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Roving With Rover
How
to Keep Your Best Friend Safe and Happy
on the Road by Dr.
Stanley Coren
As I drove down the street I heard a
car horn honk and glanced into to my rearview mirror. Much to my
surprise I saw a minivan behind and the driver seemed to be a white
standard Poodle. He did not seem to be doing a good job of driving
and the van weaved back and forth and finally swerved to a halt next
to an empty stretch of curb. I immediately pulled over myself, just
to confirm what I had seen.
When I walked toward the van the scene changed. The
Poodle moved out of the driver’s seat to reveal the blonde woman on
whose lap he had been sitting. She appeared quite shaken and dropped
her head down on the steering wheel. She would later tell me “There
was someone walking a pair of spaniels across the street and
Snowball just jumped onto my lap to bark at them. I thought that I
was going to hit a truck in the other lane and just managed to get
out of the way in time.”
Unfortunately this is not a rare occurrence. Most
people believe that all that is required when you travel by car with
your dog is to toss the dog into the vehicle and then start the
ignition. Unfortunately this is not true. Many dogs are not happy
travelers. When the car is stressful for the dog, this often results
in behaviors that will also stress its fellow passengers.
Furthermore, as in the case of Snowball and his owner, some
behaviors can even trigger accidents that can be fatal for the dog
or the other riders in the car. Let’s consider some things to keep
the dog safe and content in the car.
Don’t Let Rover Rove
Dogs don’t belong in the front seat, and certainly not
on the driver’s lap. It should be obvious that even a small dog
sitting on your lap can interfere with your ability to steer a car.
A dog anywhere in the front seats of the car can get excited and end
up in-between you and the steering wheel. Small dogs have also been
known to get down on the floor and interfere with foot movements
required to hit the brakes. The distraction of a dog bouncing around
on the front seat of a car makes the controversy over cell-phone use
while driving pale in comparison. Furthermore, front airbags are
designed for adults, not for children and dogs. Many dogs are killed
each year, not by a car crash per se, but rather when the airbag
deployed at the moment of impact.
A free roaming dog in the back seat of the car may not
be much safer. After years of safety campaigns, most people have
learned to buckle up their kids in the family vehicle, but many are
unaware that their canine passenger is also at risk in a crash or
sudden stop. In addition if the dog is loose in the car he may
escape when the door opens and wind up in traffic.
There is yet another problem with an unrestrained dog
anywhere in the vehicle. According to the American Pet Products
Manufacturers Association, a 60-pound dog free in the vehicle during
a relatively low speed (30-mph) crash potentially becomes a
projectile that could hit a windshield, dashboard, driver or another
passenger with a force totaling 1,200 pounds.
The solution to this problem is quite simple. Simple
harnesses that attach to seat belts, which still allow the dog
enough leeway to sit or lie down, are available beginning as low as
twenty dollars. A kennel crate is another alternative. Simply slip
it onto the back seat or the luggage area of a van, and secure it in
place using a leash as a strap and attaching it to the seatbelts. A
side benefit of restraining the dog is that this prevents him from
hanging his head out of open car windows where particles of dirt in
the air can collide with sensitive eyes, ears and noses and cause
lasting damage.
Keeping Rover Happy
Most dogs put up with car travel well, however some
become stressed, and some may even become carsick. Taking the dog on
car trips when it is a puppy is the best way to acclimate him to
auto travel. Whether it is a pup or an adult, begin with short
trips, perhaps with someone to sit next to him and provide comfort,
or with another dog that travels well to serve as a calm “role
model”. Keeping the dog in its familiar kennel crate in the car will
also often reduce stress.
If the dog has a tendency to become carsick, simply
don’t feed him before each trip. Most dogs grow out of carsickness.
If the problem persists you can again resort to a traveling kennel,
however you want to drape it with a towel. Motion sickness is often
associated with vision, and it is possible that the rapidly passing
scenery that makes the animal nauseous. The dog may feel better if
he can't see outside the car.
One Last Safety Hint
Just in case Rover should go missing along the way, it
is important to make sure that your dog has two types of
identification on its collar. The first is the usual tag that has
your home address and phone number. The second should change during
the trip, indicating your destination, and where you are staying
locally. A simple way of providing this changing information is
using an inexpensive collar addition, which is a small hollow
cylinder with a screw top. These are available from most pet supply
stores. A thin slip of paper with your current information is rolled
up and put in the container and serves as beacon for rescuers to
bring your dog home. The information can easily be changed by simply
removing the old slip of paper and replacing it with another.
These precautions are worth the effort since your dog
is apt to be a lot happier traveling with you, then if he is left at
home--even in a good boarding kennel.
Stanley Coren, the well-respected scientist, psychologist,
researcher, and Professor of Psychology at the University of British
Columbia, is best known to the public for his series of best-selling
books on dogs.
Coren's easy-going style has made him popular with the media,
resulting in numerous interviews, program and articles, including:
NBC Today Show, CNN, Canada AM, CBC's Fifth Estate, NBC's Dateline,
CBS's 20/20, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King,Vicki Gabereau, USA Today,
the Globe and Mail, Time, Macleans, Saturday Night, and many others.
For more information on Dr. Coren’s newest book,
click
here.
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