hot days, blacktop, and dogs--a rant

[gritsar]

This story has given me a good feeling all day Sour. I feel so fortunate to call you friend.

 

[ranchhand]

All this lends credence to why I don't take my dogs everywhere. They get the necessary trip to the vet and that's it. They have a huge fenced yard, room to run and play. Last thing they need, or probably want, is a trip to the fair in summer.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Well, now I don't feel so crazy for buying my dogs shoes for winter.

What? I don't want to walk barefoot in the snow....

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Jax not go bye-bye???

The world would come to an end. But, the boys don't get to go bye-bye when it's as hot as it is right now. Jax has a trip to the vet coming up next week. The jeep will be pre-cooled before we put the boys in it and they have their own fan, that plugs into the cig. lighter outlet.

Heck, I freeze in bed every night just so Kane can have his fan running.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I've been on both sides of the fence. On the other side, we've had people who think if your dog is in a car at any point, IT WILL DIE. Had a woman threaten my mom with calling animal control because we left our family airedale in the car for 15 minutes. Her reasoning? He would roast. It was winter. In WA. Had a woman yell at my husband for leaving our cattle dog in the car for 5 minutes (He was aiming to run across the street, pick up a pamphlet, and come back). As soon as he had left the car, she screamed at him, "you're dog is in the car." He replied, "yep, just running across the road." To which she yelled, "you're dog is gonna DIE". He knew he'd be back well before she could even make a call, so he just grinned at her by that point. Then I had someone call animal control when our cattle dog was in the car in a parking lot. Problem? I was in the car with her. XD Then there was the lecture about docking our cattle dog's tail....only she came that way from a shelter. Oh, and couldn't forget about the guy who accosted me for using a harness on my (insecure and skittish) cattle dog. According to him, it would turn her into a seething mass of dominance. He knew. Oh, he knew. He watched the Dog Whisperer.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Yep, there are always extremes in both directions. I'm at the other extreme a little bit, my dogs don't have to be with me every time I go somewhere. Nothing wrong with taking them places, just people need to understand what's good for the dog and what isn't. Sounds like you do.

Sourland trains and raises dogs, he knows the parameters within which to have a dog, quite well. Better than most, really.

 

[gritsar]

With GSDs especially, it's important that they get out and go. They have to be socialized heavily. I look for opportunities to take them places, but anymore since I don't go out much, they don't either. A trip to SO (sheriff's office) or to the local stop and rob is about it. Takes me an hour longer to go anywhere, since I have to take their needs into consideration - cooling the jeep first, making sure I have their water bowl, water, paper towels, etc. along - but it's worth it for them to have the chance to get out and meet people.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Yep, wasn't questioning Sourland, was just adding to the conversation.

Dogs on hot blacktop *are* a bad thing, and letting owners know can help keep them from running into problems they may never have considered, such as blistered and burned pads that occassionally even need vet treatment. I can't imagine what my response would be to pointing out a dog was showing pain and discomfort in an easily fixed situation, and the owner responding, "I know".

 

[Kaitie09]

We went camping with a family that had a dog with them. Now this dog is very well cared for, and is spoiled. We left before them but heard about what happened. They were packing up their trailer and had tied the dog to the back bumper while they did this. normally, the dog was put in a crate in the back of the truck bed. they all thought the other person did this so they took off. right as they were leaving, they were stopped by the entrance. Turns out they forgot about the dog and he was running along tied to the bumper. It was just a one time thing but was pretty scary.

Our dogs don't go anywhere except for the lake. We have a boat that they love, and they get plenty of water time. we went out today with them, and it hit about 95. We spoil our dogs. they each have their own water bottle, and they have little spray fans that and we fan them while they are in the shade.

 

[Towman72gmc]

Yesterday I saw a dog and a toddler left in a closed up pick up, parked on the street. The police were called.