Sue you haven't lectured and have given some good advice, until we learned the hard way we would have been hostile to anyone telling us letting dogs hang their heads out of the window was dangerous, sometimes people just sadly have to learn for themselves.
I agree with what you say - when I was a child we had a dog which we allowed to sit on a seat in the car and put his head out of the window - my blood runs cold when I think of it now, it's just daft but sometimes you don't think of it at the time. Apart from the risk mollie mentioned re the dog's eyes - imagine what would happen if another car went into the back of you. Bye bye doggie.:( I am also puzzled as to how a dog could be secured solely by a seatbelt.
We have a convertible and have always secured our dogs on the back seat using harnesses and the seat belts. Sue are you saying that this is dangerous because we still do this now with our little pup? She is excellent in the car and simply lays down to sleep.
I hardly dare admit that if the roof was down our last dog absolutely loved standing with a paw on either of our shoulders for the first couple of miles and then he would quite happily move back so that we could stop and put the harness on him. Thank heavens that nothing ever happened. Just imagine how bad you would feel if they were hurt because of anything that you did or didn't do.
I agree with what you say - when I was a child we had a dog which we allowed to sit on a seat in the car and put his head out of the window - my blood runs cold when I think of it now, it's just daft but sometimes you don't think of it at the time. Apart from the risk mollie mentioned re the dog's eyes - imagine what would happen if another car went into the back of you. Bye bye doggie.:( I am also puzzled as to how a dog could be secured solely by a seatbelt.
You can get harnesses specially to use with seat belts now - we tried one with Mollie, but it didn't seem very good idea as when breaking suddenly she fell off the seat ! Duncan just would not sit still and you cannot blanket the seat effectively as you have to allow access to the seat belts.
We then got a dog guard again and popped them in the back Honda CRV so plenty of space and standing room, but much more secure if we stop suddenly.
Sue are you saying that this is dangerous because we still do this now with our little pup? She is excellent in the car and simply lays down to sleep.
If she is secured with a proper harness, and is happy to use a harness then she should be fine. I personally wouldn't use one, but that doesn't make me right or you wrong.
I wasn't trying to make anyone feel guilty or trying to lecture - I guess I am just conscious, because I do so much travelling with the dogs, that I see dogs loose in back windows, ON DRIVERS LAPS (yes - this is true) - hanging out of windows etc - and really the same rules apply for dogs as they do for children.
==========================
My comment was really just a generic one on unsecured dogs, initially around what could easily happen in an accident
But having moved on from there to seemingly simply using human restraints, my other point is, dogs are not humans, and any one of them can encounter a trigger that can make them behave in an unpredicatable manner - whether that be jumping onto the driver, out of the window, or something else.
My apologies to the OP, we seem to have gone way OT in this thread
It's a bit like saying baskets of flowers should not be hung on lamposts in case they fall on some poor soul's head.
Safe but boring. Life is for enjoying when you are a dog. BTW, my dogs teeter on the edge of a waterfall most days, jump off high rocks into the sea (not pug) run alongside galloping horses and sometimes ride in the cab of a tractor (!)
That beats sitting in a crate any day of the week in my book.
It's a bit like saying baskets of flowers should not be hung on lamposts in case they fall on some poor soul's head.
Safe but boring. Life is for enjoying when you are a dog. BTW, my dogs teeter on the edge of a waterfall most days, jump off high rocks into the sea (not pug) run alongside galloping horses and sometimes ride in the cab of a tractor (!)
That beats sitting in a crate any day of the week in my book.
The dogs sit in a crate for the car journey - to go and do lots of exciting things.
Dogs don't have the same sense of risk that a human has - my dogs have a fantastic - but hopefully also safe life - because I don't particularly want to be mopping their brains off the side of my car, or having to manage a blind dog for the remaining 'x' amount of years of their life because my actions have caused a problem - I don't call that boring, I call it being a responsible owner.
The dogs sit in a crate for the car journey - to go and do lots of exciting things.
Dogs don't have the same sense of risk that a human has - my dogs have a fantastic - but hopefully also safe life - because I don't particularly want to be mopping their brains off the side of my car, or having to manage a blind dog for the remaining 'x' amount of years of their life because my actions have caused a problem - I don't call that boring, I call it being a responsible owner.
Well said Sue, Interested to know how many who allow their dog to put it's head out of the window would also allow a 2 year old child to do the same - we take care of our children in cars so why take chances with our dogs ?
The dogs sit in a crate for the car journey - to go and do lots of exciting things.
Dogs don't have the same sense of risk that a human has - my dogs have a fantastic - but hopefully also safe life - because I don't particularly want to be mopping their brains off the side of my car, or having to manage a blind dog for the remaining 'x' amount of years of their life because my actions have caused a problem - I don't call that boring, I call it being a responsible owner.
What kind of exciting things ? Does it include being prodded by a judge to see if your dog matches up to the "standard required" ? Although I'm sure that's not all your dogs do.
Sue, you and I will never be on the same page as our ideas of dog ownership are at opposite ends of the scale. However that does not mean one of us is right and the other is wrong. Different, that's all. Pug is from a long line of champs, but I would never show or breed her. Just not my idea of having fun with a dog. Watching her trying to relate to a horse or deciding whether to jump in the sea, now that's fun !
BTW, just to clarify, I only let bullmastiff/boxer put his head out of the window when travelling in the village at slow speeds, not on the main road or motorway.
What kind of exciting things ? Does it include being prodded by a judge to see if your dog matches up to the "standard required" ? Although I'm sure that's not all your dogs do.
Firstly, if you have never been in a showring, then you can't possibly know anything about how much 'prodding' goes on - they are checked for conformation to the breed standard - but no prodding.
If a dog doesn't enjoy the showring, you cannot show them - it's quite simple really - showdogs for one, maybe two days a week, some weeks, pets the rest of the time, happy propping up the sofa, rolling in mud or going for a swim.
As for the rest of the time - work it out for yourself - why post them? because I am sick of people thinking that showdogs are wrapped in cotton wool without normal every day pet lives. They have a bath once a year if they are lucky - and are just normal everyday dogs
Fantastic pictures ! Must try and get a darker coloured dog next time my blondie Mollie looks much worse after an encounter with mud than yours do
hehe -you wouldn't say that if you saw my yellow girl after she discovered the unintentional compost heap :eek: - i've been trying to find the pictures - but I can't (she did go in the bath that day - phew - the smell :eek:
Thank you all for your kind comments - I adore each and every one of my gang with their unique personalities (even the two sisters are like chalk and cheese )
Sorry I went on picture overload and apologies again to the OP that we have somewhat moved away from the original subject.
My dogs are my life - everything we do revolves around them - we show because both we and the dogs enjoy it.
I know many of the dogs who show alongside us (my own and many other gundog breeds) are also out in the field on a regular basis.
Must agree with sue51 re: dogs in cars. We all choose what suits us but personally (I also do many miles with dogs in the car) I would always prefer a secure crated area.
As for this belief that show dogs spend all their time wrapped in cotton wool, restricted from exercise in case they get dirty then I invite you all to meet my lot most days of the month when they are on the beach or down the fields, covered in carp, eating anything rotting they can get their teeth into They live in the house and live the life of Riley. Pets, first and foremost. Always have been and always will be. Plus, I agree about the ones that don't want to show - you can't make them
Interesting. My dogs tend to have the run of the car. Jake usually plops himself in the passenger footwell, and Jen sits in the passenger seat. Both will stick heads out of the window for a few minutes before settling down.
Jake soon learned not to stand on the electric window buttton. :rolleyes:
Previously he would lie on the folded hood of my convertible.
I also used to take him on my old motorcycle, sat on the tank with his doggles on, whilst my pal still carts his rotty all aver the country in a sidecar.
With regard to the question about letting a 2 year old child hang their head out of the window; sadly it's no longer allowed as kids have to be restrained by law.
But I wouldn't stop a child having fun climbing a tree on the off-chance that they might get hurt.
Sue , your dogs are lovely, so nice to see another choc lab owner, ( we must be mad, mustnt we? )
They are the craziest bunch of dogs I have ever met, never a dull moment with a choc
Ha! I saw a few people at Crufts who didn't let their dogs walk on the floor, even after the showring. Holly is entering the ring in a couple of months, but she's still mad and enjoys the mud and mad dashing around fields
I am trying to bite my tongue where people are saying they allow their dogs to sit in the front (or even back) seat - I am going to assume this is when the car isn't moving.
I've converted the back of my car so I can mix and match - but the dogs are in a completely secured area.
Please think if you are allowing your dog to travel unsecured in a vehicle with no protection - if you crash at 30mph - your dog is going to accelerate through the windscreen at an increasing speed.
Imagine what would happen at 70mph
Just to clarify a few points from my first post in this thread.
At NO point did I allude to my dog travelling unsecured in my car. He is secured using an RAC harness and seatbelt, which I deem sufficient given that; a) he is very, very rarely in the car (I'm surrounded by farmland and fields, plenty of opportunities for walks), and; b) whenever he is in the car, we only go very short distances, usually to visit family who only live a couple of miles away (where he knows he will be spoiled rotten, and have the hind legs walked off him by my father!)
You obviously do a lot of travelling with your dogs, therefore it, of course, makes sense for you to convert your car. I do not travel the length and breadth of the country with my dog, I go from one village to the next.
Also, I do NOT allow my dog to hang his head out the window when travelling. The window is cracked open at my side of the car (the drivers side, obviously!) to allow ample fresh air into the car. The window at the passenger side is not open while the car is moving. Besides, when he is strapped in with the harness, he couldn't hang out the window even if he wanted to.
I do wish people would query any concerns with other FM's posts, rather than making assumptions.
They are the craziest bunch of dogs I have ever met, never a dull moment with a choc
Have to agree with this. I have a black lab who is daft enough, but my sister-in-law has a choc lab. That dog is the craziest mutt, completely wired to the moon!
She likes to lie on the couch, not just beside you but actually on top of you! And given that my SIL spoils her rotten (therefore, the choc is overweight which annoys me, but that's a whole other story), a hefty lab lying on you ain't my idea of fun!
Have to agree with this. I have a black lab who is daft enough, but my sister-in-law has a choc lab. That dog is the craziest mutt, completely wired to the moon!
She likes to lie on the couch, not just beside you but actually on top of you! And given that my SIL spoils her rotten (therefore, the choc is overweight which annoys me, but that's a whole other story), a hefty lab lying on you ain't my idea of fun!
Lovely! our choc is simply crazy, she is just a year old and is having some behaviour training so we can cope with her a little better, we have seen some improvements and I am sure she will calm down soon ( although some choc owners have told us this doesnt happen until they are 6 or 7 !lol)
Sue , your dogs are lovely, so nice to see another choc lab owner, ( we must be mad, mustnt we? )
They are the craziest bunch of dogs I have ever met, never a dull moment with a choc
Thank you - I quite like them too (well maybe not so much at 5am on non-show weekends :eek:)
People seem to have this misperception that Chocolate Labs are nuttier than the other colours - when it is genetically impossible.
The colours are inextricably linked - i.e. Yellows, blacks and chocolates can produce any combination of these pups in their litter dependent on the mate and the colours both parents carry.
The only two pairings that can't are two yellows who can only produce yellow
Two chocolates can produce chocolate or chocolate and yellow.
Unfortunately, because of their popularity with back yard breeders and puppy farmers - Chocolates have earnt a reputation for being nuts.
I've got 6 - 4 chocolate, 1 yellow and 1 black.
The chocolate boy could happily let the ceiling crash in on him and he wouldn't blink - likewise for the eldest chocolate bitch, her eldest daughter and her black grand-daughter.
The other chocolate daughter and my (unrelated) yellow are mad as a box of frogs :rolleyes:
===================
In simple terms, for well bred Labs, some are just bonkers, some are wired, and others are totally chilled
======================
shakeyershammy, nice pictures lovely head on the black
Re: Dogs in cars - the initial unsecured comments were really just as an adjunct to my post, and not aimed at anyone - it just came to mind because I do see so many dogs in the most ridiculous places in cars
Comments
We have a convertible and have always secured our dogs on the back seat using harnesses and the seat belts. Sue are you saying that this is dangerous because we still do this now with our little pup? She is excellent in the car and simply lays down to sleep.
I hardly dare admit that if the roof was down our last dog absolutely loved standing with a paw on either of our shoulders for the first couple of miles and then he would quite happily move back so that we could stop and put the harness on him. Thank heavens that nothing ever happened. Just imagine how bad you would feel if they were hurt because of anything that you did or didn't do.
You can get harnesses specially to use with seat belts now - we tried one with Mollie, but it didn't seem very good idea as when breaking suddenly she fell off the seat ! Duncan just would not sit still and you cannot blanket the seat effectively as you have to allow access to the seat belts.
We then got a dog guard again and popped them in the back Honda CRV so plenty of space and standing room, but much more secure if we stop suddenly.
If she is secured with a proper harness, and is happy to use a harness then she should be fine. I personally wouldn't use one, but that doesn't make me right or you wrong.
I wasn't trying to make anyone feel guilty or trying to lecture - I guess I am just conscious, because I do so much travelling with the dogs, that I see dogs loose in back windows, ON DRIVERS LAPS (yes - this is true) - hanging out of windows etc - and really the same rules apply for dogs as they do for children.
==========================
My comment was really just a generic one on unsecured dogs, initially around what could easily happen in an accident
But having moved on from there to seemingly simply using human restraints, my other point is, dogs are not humans, and any one of them can encounter a trigger that can make them behave in an unpredicatable manner - whether that be jumping onto the driver, out of the window, or something else.
My apologies to the OP, we seem to have gone way OT in this thread
Safe but boring. Life is for enjoying when you are a dog. BTW, my dogs teeter on the edge of a waterfall most days, jump off high rocks into the sea (not pug) run alongside galloping horses and sometimes ride in the cab of a tractor (!)
That beats sitting in a crate any day of the week in my book.
The dogs sit in a crate for the car journey - to go and do lots of exciting things.
Dogs don't have the same sense of risk that a human has - my dogs have a fantastic - but hopefully also safe life - because I don't particularly want to be mopping their brains off the side of my car, or having to manage a blind dog for the remaining 'x' amount of years of their life because my actions have caused a problem - I don't call that boring, I call it being a responsible owner.
Well said Sue, Interested to know how many who allow their dog to put it's head out of the window would also allow a 2 year old child to do the same - we take care of our children in cars so why take chances with our dogs ?
What kind of exciting things ? Does it include being prodded by a judge to see if your dog matches up to the "standard required" ? Although I'm sure that's not all your dogs do.
Sue, you and I will never be on the same page as our ideas of dog ownership are at opposite ends of the scale. However that does not mean one of us is right and the other is wrong. Different, that's all. Pug is from a long line of champs, but I would never show or breed her. Just not my idea of having fun with a dog. Watching her trying to relate to a horse or deciding whether to jump in the sea, now that's fun !
BTW, just to clarify, I only let bullmastiff/boxer put his head out of the window when travelling in the village at slow speeds, not on the main road or motorway.
Firstly, if you have never been in a showring, then you can't possibly know anything about how much 'prodding' goes on - they are checked for conformation to the breed standard - but no prodding.
If a dog doesn't enjoy the showring, you cannot show them - it's quite simple really - showdogs for one, maybe two days a week, some weeks, pets the rest of the time, happy propping up the sofa, rolling in mud or going for a swim.
As for the rest of the time - work it out for yourself - why post them? because I am sick of people thinking that showdogs are wrapped in cotton wool without normal every day pet lives. They have a bath once a year if they are lucky - and are just normal everyday dogs
ooooh - some mud
some of the boys harem in the mud
and some surf
and a bit more surf
and the occasional wave
oh - and a few more waves
and a bit of fun in the pool
and more pool
and the biggest doggie water bowl in the world
All mine
Mustn't forget the snow
and of course the occasional retrieve or two we were bred for
hehe -you wouldn't say that if you saw my yellow girl after she discovered the unintentional compost heap :eek: - i've been trying to find the pictures - but I can't (she did go in the bath that day - phew - the smell :eek:
Thank you
Just to balance things a little - one of my girls in the showring - not exactly what I would call miserable
Clover BOB
And my obviously unhappy (not) bitch with one of our occasional litters
Babies
and last but not least, the babies
babies
(thanks for the explanation re the seatbelts molliepops - I did think dogs would probably slip and slide a bit!)
If we do get another dog it is going to match our carpet regardless of whatever colour that might be!!!
Sorry I went on picture overload and apologies again to the OP that we have somewhat moved away from the original subject.
My dogs are my life - everything we do revolves around them - we show because both we and the dogs enjoy it.
I know many of the dogs who show alongside us (my own and many other gundog breeds) are also out in the field on a regular basis.
As for this belief that show dogs spend all their time wrapped in cotton wool, restricted from exercise in case they get dirty then I invite you all to meet my lot most days of the month when they are on the beach or down the fields, covered in carp, eating anything rotting they can get their teeth into
Jake soon learned not to stand on the electric window buttton. :rolleyes:
Previously he would lie on the folded hood of my convertible.
I also used to take him on my old motorcycle, sat on the tank with his doggles on, whilst my pal still carts his rotty all aver the country in a sidecar.
With regard to the question about letting a 2 year old child hang their head out of the window; sadly it's no longer allowed as kids have to be restrained by law.
But I wouldn't stop a child having fun climbing a tree on the off-chance that they might get hurt.
They are the craziest bunch of dogs I have ever met, never a dull moment with a choc
Just to clarify a few points from my first post in this thread.
At NO point did I allude to my dog travelling unsecured in my car. He is secured using an RAC harness and seatbelt, which I deem sufficient given that; a) he is very, very rarely in the car (I'm surrounded by farmland and fields, plenty of opportunities for walks), and; b) whenever he is in the car, we only go very short distances, usually to visit family who only live a couple of miles away (where he knows he will be spoiled rotten, and have the hind legs walked off him by my father!)
You obviously do a lot of travelling with your dogs, therefore it, of course, makes sense for you to convert your car. I do not travel the length and breadth of the country with my dog, I go from one village to the next.
Also, I do NOT allow my dog to hang his head out the window when travelling. The window is cracked open at my side of the car (the drivers side, obviously!) to allow ample fresh air into the car. The window at the passenger side is not open while the car is moving. Besides, when he is strapped in with the harness, he couldn't hang out the window even if he wanted to.
I do wish people would query any concerns with other FM's posts, rather than making assumptions.
Have to agree with this. I have a black lab who is daft enough, but my sister-in-law has a choc lab. That dog is the craziest mutt, completely wired to the moon!
She likes to lie on the couch, not just beside you but actually on top of you! And given that my SIL spoils her rotten (therefore, the choc is overweight which annoys me, but that's a whole other story), a hefty lab lying on you ain't my idea of fun!
Here's Archie & Bailey - a bit out of breath!
Here's my boy!
And again!
Lovely! our choc is simply crazy, she is just a year old and is having some behaviour training so we can cope with her a little better, we have seen some improvements and I am sure she will calm down soon ( although some choc owners have told us this doesnt happen until they are 6 or 7 !lol)
Thank you
People seem to have this misperception that Chocolate Labs are nuttier than the other colours - when it is genetically impossible.
The colours are inextricably linked - i.e. Yellows, blacks and chocolates can produce any combination of these pups in their litter dependent on the mate and the colours both parents carry.
The only two pairings that can't are two yellows who can only produce yellow
Two chocolates can produce chocolate or chocolate and yellow.
Unfortunately, because of their popularity with back yard breeders and puppy farmers - Chocolates have earnt a reputation for being nuts.
I've got 6 - 4 chocolate, 1 yellow and 1 black.
The chocolate boy could happily let the ceiling crash in on him and he wouldn't blink - likewise for the eldest chocolate bitch, her eldest daughter and her black grand-daughter.
The other chocolate daughter and my (unrelated) yellow are mad as a box of frogs :rolleyes:
===================
In simple terms, for well bred Labs, some are just bonkers, some are wired, and others are totally chilled
======================
shakeyershammy, nice pictures
Re: Dogs in cars - the initial unsecured comments were really just as an adjunct to my post, and not aimed at anyone - it just came to mind because I do see so many dogs in the most ridiculous places in cars