[FeatherRiverSam]

Here's a new one for me...I'm visiting my 87 year old mother and my brother is down here taking care of her. We went off to the store for groceries with both of our dogs in tow. I've got an white Expedition that I leave all the seats down cause I've always got dogs back there. It's a warm day down here in the bay area, 85 degree's, so I leave all the windows cracked, front windows 4 inches down and the back windows about 6 inches and always leave the sun roof completely open for ventilation.

When we go in a store I always go back out and check on the dogs to make sure they're okay and the car is still there...so I get out to the car and am in the process of giving the dogs some water when a police car pulls up behind me and an officer starts to get out. I give him a friendly hello as I continue to take care of the dogs when he walks up to me and says I'm here for your dogs...I almost fell over when he said they'd received a call saying the dogs were in danger and that's why he was here.

I showed him how the car was left with the windows down and the sun roof open and he shook his head saying we get these calls all the time from this parking lot...he was very friendly and said obviously the dogs are fine - sorry to bother you. I told him no problem and said it's nice to know people care and take the time to make these kind of calls.

He took off and it was then I noticed a slip of paper inside the car with the following note:
"You're an ass for leaving your dog in the car..Would you leave your kid in here too..."

I look back on it now and think to myself good for you - had these dogs been in danger you very well may have saved their lives - absolutely no hard feelings here!!!

My brother and I talked about it on the drive home and were trying to decide what is safe when leaving a dog in the car on a hot day when you have no choice...if you leave the windows completely down you risk the dog jumping out and getting hit by a car or getting lost. You also risk someone walking off with your dog. I could live with the car being stolen but if were stolen with my dog in it WATCH OUT CAUSE ALL HELL IS GOING TO BREAK LOOSE!!!

What do you do to protect your dog when it's necessary to leave him in a car?

Woody with my 87 year old Mom...

Pete

 

[Oaklys Dad]

My dogs are almost always with me in my truck also. It sounds like you did everything right and you were just targeted by and ULTRA who is going a bit overboard. Left for long periods even with the windows open a car can heat up so caution is advised. Even here in Maine I take my guys to the store less often in the summer than in the winter. Two goldens in my truck will keep it warm even on the coldest January day.

 

[fostermom]

I live in NC, so an 85 degree day is deadly in a very short time for a dog in a car, even with the windows down part of the way. Personally, I don't leave my dogs in the car unless it is winter and less than 65 degrees. I am not sure that I have ever been in a position where I had no choice but to leave them in the car. One of us sits in the car with them, or they stay home.

I agree with you that at least people cared enough to call the police. The note was a bit overboard, in my opinion.

 

[mdoats]

It can obviously be very dangerous to leave a dog in the car on a warm and/or sunny day. I probably would not have left Rookie in the car on an 85 degree day for more than a couple of minutes. But I really believe people need to exercise a little common sense when reporting to the police.

I almost never leave Rookie in the car. I left him in the car at the grocery store once on a 57 degree cloudy day. I looked at my watch when I went into the store. I returned to the car 12 minutes later and the guy in the car next to me was yelling at me for leaving my dog in the car with the windows rolled up. It was 57 degrees outside and cloudy!! Rookie was certainly NOT going to overheat in the 12 minutes I was inside the store. The police car pulled in just as I was leaving the lot. I'm not sure if my local police would have been as sensible as your local police were.

 

[spruce]

someone gave the suggestion to always have two sets of keys when you go somewhere -- if you NEED to leave dogs in car & the air cond. on.

 

[Dallas Gold]

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-care-tips/automobile-safety.html

I think the ASPCA website says it best:

Don’t Leave Me This Way!

Number-one rule of automobile safety for pets: NEVER LEAVE YOUR PET ALONE IN A PARKED CAR! Overheating can kill an animal.
It only takes ten minutes on an 85-degree day for the inside of your car to reach 102 degrees Fahrenheit, even if the windows have been left open an inch or two. Within 30 minutes, the interior can reach 120 degrees—and even when the temperature is a pleasant 70 degrees, the inside of your car may be as much as 20 degrees hotter than the air outside. Parking in the shade offers little protection, as the sun is constantly shifting throughout the day. Pets who are young, elderly, or obese are particularly at risk of overheating (hyperthermia), as are those with thick or dark-colored coats, and breeds with short muzzles.
This same precaution carries over to the winter months, too. In cold weather, a car can act as a refrigerator, holding in the cold and causing an animal to freeze to death

 

[AlanK]

I take my boy Tuff with me whenever practical. Summer temps and humidity here in Georgia can be brutal. I have an extra door key for my truck and if he goes with me when it is hot out I crack the windows and leave the truck running with the AC on.

I do not like the extreme heat and my feeling is I would not leave my dog sitting any place that I would be uncomfortable in.

It sounds like you took care of your pup.

I would guess your mom enjoys visits from Woody.

 

[Penny & Maggie's Mom]

The temp in your car could be dangerously hot if the outside temp was 85.... even with windows cracked. It's amazing how quickly the interior of a car heats. Here the police and fire dept will break into a car with a dog ( or child) inside. I would have sent the bro in for groceries and stayed in the car with the air on personally.

 

[Dallas Gold]

There is another risk too--they can be stolen from cars when left alone. We had a rash of them here several years ago.

 

[Zeppelin]

I try very hard to not leave my boy in the car for an extended period of time. I'm a weirdo about it, actually.

If it's really hot (i consider it "really hot" if it's over 80, but hey, i'm from Maine ), i leave the a/c on for him if i'm running into the store/gas station/bank etc. If it's a cooler day (lower 70s), i just leave the windows open (sunroof too). Dont feel badly about leaving them in there for a few minutes (with the precautions you took) but i would def not leave them long if it's very hot out.

It's great that you can look at the positive side of this and know that it's good that people worry about dogs left in a car. There are pleny of idiots that would leave all the windows closed, no water and be in the store for an hour.

I absolutely agree that the note was in poor taste. A note is ok, as long as it's worded well, that note clearly was not.

Cute picture by the way...Mom and dog look happy and content.

 

[mylissyk]

I'll let this article speak for me. I would NEVER leave a dog in a car for more than 2-3 minutes, windows down or not.

http://www.tecumsehherald.com/node/2194

• Tecumseh Herald Editorials

To the Editor,
Every summer, we hear stories about animals (and yes, even children) being locked in hot cars while their owners leave them for “just a minute” to run inside and get something at the store. Such was the case on Monday this week, when a young lady left her 7-8 month-old golden retriever in a car where the windows were merely “cracked open,” leaving the dog to suffer in the 90 plus degree heat. After seeing that, I believe it cannot be said enough: do your pet a favor and leave them at home while you run your errands, for while you are in an air conditioned store, your pet may be dying.

A little research will show that the temperature inside a car, even with the windows rolled down can quickly climb to dangerous levels. There are many Internet sites that describe in detail what effects a closed car and direct sunlight have on pets. For example, one of the sites pointed out that the internal temperature of a car parked in direct sunlight on a 72 degree day could reach 116 degrees (this was a surprise to me). Keep in mind that a dog’s average body temperature is about 101 degrees and the only way they have of controlling their body temperature is to pant. If the temperature around them is higher than their body temperature, it is very difficult, if not impossible for them to cool down. Once a dog’s body temperature reaches 106 degrees, damage to organs, nerves and muscle is a distinct probability, and the dog is in serious danger of losing its life. And, it takes less time than you might think for this to happen. According to one article, most of the temperature rise happens in the first 5-10 minutes of closing the car door, so an errand that takes 15 minutes is simply too long. On Monday, when I realized that this dog had indeed been locked inside a car without the air conditioning running, I called the police.

For those of you who remain unconvinced and believe it can’t really be all that bad, there was a challenge that was suggested in an online article, which may make you a believer. Park your vehicle in the sun, roll the windows down one or two inches (as the person on Monday did) and sit there for as long as you can (If I accepted this challenge, I would have a person outside the car to keep an eye on me, just in case). Take an outdoor thermometer with you and watch the clock. See if you can stay for a full ten minutes (the person Monday was gone at least 15 minutes — meanwhile, the poor dog’s tongue was hanging half-way down his chest in a desperate attempt to cool off. Remember, you can sweat, but your animal can’t). Please let us know if you were able to stay for a full ten minutes and what the temperature was inside the car when you got out.
Taking your animal with you to run errands and locking them in a boiling hot car unattended is not an act of kindness — it’s an act of cruelty that could cost your pet its life.

Karen Bunch
Tecumseh

 

[mylissyk]

You can find a lot of reports on the temperatures inside cars, this is a good visual:

http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/hot-in-the-car.html

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/1/e109

"Conclusions. Even at relatively cool ambient temperatures, the temperature rise in vehicles is significant on clear, sunny days and puts infants at risk for hyperthermia. Vehicles heat up rapidly, with the majority of the temperature rise occurring within the first 15 to 30 minutes. Leaving the windows opened slightly does not significantly slow the heating process or decrease the maximum temperature attained. Increased public awareness and parental education of heat rise in motor vehicles may reduce the incidence of hyperthermia death and improve child passenger safety."

 

[GoldenJoyx'stwo]

If I think I will have to leave my car with my dogs in it I don't take them with me. I leave them home.

I was in a parking lot one day and this guy had a huge SUV. He left the car running and his "little" dog stepped on the button and opened the window. I stood there until he came out and he was in such shock that I didn't have to say a word. I'm so glad the dog only put the window down and didn't jump out. I often wonder what would have happened if the dog stepped on the button while hanging out the window and put the window up. :doh:

 

[hgatesy]

someone gave the suggestion to always have two sets of keys when you go somewhere -- if you NEED to leave dogs in car & the air cond. on.

Ahhh... I used to be able to do this in my old car! I would just crank the AC and leave the car on but locked if I had to leave the boys and run in somewhere. However, in many of the newer cars you can't lock all the doors with it running. I know it's a good idea so you can't lock your keys in the car, but for dog owners it ruins everything!

If I have to run in somewhere and leave the boys in the car and it's a warmer day, I am extremelly quick about it and a few times I have even left a note on my seat that says ran into store be back in two minutes.

DH saved a dog about a month ago. It was one of the warmest days of the summer and someone left their dog in their truck... all the windows up. The dog had basically destroyed the truck seat and the seal on the window trying to get out of the car. He called the police and waited until they got there. The officer got into the car and got the dog out and DH said he was clearly in distress. As DH was leaving the couple came out of a nearby restaurant. The officer gave them a verbal lashing and a citation. I'm sure the kid also had a nice hefty bill fixing his car seat and window on top of that so hopefully the next time he wants to take his gf out to eat he leaves his dog at home!

 

[kgiff]

I had the police called on me in the past too. It was a 70 degree day with a breeze, I was parked in the shade and it was less than 5 minutes from the time I put the dog in car and went to get the rest of my stuff and was walking back when they lady drove by to inform me she called the police. Ugh.

I'm very uneasy leaving my dogs in the car anything over 65 degrees. Even with sun shades covering the car, windows down, back open, parked in the shade, and with fans on, I'm still nervous.

 

[Bogey's Mom]

Not to highjack this thread, but is your dog a total golden or a mix?! I LOVE HIM! SO BEAUTIFUL!

 

[Duke's Momma]

Duke goes to work with my husband alot during the summer. He finds shade and leaves the windows completely down. He works outside and so he's always close. On the super hot days he'll leave the truck running with the ac on. Windows locked. Duke did roll up a window on him in "his" car one time while I was driving, so I always lock them.

In the brutal hot, dry weather, we leave him home. One of us is here most of the time anyway.

 

[Dallas Gold]

This whole thread reminds me of the situation a few months back with the woman who left all the show dogs in her van overnight in Missouri. Last I heard she is being prosecuted for doing so.

I've called 911 before for young children (4 and 5 years old maybe) left in a small car on a very hot summer day on a recently blacktopped grocery store parking lot. I left before the "mom" came back outside. I probably would have done the same thing if there were dogs in that car.

 

[FeatherRiverSam]

Thank you Bogey's Mom

How kind of you to notice - I agree he's a fine looking fellow. He was a rescue dog. Although I haven't had a DNA test done on him we're pretty sure he's a combination Golden / Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever at least that what two Vet's thought and the GM of the Rescue Center.

I was very lucky to get him as I had two breeders lined up for golden pups when he almost literally fell into my lap. Had it not been for a very resourceful lady at the Rescue Center he'd have gone else where.

Once again thank you,
Pete

 

[Bogey's Mom]

Oh - with those white paws too I can definitely see the toller mix. I bet he's got a great temperament! I'm so jealous. If you decide to get rid of him, call me. :0