Monday, June 6, 2011

Driving Miss Puppy

By Robert Hong


You want to treat your puppy like a member of the family members. That indicates involving her in most of your family's joint activities, especially those that take place on puppy friendly territory like parks and beaches and the backyards of pals or relatives. In numerous cases, this will require a trip by automobile.

Taking any sort of car trip can be a problem for a puppy who suffers from motion sickness (the signs of which are heavy drooling or vomiting) or merely fear of being in a moving vehicle. The way to deal with this would be to get the puppy used to the car environment in stages. Initial bring the puppy into the car without turning on the engine. Then turn on the engine, but maintain the car in park. When she adjusts to these new surroundings, you are able to start taking short and slow practice trips. As she acclimates to experience of becoming in motion, those trips can turn out to be longer and quicker. On the other hand, if her "car sickness" or anxiety persists, you might have to see your veterinarian. He will examine your dog and maybe prescribe pills to suppress her nausea or sedatives to lessen her fear.

That classic image of the car-traveling puppy with her head out of the window may be adorable, but it is also harmful. Pebbles, sticks, all sorts of things sent flying by the wind or a car in front of yours can injure the puppy's head and eyes (even the tiniest of objects could be extremely harmful if they strike your puppy's corneas). And if the window is open wide enough for your puppy to stick her head and neck outside your vehicle, there is a real threat that the rest of your puppy could follow and fall out of the automobile. The injuries that result from that might be severe or even fatal.

So, yes, keep that window cracked enough for ventilation. But keep the puppy either restrained in a harness or confined in a carrier or a portable crate or kennel. And even if there is no other human but the driver, the puppy ought to never be in the front seat. If she gets loose around the pedals or merely distracts the driver, an accident could result. Worse, if there is a collision that deploys the airbags, a puppy in the passenger seat could be killed.

Going somewhere together with your puppy could be a fantastic experience for you both in the event you follow these fundamental guidelines for getting there.




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