ugh!
i hate that
partly because ive seen the damage that happens to a dog in a collision when its not correctly secured.
in the drivers lap is the worst,
you cant steer properly...
you cant see properly...
the dog is moving around in your face and is a mental, visual and physical distraction...
AND its distracting to other drivers.
at only 10 miles an hour a dog hitting the windscreen can be killed (a dog is like a child in that it hits with such a force even at such low speeds...
if your going fast enough for the airbag to deploy you will not only kill the dog which will be forcebly pinned between you and said airbag but run the risk of seriously hurting yourself too...
low speed colisions can kill a dog, airbags are incrdibly dangerous to your canine companions
ruby rides in the front passenger seat, she has a specially built doggy seat that boosts her to window height, it it also a basket style and the entire inside is padded with 1" thick foam.
this seat is clipped in via the cars seatbelt, the seat pushed as far back as possible and the passenger side airbag is turned OFF! (even when properly secured the airbag can easily kill a dog on impact)
she then wears a special dog car harness which has a padded chest peice, attatched to this is a lenght of hevayy duty nylon, on one end is a clip that can clip into the actual seatbelt (i use it this way if were in someone elses car and i dont have the car seat)
when shes in her car seat however i have a heavy duty coupler that slips one end under the seatbelt and clips to the center ring (so its Around the seatbelt) then the other end clips to her harness...
in a sudden stop this keeps her in the seat and securly in place.
jasper is currently too small for a car harness but once hes big enough and comfortable in a harness and good on leash he will start traveling the same way (the seat is big enough for them both), right now he travels in his petflys carrier clipped in via seatbelt in the back seat or on the floor on the passenger side in front (though i prefer it on the back seat strapped in)
i also feel more secure because in an accident all an emergency worker or myself need do is clip a leash on/grab the carrier and off we go...
loose dogs in the car in general is just asking for trouble, after seeing a dogs brains smushed against a window in a colision of only 25 miles per hour (the dog thankfully died on impact because it would have been slow and painfull otherwise) and after seeing the xrays of a dog who had been squished between its owner and the steering wheel at a colision of only 10 mph...(both his lungs were punctured, ribs shattered and spine broken...he survivied for about 1/2 hour...)
or the door dog who was pinned between "daddy" and the airbag when it deployed accidentally due to a mechanical issue...they were at a stop light when it whent off and the dogs skull was destroyed CRUNCH between daddys ribcage and the force of impact...*shudder*
and those were the low speed that came through the clinic...
the high speeds often got so bad you couldnt realy tell what it was that as smeered against the windsheild...
unfortunatly loose dogs in cars is a HUGE issue here and i worked in an evet clinic...i always traveled with my dogs in MY lap (never in the drivers lap) but after the first accident i saw come in, that was it, i whent out and bought car and puppia style harnesses (car ones are too big for my 3lb chi) and couplers and they all got clipped in from there on out...)
they tend to get car sick when in crates.
ive YELLED at people for ahving their dogs on their laps when driving...i usually say things like "would you let your baby sit loose in a moving vehicle?! no? then dont let your dog!"
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