine got too hot. Many cars, including modern models with computerized functions, are prone to the same problem. In August 2004, a North Carolina couple lost two of their beloved dogs, and nearly lost their third dogs, as result of a similar failure. They had left bowls of water and ice in the car, and the air-conditioning on, during their shopping trip of less than 30 minutes.



[linkhttp://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_HotCars.php]http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_HotCars.php[/link]

Oh come on! Nobody here is in the habit of leaving their dogs in their cars. However, from my own experience here in the real world, there have been one or two occaisions when I've been stuck in a situation where I HAVE to stop and the dogs are in the car. Mind you I've had dogs for 10 years and there have been one or two occaisions. At those times I've locked them in and left on the AC and not been gone for more than a few minutes.  To carry on about sitting in a car in a fur coat is just a bit over the top given the current discussion. Nobody here is advocating for leaving your dog in your car in general.

So how about a little perspective and less hyperbole?
Paula

I feel good knowing that they are home with all their toys and each other in the cool a/c and will be so happy to see me when I get back!!!!!

 
Gee what happens if the power goes off at your house or the AC quits?  What about if there is a fire?  Your dogs aren't always necessarly 100% safe.  I could spin any situation where you are either with your dogs or where they are alone where something could happen and they aren't safe.
 
 

ORIGINAL: DumDog

i think the bottom line is... no... your car probably wont over heat, get stolen, run out of gas, or any number of car problems. but you CANT be 100% sure.

Well, my house probably won't burn down, be burgularized, have a tree fall on it, or have a window broken by vandals while my dogs are left alone in it but you CANT be 100 % sure. When I lived in the city I did have my house broken into, and I did have a window broken by vandals. Now that I live in the country, I did have a tree fall on it during an ice storm. I've thankfully never had my house catch on fire, but my neighborhood was ordered to be evacuated twice when I wasn't home, but the dogs were. Oh, and then there was the afternoon that several of my neighbor's homes were damaged in a microburst/tornado when I wasn't home but the dogs were.

Soooo..... there are no guarantees of absolute safety in life. One takes reasonable precautions and one then takes one's chances. I travel with my dogs a lot. I take them to obedience classes, to herding lessons, to work stock pens at herding trials, to tracking practice, to the vet, to visit nursing homes, to do various doggy demos, to the veterinarian's, to dog shows and trials..... The dogs aren't with me because I can't bear to leave them at home, they are with me because they are the primary reason for the trip. And because I now live out in the boonies about 35 min (one way) from the nearest grocery store, and farther from many other services, when I am in town with the dogs, I'm going to do other necessary errands rather than make a second trip. I've given a great deal of thought to how to do this reasonably safely. My van is well insulated, the windows are tinted, and have insulated shades that can be pulled when I leave the van. I find well shaded spots that aren't going to lose their shade within a few minutes, even if it means I end up having to walk a few blocks. The dogs are in crates with a bowl of ice/water (I put the crate bowls in the freezer overnight, and then keep them in a cooler until I leave the van - it works great to provide the dogs with cold water for hours). I have two running fans attached to the crate doors. I leave a couple shaded windows partially open to allow air flow through the van. I limit my stops to a few minutes. I have always kept a thermometer in the van, and I always pay attention to the temperature when I leave and when I reture, whether the dogs are in the van or not. So, over the years I've developed a pretty good sense of how hot the van will get under all sorts of circumstances. I've even left a large thermometer somewhere where concerned passersby could see through the partially open window what the temperature was inside the van. And yet, I've been accosted by passersby on three occasions for my "cruelty" to my dogs. And while I genuinely appreciate their good intentions.... Common sense people. On one of those occasions the clearly visible thermometer read 91 degrees. The passerby berated me for about five minutes about how intolerable this was despite the fact that it was also 91 degrees outside in the shade. Would this same passerby have been concerned if my dogs had been in my back yard at the same temperature?

By all means, do whatever needs to be done to rescue a genuinely distressed animal in a car. An animal in a car with closed windows in full sunlight on a hot day needs rescue. But, the idea that dogs can never be safely left in a vehicle flies in the face of common sense.

ORIGINAL: timsdat

I feel good knowing that they are home with all their toys and each other in the cool a/c and will be so happy to see me when I get back!!!!!

Gee what happens if the power goes off at your house or the AC quits?  What about if there is a fire?  Your dogs aren't always necessarly 100% safe.  I could spin any situation where you are either with your dogs or where they are alone where something could happen and they aren't safe.

 
Life does throw curves, recently my friends power went out in her house, she has 2 dogs. She didnt know until she got home from a full days work.  The dogs were fine because luckily it wasnt a scorching hot day, but if it had been her dogs would not have faired well.  My point is that no matter how "good" you are, things can always go astray. To be honest I worry a lot about power outagages when it is really hot out...
 

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

Oh come on! Nobody here is in the habit of leaving their dogs in their cars. However, from my own experience here in the real world, there have been one or two occaisions when I've been stuck in a situation where I HAVE to stop and the dogs are in the car. Mind you I've had dogs for 10 years and there have been one or two occaisions. At those times I've locked them in and left on the AC and not been gone for more than a few minutes.  To carry on about sitting in a car in a fur coat is just a bit over the top given the current discussion. Nobody here is advocating for leaving your dog in your car in general.

So how about a little perspective and less hyperbole?
Paula

 I can honestly say that I have never left any of my dogs alone in a car..if we take them out,we take more than one person,so somebody  is always with them.Ussually it is me,and while my wife is shopping ,I will go explore with the dogs...I am a bit worried about abduction too...There have been enough cases around here to be cautious,even though it ussually happens with smaller dogs.

  I also take my dogs everywhere I can.So it isn't impossible.

Here's my situation. I live in Florida. I have a Jeep Wrangler soft top with side doors with the plastic zipper windows (not full doors). I do NOT have AC.
 
I realize when I take Patton in the car the windows must be unzipped and I generally roll up the back window. This gives him a nice breeze as we are driving and Jeep Wranglers generally do not get as hot as regular cars because Jeeps do not have slanted windows so there is less sun getting in which keeps it about 40-50% cooler than regular cars. However, I am fully aware that if left alone in the car with the windows unzipped, Patton will surely jump right out and frankly I don't think that "cracking a window" is enough. Cracking a window does not truly circulate air or keep a temp down, esp if it is very hot out. atton is smaller so even when he sits up straight his nose wouldn't  reach the top of the window so it would have to be rolled at least halfway or more down for him to stick his nose into fresh air. So I don't ever leave him in the car. If I had air conditioning maybe I would but only for a minute or two (going to pick up a pizza I ordered, go to the ATM, etc.) but around here I just think it's too sketchy to leave a car running.

Ummmm...i'm pretty sure that everyone in this thread that has said they've left a dog in the car has stated that the car was not off, and that it's not because "we want to take the dogs everywhere with us" i'm PRETTY sure everyone was just saying that in the case that a dog needed to be left in the car, then the car should be running. I'm not an idiot- i wouldn't leave my dog in a car without it locked and running...for their safety and the public's safety.
 
and i have been in a hot car with it not running. I got in a wreck and ran out of gas and it was 92 degrees. I was in there for about 10 minutes...soaking wet and then i almost passed out. Thanks, but i'm intelligent enough to figure if 10 minutes did that to me--with the windows down, what it would do to my dog. but thanks.

RidgebackGermanShephard:
 
Are you really directly your comments to me? Because I didn't say anything suggesting that I thought anyone was doing anything wrong. I was merely posting my own experience with my car and my dog. [&:]

ark3, I think it's just that pesky message board penchant for tagging the subsequent message as 'reply to' the previous poster.

Paula