With summer fast on its way you may be planning hiking excursions, trips to the dog park, or simply taking your dog for a ride in the car to keep you company while running errands. Most people don’t think about securing their pets while they are riding in a car, however, it should be a major concern. Recently this issue was brought to the surface in my life. As you’ve seen, our dog Carley is not very big, weighing only about 50 lbs. Although she is not a very large dog, she can be thrown around in a vehicle, and could injure not only herself, but whoever is in the car with her.
Back in the beginning of February in the wee hours of the morning my step mother was on her way to drop a friend off at her house, Carley was lying very happily in the back seat enjoying the ride as usual without a care in the world. As my step mother began to go down hill she suddenly hit a patch of black ice and lost control of the car. Knowing she was going to crash my step mother braced herself to try to ensure as little damage as possible. Carley, still lying in the back seat, was unaware of anything that was going on and could do nothing by lay there and sense the tension of her mom.. Finally, the car spun around and the passenger side of the car (the same side that Carley was laying on) slammed into a guard rail. Though Carley was shaken and very much confused as to what had just happened, she was not harmed, nor did she get propelled around the car, which could have hurt my step mother or her passenger.
When my step mother first bought Carley we were driving around doing some shopping and this poor little puppy could not sit still to save her life. From my lap to the lap of my step mother who was driving, and back again, then sometimes she’d plant herself in the back seat and shortly thereafter want to come back up front again. All this moving around was not safe! While we were out we decided to stop at a pet store and find some sort of a restraint for the vehicle for her so that all of us would be safe. We found a dog seat belt and immediately knew it was something that we needed to purchase. Well thank goodness that we did, because if Carley had been loose in the car on that cold day of February who knows where Carley could have been thrown or who she could have hurt while the car was spinning out of control.
Dog seat belts are very simple to use, there are many different sizes so that any size/weight dog can be safely restrained in your back seat. They are very similar to a harness and some of them even have hooks up the top, which would be on the dog’s back, so that you can put them right in or take them right out of the car with their leash and not have to worry about them getting away from you while you try to fumble with their collar. Dog seat belts are not only very easy to use, but they are also a very good idea to ensure the safety of your beloved family member. As long as you’re buckling up in the car, make sure that your pup is also buckled up.
Because of this accident involving Carly, Whales & Friends® felt it was important to offer a safety restraint for pets. We proudly announce The Ruff Rider’s Roadie Canine Vehicle Safety/Training Harness. We found that this product has an excellent safety rating and have added it to our product line.
Do any of you have stories of an accident that you got into with your pet in the car, and when you got into that accident was the pet safely secured somewhere or were they all over the vehicle not only causing a risk to themselves but to the passengers as well? Share your story with us.
More summer safety tips to come!
MumblesMom
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