Traveling With Your Dog

Posted by Joy Butler Jul 23, 2007

I just read in my Itchmo pet news digest that a Shepherd mix pup was riding in the back seat of a vehicle in Dallas, apparently with his head out the window, when the driver, going approximately 40 mph, changed lanes and he went sailing out onto the pavement! A bystander happened to witness the event and acted quickly, scooping up the puppy just ahead of oncoming traffic. The puppy is said to have sustained only scrapes and bruises to his face and paw. This is nothing short of miraculous. This dog was lucky twice in that he was not seriously injured in the tumble and also that he was not hit by oncoming traffic. The owner still has not been located. I wonder how far down the road they traveled before they realized their pup was missing? And I sincerely hope they learned a lesson from this. Dogs should never ride with their head out the window as they can be hit by branches and bugs or thrown out, as this dog was. They also should never ride loose in the back of a pickup, for the same reasons. This seems so obvious to many of us but I still see dogs riding in pickup beds and I just cringe and hope for the day when this will be outlawed everywhere. It would not only save the lives of dogs, it would prevent accidents as drivers try to avoid the fallen dog.