Dog Safety

It was a moment that has replayed in my mind countless times. Both dogs sat on my lap in the passenger seat, heads blissfully catching the breeze out the window as Dan turned a corner. And then in the blink of an eye, flop! My dog Biscuit fell right out the car window.

Thank the Lord we were on a quiet side street and there were no other cars. Thank the Lord Dan was only going about 10-15 mph as he eased out of the turn. Thank the Lord he had quick reflexes to brake right away when I cried out my brief but effective message: "DAN! BISCUIT!!"

I watched helplessly in the mirror as Biscuit wisely tucked and rolled, then popped his head up, befuddled as to how he'd ended up in the road. (Truth be told, I was a little befuddled too. I'd had an arm around him, and I hadn't felt the push of him jumping.)

As soon as Dan stopped I got out of the car, careful not to free Peanut, and went to gather my little man. But Dan was also calling him from the driver's side, so Biscuit ran around that side. In his confused state, he couldn't quite tell where Dan's voice was coming from, so he stood in the middle of the road looking around. (Have I mentioned how thankful I am that there were no cars around?) I ran toward the front of the car calling him, and he started to run around the front of the car from the other side. As soon as he saw me, his pace quickened. He was sure glad I was there to save him from this strange situation!

For about five minutes, Biscuit's life was changed. He kept his head inside the car with just his nose barely peeking over the edge. His paws were firmly planted on my lap. But then he started to creep up closer and closer, until he was putting his paws up on the window sill (a habit we expressly forbid, but Biscuit has a hard time following our rules on that one).

We got him checked out by the vet and he was fine. We figured that was the case, as he hadn't been acting hurt or dazed, but I wanted to know for sure. I also did some Googling about dogs falling out of car windows. And I saw a lot of stories about people who'd experienced similar situations - some not ending so favorably.

We've now implemented a rule that our dogs must be leashed while they are on car rides, so they can stick their heads out the window and we have something to tether them down with. But I also found in my Google searching items like this one, that really help keep your dogs safe. (I've put 2 on our wishlist!)

I've learned my lesson. I'm not going to ride with the windows up - the whole fun of a car ride for a dog is feeling the breeze - but I am going to take precautions so that there are no more car flopping incidents!