So, in other words, your objection is based on your emotional preconceptions, not logic. You don’t understand or “get” why someone might come to a different conclusion than you, but can’t present us with any fact that supports your view of things. Your cite has no application to the situation under discussion. Nevertheless, you jump all over the OP.
Like I said, a kneejerk response.
What’s your problem, Random?
You wanna call me names, take it to the Pit.
Names? Pit?
Do you know what the adjective kneejerk means?
Not every word containing the letters j-e-r-k is a personal insult. See also “soda jerk”.
I recommend a dictionary.
:rolleyes:
My sister-in-law has always taken her dogs with her almost everywhere – if she’s going somewhere he can’t come in, she leaves him in the car. She parks in the shade, leaves him water, and checks on him often. Obviously, when it’s real cold or real hot, she leaves him home, but most of the time he comes with. Her current dog (I didn’t know her last one, but she treated him the same) hates being left at home and will pout when she does it. He’d much rather go with her and be left in the car than stay at home. Now that Dreds is getting to be an old man (he’s at least 15; they’ve been married for 11 years and he was 4 or 5 at the wedding), she leaves him home more often, of course, and it really pisses him off.
I would probably leave my cat in the car in that situation. But I second (or third or fourth) checking on the dog a few times. Look for excessive panting, check paws for sweating, check heartbeat and respirations. If the dog seems stressed, you need to cool them down really soon. Just to be safe, I would know the number of an emergency clinic in the area you will be dining in just in case. The bag of ice will melt and get messy, can you freeze a 2L pop bottle for him to lay against or lick if he wants to? Also, use sun shades in the car windows is you can. Also, super cool the car with the AC right before you leave it. And you owe the doggie a nice doggie bag from the restaraunt, of course. If you can get come ice water from the restaraunt right before you leave, that wouldn’t hurt either. I would feel uncomfortable leaving my cell number on my car, but YMMV and if it saves a doggie theft, maybe its worth it. That is always my number one concern leaving the cat in the car. My cat has now been trained to lay under the seat when she is left in the car and will only come back out when she hears my key in the lock.
Sheesh, if you’re this way about cars, I’d hate to know what you think about crates.
Several years ago, my dog was found roaming in the woods near my town. He was taken to taken to a local shelter, where we met and adopted him. He’s the sweetest, most loyal, affectionate dog I’ve ever met, but he has definite abandonment issues. We’ve tried professional training, leaving him outside in the yard, giving him prescription anti-anxiety drugs, bringing over other dogs – nothing works. We simply can’t leave him home for long periods of time.
However, he LOVES MY CAR. He can’t wait to get in and be driven around, and he really doesn’t mind sitting in the back seat while I go to the gym, out to dinner, grocery shopping, etc.
We base our decisions upon a number of factors:
- Crowds - if it’s too crowded, we won’t leave him. We don’t want strangers provoking him, and we don’t want him barking at them.
- Weather - if it’s cold, we leave extra blankets and some treats. If the temperature is above 50, we open all the windows a few inches and leave him with water. If it’s near or above 65-75 degrees, same as above, except we park in the shade, and don’t leave him for more than 15-20 minutes. If it’s above 75, we don’t leave him in the car at all, not even with the windows all the way down. If it’s raining or thundering, or if it’s likely that there’ll be loud noises, we don’t leave him.
Of course, the car is always locked, the alarm is always set, and regardless of where we are or what we’re doing, we check on him every 30 minutes.
Under those guidelines, he has spent the last two years more than happy to sit in the car for up to two hours at a time.
Well then, I’ll just refrain from telling you. I think you can prolly guess.
Dogs are den animals. As such, they actually are more relaxed in small confined areas, especially their crates. Cats are also den animals. My cat puts herself in her cage when she is overwhelmed by something because it is home and therefore safe. An animal in open is exposed on several sides. An animal in a cage or den is protected on all sides but one. Why do you think that animals hide under and behind things? Why do you think animals prefer to curl up and sleep in little beds and boxes? Where do you think wild dogs, wolves, and coyotes sleep? Why do you think that horses are much more likely to lay down to sleep in a stall than they are in a field? Do you sleep in an open field or a room with limited entry points?
Once you realize that an animal is an animal, it becomes much easier to understand their behaviors. Dogs like their cages, and most like their cars, too.
I agree with everything you wrote there except the part about the horses. My horses go in their shelter when they want shade, when they want to get out of the wind, or when it’s very cold. They do not go in there to feel safe. They are prey animals. They feel safest in the middle of the pasture, where they can see in all directions, and run away in any direction.
I pretend to be no horse expert, in my experience they only lay out flat when in their stalls. We also probably had less pasture than you do in Montana, so that may be a consideration. I do know dogs and cats very well, they like dens and cages and cars.
I know someone whose dog died after being left in a car for about 5 minutes. However, that was a) a brachycephalic dog, b) in the day time, and c) in the deep south.
That said, and knowing how devastating this was to the owner, I have never left a dog in the car for more than 5-10 minutes on principle. In the rare occasion I’ve had to do it, this is what I do.
I take my spare set of car keys with me. Let’s say I’m on a 10-hour road trip and I stop for gas, to pee and get food. Pup can’t come inside on any of those errands. (Although I once made a freeway rest stop security guy hold my dog’s leash while I went in to pee! He was terrified she’d notice a stranger was holding her leash and bite him.) So I leave the keys in the car, leave the A/C on (or the heat, as the case may be). Then I exit the car, lock up with my spare keys and carry those in with me. So you’ve got a dog locked up in a running car. It’s only good for a quickie errand – I wouldn’t leave a dog alone in a running car for an hour and a half.
But I think most people would just ask someone to come over and take the dog out when they’re going to be away for a long time, like 8 -10 hours. There are pet sitting services that would do it for $10 per hour. This, to me, is well worth the peace of mind.
But, hey, whatever. YMMV.
If it’s nighttime, there’s no sun. The car will not heat up.
If the temperature in the car is acceptable when you park, it will be acceptable while you eat.
So from a safety standpoint, you’re fine. The dog will be fine.
Next, consider behavioural issues. If someone parks beside your car and has another dog in their car, will your dog go berserk, barking insanely and clawing at the door? Will your dog howl or dig or pee on the seats?
If not, there should be no problem taking your dog.
Don’t ever try this when the sun is out, though. Even on a barely warm-ish day, sun shining in a car can heat it up rapidly. Dogs can die in a hot car in less than half an hour.
Dogs and cats are predators. Their behavior is very different from prey animals. My horses frequently sprawl out flat in the middle of the pasture, but one of them always remains standing. There are times that they lay down in the shelter, but I think that’s a learned behavior. I’ve observed wild horses a few times, and they always seem to have multiple escape routes from wherever they are.
The hotter the better, IME. My dog loves Lamborghinis!
The dog is fine.
We were in such a heat wave earlier this week when I started this thread that I forgot how cool 70F is. No problems at all. Turned out there was valet parking at the restaurant and the valet liked dogs and promised to keep an eye on him.
Thanks to everyone for ideas, support and humor, even the people who had no idea what they were talking about.