5 Tips To Keep Your Dog From Being Hit By A Car
Summertime is the time for outdoor activities and having fun. However, being outdoors with your dog, or leaving him outside more, does lead to an increased chance that your dog could get hit by a car.
The following are five great tips to keep your dog from becoming another statistic and keep everydog’s summer safe and fun.
1. Summertime can be the time for some nasty weather. Always check on your fence after a storm to make sure it’s still intact.
Due to the storms, high winds can blow open gates or blow down sections of fences and dogs can escape. The most frequent emergency seen by veterinarians is a dog or cat being hit by a car. There are so many ways to prevent this tragedy. Always check fences and gates after high winds and storms before letting dogs in the yard. If there is a pet door and nobody is home during the day, install a padlock to the gate so it won’t blow open. If the fence is questionable during high winds, lock the pet door until the fence can be secured against high winds or until someone is home to monitor the dogs. Always be prepared for dogs to escape by having them microchipped by a veterinarian or local animal shelter. Microchips last forever and dogs will be returned when they are scanned.
2. Summertime is also the time for having friends over, bar-b-q’s, and get togethers. This means a lot of traffic coming in and out of the front door. No not car traffic, people traffic, so it is imperative to teach your dog not to run out the front door.
The best way to persuade your dog not to dash through doors is: do not let your dog make a successful dash through the door. Sounds obvious — but countless dog people and their guests have accidentally let the dog out the door, giving the dog a taste of freedom that can be exhilarating, but fraught with danger. The dog does not realize this, but he could get hit by a car, get in a fight with another animal, get lost and hurt, knock over children, not to mention alienate your neighbors. Even after dogs who get hurt after an escape fail to remember the connection between door-darting and pain when spotting a new chance to dash out the door.
3. Make sure your dog is always leashed, with the proper leash, when you take your dog for a walk. As I’ve mentioned before Bo was quite a Houdini in his youth, a true master of slipping the leash. When we got Logan, our Berner, his foster parents sent him along with a Martingale collar, something we had never heard of. This collar prevents dogs from slipping the leash when they pull back. Not usually an issue if Fluffy is 10lbs, but when she grows to be over 80lbs and turns into a ‘flight risk’, you’ll come to appreciate it.
Leash laws exist to protect not only your dog from tragic hit-by-car accidents but also to protect and safeguard all humans and other animals out and about in a civilized society. No dog, despite its level of training should be allowed to roam or to walk about freely when not in a fenced in yard, a home or a fenced dog park where dogs are permitted to run.
4. Having your dog spayed or neutered.
Dogs become sexually mature at around six months of age. Like a teenager first feeling the surge of hormones, an intact male dog has a strong, natural drive to seek out females. As you can imagine, it can be difficult to prevent an intact dog from escaping when his motivation to do so is very high.
Have your male dog neutered. Studies show that neutering will decrease sexual roaming in about 90 percent of cases. If an intact male has established a pattern of escaping, he may continue to do so even after he’s neutered, which is even more reason to have him neutered as soon as possible. Have your female dog spayed. If your intact female dog escapes your yard while she’s in heat, she’ll probably get pregnant (and she could be impregnated even if she stays in your yard).
5. Teach your dog to come.
Coming to you when called is one of the more important skills your dog can learn. Although we strive never to put our dogs in unsafe situations, the “come” (or “recall”) command can avert a car-dog collision, a deer chase, or other hazards.
In the event that your dog does get loose it is imperative that he has the proper tags and identification. There are multiple ID choices and now is the time to decide which one is right for your pet.
Take the time to call your vet and investigate the options NOW. Once your pet is lost it’s too late. Also make sure to have a good clear updated photo of your pet should you ever need it.
Cheers to these very important tips. I am one of the lucky dogs who has actually survived being struck by a vehicle and I gotta tell you - it is something you want to avoid.
See, my problem is the one where I slip my collar. And I am VERY partial to noisy pickup trucks. Fact is, I can’t resist them. So I slipped my collar and took off after one of them and boom.
Very Lucky that wasn’t the end of me. But I am still here and wearing a very nice Martingale Collar now. I still love pickups but have learned not to jump at them or chase.
All you good pups get your peeps to follow these tips and make sure you are always safe!
Love, Savannah!
Also, I would advise against using a flexi leash near busy traffic roads & sidewalks! It’s so easy for your dog to pull against it and pop the “lock” off and go running into the street. A vet tech friend of mine has always called these type of leashes “hit-by-car” leashes because her clinic saw so many injuries and fatalities because owners didn’t realize how poorly they were in keeping your dog safe! So, for walks near streets and roads, I recommend a 6-foot leather leash!!
One tip missed….MAKE SURE YOUR DOG HAS SUFFICIENT EXERCISE. We are amazed to see our guests’ dogs jump out of cars and dance with glee for days at a time. City dogs are not getting enough exercise and a pooch with pent up energy is desperate to cut loose. Thank goodness dog parks are a great help but high energy dogs need more than a walk around the block.
These are all excellent tips. I observe all of them except Mom is still working on “stay”. I am a terrier after all and we are stubborn.
Thanks for the information. I am sure it will save lots of peeps some needless heartache one day.
Mags
Saw a pup get hit by an SUV on Saturday right down the street from where I was parking. Luckily, a glancing blow, and the next day almost fully recovered. Today I saw the young girl walking the pup ON THE LEASH I GAVE HER OVER TWO MONTHS AGO WHEN I SAW THE PUP OUT IN THE STREET THE FIRST OF MANY TIMES! I ran out, lectured her about the dangers of our busy street and an untrained, uncontrollable pup off-leash, and gave her one of my pup’s 6′ leashes (sorry for the shouting… too bad they had to learn the hard way… and too bad I believe it’s only a matter of time before this living, breathing “toy” is off-leash and running wild again).
Great tips! I hope my gal Maggie’s mom pays particular attention to tip #2.: “It is imperative to teach your dog not to run out the front door.” BOL
*insert icon of smiley face slapping the floor*
Attie
4 Paws up!! Even a well behaved obedient dog can have a lapse from illness,medication or excitement due to routine changes . Be safe pals. I scared the Sheep out of my family last night. I never go out the door or wander off. Repairmen left side gate open and I walked around to the front door when Mom let me out to do business late .It was a matter of less than 5 minutes.Thank dog I sat by the stoop and Dad knocked on door and said someones here to see you when Mom opened it!!
Just this morning I saw a dog lying on the median who had been killed on the highway… it was heartbreaking. These are excellent tips and a great reminder.
I use the martingale collar too, it is a lifesaver especially for my escape artist husky who can slip anything else.
Enough can not be said about the value of a simple leash… remember even if your dog is well-trained and typically stays in your yard or by your side… that discipline may go right out the window when another dog walks by. I have lost count of how many dogs loose in their yard with owner present have come close to being hit right in front of me, in an attempt to run across the street to greet my dogs.
Thanks for the great post!
My dog was killed this evening. I feel so bad for him! I could not afford a fence for him so I had kepted him tied up on a chain here in the country. Only recently when I had let him loose so he could go run he was starting to chase cars on the highway. Before he would just run along in the ditch and not go out onto the highway.
I had shouted at him several times to come here and what not but he would not. He was hit by a big white dully truck that was probably speeding. The guy driving did not bother to stop.
I had thought about being him a retractable leash today and his other two leashes were no longer good that he tore up. One other time that I had walked him he ran out to chase a car and I tied him up again instantly. I am really wishing that I would have tied him up tonight the very first time he tried to chase a car.
Lesson learned: Always walk your dog on leash if they are even closely remote to a highway even if it’s only a two lane one that has little traffic like the one by me. Poor guy was a very beautiful and energetic lab/blue heller mix. He had a beautiful coat! Half black and gray on the bottom. He had a very pretty white tipped tail as well. Very unique! I will never forget him! He was only a six months old! I was hoping that could have protected him long enough for him to at least see his year birthday.
Daryl, my hear goes out to you on your loss. I am sure you are beating yourself up about it. One of my dogs was struck by a car when I was 11, and I STILL (many years later) blame myself. (He survived the accident and passed of natural causes several years later). I’m so sorry for your loss.
Hi,
I am requesting information about the laws and consequences of peoples actions when they hit a dog with a moving vehicle.
Yesterday night a teenage driver struck my dog in her automobile. My dog is in emergency room at the veterinary hospital. What can I pursue through the legal system for the driver to be responsible for their actions?
Please reply to: vtalan@gmail.com
Thank you.