Cosmolo Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 What would you all consider to be a 'hot day'. Or would you never leave the dog in the car ever regardless of weather, completely covered area etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 You have to plan around the dogs. If the car is in full shade and the car has full cross-flow ventilation (while still secure), a dog could be left inside for a few minutes. I would not go out of sight of the vehicle. This would only be possible in a car that had been modified to allow this, with crates or security grills. A normal sedan with windows down a bit does not allow for adequate ventilation, nor is it secure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 What would you all consider to be a 'hot day'. Or would you never leave the dog in the car ever regardless of weather, completely covered area etc? A sunny day in winter or any day in summer. Depends on where you live I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlemum Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Dont know if they do anything about it here but in Holland you ring the police, they come and break the window, wait for the owner who then gets a fine. Some people are just soooo stupid The Police will attend here if you call them - I saw a very distressed dog left in a car - all the windows closed. I rang the Police (fortunately, the Police Station was just across the road) they attended immediately. The owner turned up just as they were about to break the window and they gave her a real telling-off! I would go into the shop and insist the car owner was called over the PA and asked to immediately return to their vehicle. If the owner did not respond within a reasonable amount of time I would ask that the shop staff call the police. I tried this once at a supermarket - they REFUSED to put a call over the PA (never shopped there again). If I have a dog in the car & the day is sunny (doesn't have to be hot - soon gets warm in the car on a sunny day) I always try to find a shady spot to park - even if it means quite a walk for me - no shade, I don't stop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolz Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 there was a story i read somewhere recent where a person was shopping at a mall and found a dog left in a car.. they called spca and cops but by time the cops and spca had turned up they had already let the dog out of the car (cops didnt do anything about them breaking in). when the resucer came back to their car 2 hours later the offending car was still there.. imagine if that poor dog had been left in the car.. it was hot that day as well.. spca took the dog and left a note for the owners.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 So if you're out on a hot day and you need to duck into the shops for 10 minutes - do you drive home first and drop the dogs home before going into the shop? Not trying to cause an argument - just curious about what other people do. Yep, I've seen too many cooked dogs to ever want one of mine to suffer the same fate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) I live in a place where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40c. I live in a remote area and just last week had to take my dog into the vets in a larger place for vaccinations. I had the predicament of what to do with dog while getting fuel, lunch ect- considering most places in australia are exceptionally pet unfriendly I did not have many options and I was worried about him being stolen if left tied up. Recently in the news a boy was mauled by a dog tied up so that is another issue . Basically I tried to leave him with all windows down half way in the shade so he wouldn't jump out and was as quick as I could be. obviously not ideal but had to be done As far as police go with rescuing dogs out of cars, I am certain that it would not be viewed as a priority unfortunately (maybe if you rang up and said a child was in there it would be different). If you are concerned about the welfare of the dogs inside hot cars, break the window yourself and then call the police i think- minutes waiting for police to arrive (at best) can be the difference for a stressed dog. I personally would pay for the window to be repaired if it came to that, better than the dog dying. by the way, now my dog is vaccinated I will leave him at a boarding kennel when I have to come into town, but I didn't have that option last week Edited January 23, 2011 by erinonthefarm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skitch Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 So if you're out on a hot day and you need to duck into the shops for 10 minutes - do you drive home first and drop the dogs home before going into the shop? Not trying to cause an argument - just curious about what other people do. Yes, I'd never leave a dog unsupervised in my car on a hot day. Or any day really.. Boomer would definitely have a chew on something if we left him unattended LOL! I've seen way too many heat stroked dogs to want to risk either of my two suffering the same fate. Sometimes when my OH and are out together and we have the dogs one of us will stay in the car with them while the other goes into the shops, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shyfig Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 So if you're out on a hot day and you need to duck into the shops for 10 minutes - do you drive home first and drop the dogs home before going into the shop? Not trying to cause an argument - just curious about what other people do. If I'm doing something quickly while Jed is in sight ....i.e. get petrol...... I'll leave him in the car. If I'm longer...i.e. shopping for about 20 min.... he either stays at home or I bring a child with me so they can sit in the car with him and windows can be quite away down. Any longer he stays at home. I also love to take Jed with us as much as I can but I don't see the point (or enjoyment) from a dog's perspective of waiting in the car for his people. Whether it's cold or hot..waiting for a longer period of time by themselves must be sort of boring for a dog. They are not with their people if their people are shopping. I know some people take their dogs everywhere and use them like a car alarm. I won't do that either. A simple test for those who can't work out if it's too hot for their dog to be left alone in the car is this: Sit in the car for at least 5 minutes with the windows down at the same level you would have them for your dog. It won't take long to figure out .....if you can't stand it then they won't be able to. If you go out in the morning and it's pleasant but you know it's going to be hot when you going shopping later...leave the dog at home. It's not really rocket science I don't think!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shyfig Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I plan my errands and dog activities seperately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Yesterday it was 33 degrees here - I went to check on a friends house who is OS at the moment and took Mac with me for a walk around the house. I then needed to duck into the local supermarket for 5 items. I took Mac home and then went back to the supermarket. If it was the middle of winter and 10 degrees I probably would have ducked in with him in the car. But in yesterdays heat? No way - never an option! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosepup Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I would only leave them in the car if it was a cool day, I was only going to be a few minutes and remain in view of the car at all times. Running into a supermarket rarely takes a few minutes, you always think of extra things you need, you don't know how long the checkout wait is going to be etc. Much safer to take them home first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog_Horse_Girl Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I don't leave my dogs in a car unattended if I can avoid it...and if I do have to leave them, it's with windows down sufficiently to create a cross-flow situation with ventilation and I don't dilly-dally. The car is parked in shade, if no shade, I don't stop. No matter what. I have a window vent which secures a window in an open position (which is adjustable) while not allowing the dogs to get out or people's limbs to get in. Molly is always crated in the car, so I can leave the windows down considerably if she's the only dog in the car...and her crate is secured on the front seat with a seat belt so takes a few minutes to get her out of the crate - the crate door faces in towards my seat so the door is actually blocked by the seat belt. Hard to explain. But I only leave her like this if I'm getting petrol...no other situation! It's not worth the risk and yes, I've gone into shops and demanded an announcement is made, with vehicle's rego and description plus details of the dog suffering in the car. I have also waited for people to return to their cars and have explained how lucky their dog was to not die in the car while they left it there. No need to be mean or anything, just explain that dogs heat up more quickly than we do and their cooling mechanisms aren't as sophisticated as ours, which means they can die in a hot car in minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D & D Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 So if you're out on a hot day and you need to duck into the shops for 10 minutes - do you drive home first and drop the dogs home before going into the shop? Yes. I did that this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkehre Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 If it is over approx 18 degrees and sunny, I will not leave my dogs in the car. It does not have to be a hot day for a car to heat up. I love taking my dogs on outings in the car and do it almost daily, but I always plan what I am doing, and do not do errands on the same trip, unless it is a cool Winter's day and not sunny... and even then it is a rare occurrence and only for 5 minutes, no more. Just not something I do. If I have to do errands, I do not take the dogs. They are better off at home where they can self regulate their core body temperature around the yard and house rather than being locked inside a makeshift oven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the answers, was just curious. We don't tend to go out on very,very hot days to start with because it gets horribly hot here. If it's going to be a longish visit to the shops, we don't bring them. If it's a medium visit, then one of us will sit on a bench outside the shops with the dogs while the other one goes in. OH sometimes brings the dogs with him to pick me up from work so on the way home we'll stop briefly at the shops to pick up any last minute provisions (5-10 minutes at the local IGA at around 7pm or so) and sometimes we'll have called ahead to pick up food so it might be 5 -10 minutes at Florey Dominos (again around 7pm or so). Usually no more than 5 minutes because we've called ahead. We're only a few metres away from the dogs and we can see them at all times as we wait for the pizzas. Next time though, I'll send OH in and stand in front of the car to protect my windows from being smashed in by any DOLers who might happen to be in the neighbourhood :D ETA: I was just telling OH about this thread and he was all: "Given that we never leave the dogs alone in the car when it's hot, why would you even get involved in a discussion like that just for the sake of it?" Edited January 23, 2011 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Age Outlaw Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I would never leave my dog unattended in the car on a hot day for 10 mins.I plan my errands and dog activities seperately. Me too! I just wouldn't do it. It does remind me of one time my parents did it though. We had a dachshund, and we took her out one day and then had to stop off somewhere on the way home, so we left the dog in the car for no more than 5 minutes (not a hot day). When we came back, the dog was just fine...and had chewed through every seatbelt in the car as a protest! :D It worked - she never got left alone in the car again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) I just had a good example of what was meant to be a quick trip to the small local IGA which, I've I'd taken my dog for the trip, would have caused problems. - Parked and ran into someone I knew when I was getting my parking ticket and had a quick chat - Got the few items I needed - usual brand was not in stock so had to look at alternatives - Went to checkouts and 15 people in the line to be served. - Paid then realised I had forgotten toilet paper which I needed so went back - only 5 people this time - Leaving ran into another person and had a chat - Back to the car and I had been away 32 mins - this was supposed to be a quick trip. SMH says its 28 degrees here at the moment. Edited January 23, 2011 by Danois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) I just had a good example of what was meant to be a quick trip to the small local IGA which, I've I'd taken my dog for the trip, would have caused problems.- Parked and ran into someone I knew when I was getting my parking ticket and had a quick chat - Got the few items I needed - usual brand was not in stock so had to look at alternatives - Went to checkouts and 15 people in the line to be served. - Paid then realised I had forgotten toilet paper which I needed so went back - only 5 people this time - Leaving ran into another person and had a chat - Back to the car and I had been away 32 mins - this was supposed to be a quick trip. Well given that we generally only take the dogs out when there are both of us, even if one of us got caught up with something, I'm sure that the other could go out and tend to the dogs. Of course one can never account for all unforeseen events and a giant meatball of catastrophic proportions could fall out of space and kill us both, thereby condemning our dogs to a sad and lingering death. In any case, 7pm in Canberra is usually not THAT hot and I am pretty comfortable our dogs can last for 5-10 minutes ... But to save time, I'll report myself to the RSPCA now... Edited January 23, 2011 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest english.ivy Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 If it's going to be hot and I want to take my dogs in the car, I do it first thing. Before the day heats up. Or I just go shopping in the evening when it's cooler and the dogs can come for a drive. If it were to be a hot day and I needed to stop with them in the car for ten minutes, I'd leave a note on my windscreen with my number to call if anyone had issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now