Keep your pooch safer.

Share your experience and tell us how using positive reinforcement training methods has changed yours and your dogs' lives.

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smokeyandme
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:29 pm

Keep your pooch safer.

Post by smokeyandme »

Recently, I was in a car wreck. My car was pushed into the car in front of me; by someone who had fallen asleep at the wheel of her car. I was LIVID! When the police and ambulance arrive, I called my husband. He came and got our dog from the car.
I thought our dog would be OK in the back of my car, but he was flung foward, between the front seats, and broke the console on his way to the floor on the passengers side.
He seemed fine when I got home. The next day, a large lump was on his chest. It didn't seem to bother him, but I took him to the vet. She aspirated it, and it looked like clear fluid with a little blood in it. She had never seen an injury like that before. He's fine now.
Since then, :shock: I decided to make him ALOT safer.
I purchased a carrier to put him in. I pushed it toward the back of the front seat, to help keep it still. Then I realized that there was nothing to keep it from flying loose if we were hit again. Because my car has a large, deep area toward the back I was able to use the backseat seatbelt to secure it from shifting. I feel SO much better!
I feel badly that I was not a good caretaker. I'm so greatful that he is OK.
Because my car has the fuel tank under the front seats, instead of at the back end, there is much less chance that the gas tank will explode.
My dog, Eastwood, is the light of my life. I hope this post helps others to make their dogs safer.
Any more suggestions?
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by Erica »

I'm glad everyone was mostly unharmed! Car crashes seem terrifying. :( And obviously, dangerous.

Carriers/crates can break in a crash, unless they've been specifically designed to withstand it. A normal wire or plastic crate won't survive a bad crash. I found this article about safe travel for dogs. Here's a video showing some harness/crate failures in crash tests. It's in German, but the video's worth ten thousand words.

I always have Opal in a Bergan harness. We've lost the original tether, but I've made another that I feel comfortable using, by combining a rock climbing rope leash with a rock-climbing locking carabiner, attached to the child seat anchor in my car's backseat. This article talks about crash-tested dog harnesses.

(sorry if this seems blunt or rude, I'm just tired and want to write this all down before I forget to respond! :) )
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Suzette
Posts: 1518
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:45 am

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by Suzette »

Right after I read this thread, I moved on to a news site and one of the first things I saw was the following timely article . . .

Car safety test for pet restraints
By Tara Baukus Mello · Bankrate.com
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Posted: 5 pm ET

While cars and car seats are tested to meet safety requirements during a car crash, harnesses and other devices that restrain pets have no such standardized testing, rendering claims made by the makers of these devices completely unsubstantiated.

In an effort to substantiate restraint-manufacturer claims, The Center for Pet Safety, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, recently conducted a pilot study that concluded the majority of pet restraints currently available don't provide acceptable protection in a crash. In the pilot study, the group used a 55-pound crash-test-dummy dog equipped with various pet restraints attached to the car seat belt to test performance in a 30 mph collision, using the same standards used to test child car seats. All of the restraints tested showed that they could lead to serious or fatal injuries for the pet, as well as the driver. Restraining pets safely in the car is important for the safety of the animal and human occupants during a crash, but also because an unrestrained pet could cause distraction resulting in a crash that is the driver's fault, which could raise auto insurance rates.

As a result of the study, The Center for Pet Safety, in conjunction with Subaru of America, is creating a set of standards for testing pet restraints in cars, testing pet restraints in the future and announcing the results. In its study, and moving forward, the organization will use scientific testing and reference the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to establish the criteria for the standards and test protocols.

Tara Baukus Mello writes the cars blog as well as the weekly Driving for Dollars column, providing both practical financial advice for consumers as well as insight into the latest developments in the automotive world. Follow her on Facebook here or on Twitter @SheDrives.

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/cars/ ... z2NbiGmWBL
Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by Erica »

Nice of them to not mention what brands they tested that failed. :( That's worrying.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Suzette
Posts: 1518
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:45 am

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by Suzette »

Erica wrote:Nice of them to not mention what brands they tested that failed. :( That's worrying.
I have to agree. I'm finding journalism to be more and more frustrating - I often find myself having more questions than answers when I read a news stories these days. :( However, it is encouraging that an animal safety group is studying this and working to make travel safer for our pets.
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
smokeyandme
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:29 pm

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by smokeyandme »

The carrier I have is made by Nature's Miracle, from Petsmart. It has a metal tube frame and the outside is covered by nylon cloth. The frame is designed so that you can collapse the carrier when you're not using it. I don't know if this is the safest product, but I DO know that he won't be jumping out a window or get thrown onto the floor.
He seems more relaxed, being in this carrier. There are lots of mesh panels, so he can see out, and he doesn't get overheated.
I'll let you know if I find anything new/important about keeping our loved ones safe. :idea:
ClareMarsh
Posts: 2008
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:11 am
Location: London, UK

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by ClareMarsh »

http://centerforpetsafety.org/

They explain why they haven't released the brands above, which I sort of get, at least this is a step in the right direction.
Proud owner of Ted and baby Ella
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Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by Erica »

Aah, thanks for the link there! After examining the videos, harness A looks like it could be a Bergan harness - the tether style and shape of it match, even if they tried to blur out the tell-tale chest color. Not sure about the others as I don't have experience with other car harnesses. I guess I'll be shortening the tether we use, since that looks like the reason that one failed the test. Opal lays down in the car anyway, so she doesn't need much slack. That and driving super carefully seem to be the best option for now. :/

I am very glad they are doing research on this. I just hope they do it quickly!
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
lucyandbella
Posts: 304
Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 7:19 pm

Re: Keep your pooch safer.

Post by lucyandbella »

Ok....I really want to know the brand that decapitates the dog! This is frightening to me, and that crash was only at 30 mph? I hate to think what happens at hwy speeds! I was just thinking how I needed to research a better car harness cause neither of mine were crash tested...now I don't know which to get. I guess the first tested is the best, the dog still has its head and didn't come crashing through the front of the car at least....
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