Dogs riding in truck beds

[Kathy]

I saw a thread on 'another forum' about a dog that had been seriously injured twice due to riding in the truck bed-both were accidents but the end result was still a very injured dog.

The owner was adamant that the dog would be unhappy if not allowed free range in the back of the truck bed. The other comment was her husband would never go for a change in the way the dog rides.

I am of the mindset that dogs riding in the bed of a truck untethered or somehow secured in so they can't jump out/fly out due to braking/etc is foolhardy. I know we all think our dogs are so smart that they will only jump out on command but there's a reason they're considered animals-they don't have the same logic or discernment abilities as their owners.

This is just my way of asking those who might let their dogs ride untethered or unsecured to please rethink their choice. Find a way to secure your dog so he can still be with you if you like but doing it safely so he/she lives a long, uninjured life and is able to be your faithful companion.

Kathy< stepping off her animal safety soapbox.

[bbird]

It always makes me nervous to follow a PU with a dog in the back that is not tied in...so I hear ya on this safety factor. We don't let the dogs ride in back...we take the big van if we have to take the dogs somewhere.

You know I think its a law that they are tied in. Hmm, maybe that is my state only, not sure though. If I remember correctly they have to be tethered so they can't jump over the side and hang themselves, but maybe they can be loose or tethered close and its just the law of too long of rope that gets them in trouble since I see lots of loose dogs in the back.

So make room on your soap box, I'll stand up there with ya. :-)

[Deleted]

Around here, many dogs ride in the back of pick-ups, and one even on the top of the cab ! Scares me to death. I have seen one dog very seriously hurt this way when it fell out of the truck on main street.We had an old hunting dog, we thought he was tethered good, and he hung himself. We were just sick over the loss of Old Blue.We had a special pen built to slide in the pick-up when DH went out racoon hunting. Thank goodness he now stays home ! The dogs at times would get snake bit, they carried Benadry with them, and gave them that when they got struck. We had one dog that lost his mind after a rattlesnake bite.

[starfire]

I grew up with dogs riding in the truck bed and no one thought anything about it. But now days, I think most people knows it is a concern about it. I know I cringe when I see one.

Beside that the dog could jump out and bite someone. It is just bad all the way around.