# Embarrassing to leave Gus in the car



## azzure (Dec 10, 2011)

My 3 year old Gus loves car rides, but HATES to be left in the car while I run an errand. The moment I pull into a parking lot he starts barking, and when I get out of the car he barks, throws himself around, and paws so hard at the windows I'm afraid he will break them. He only does this until I am out of sight; then he quiets down and he will invariably be asleep in the back seat when I come back to the car. Any suggestions?


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I wouldn't take him, or else I would take someone else with me to wait in the car with him.


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

Can you bring a peanut butter kong or bone which you can give him as you leave the car?


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

GinnyinPA said:


> Can you bring a peanut butter kong or bone which you can give him as you leave the car?


this sounds like a great idea..


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## azzure (Dec 10, 2011)

I will try this today. I've tried giving him milkbones, etc, as I leave but he usually just ignores them. Maybe a more "high-value treat" will work better.


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## Golden999 (Jun 29, 2010)

azzure said:


> I will try this today. I've tried giving him milkbones, etc, as I leave but he usually just ignores them. Maybe a more "high-value treat" will work better.


Also, something he can work on. A rawhide bone could serve as a distraction that would take a while to chew on while he awaits your return.

My dog loves car rides, too. I've been lucky, though, in that he doesn't mind waiting in the car for me if I have to pump some gas or go into the store for 5-10 minutes. He usually either spends his time peering out the windows looking at the people and the scenery, or he'll start exploring the car interior and see if he can find anything interesting to chew on (crumbs of people food or the like).

I leave him at home if I have to do something that'll take more time, though, like a long trip to the grocery store or the doctor or whatever. I feel bad for the guy, but I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to leave him in the car for an hour or whatever.

Five minutes is fine, though, apart from extreme weather. And he really does seem to have a grand old time riding around getting petted and looking out the windows and such. When I leave him home, he seems upset. He's a very adventurous dog and loves to explore new places and go out and about and see new people and animals. Sometimes I drive him over to a little place where we get to walk past some cows and he especially enjoys that.

I even bring him with me to relatives' house sometimes and he loves wandering around looking for people to pet him and playing with other dogs.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

I would definitely not give a rawhide bone while you're in a store. They're choking hazards, at the very least. Please reconsider that idea.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

We simply don't leave our dogs in the car alone for many reasons:
1. Dog thefts happen in my area.
2. It's usually too hot to leave them in the car without air conditioning on. 
I realize you live in a cooler part of the country, but please consider crating your dog or keeping him safely harnessed with a seat belt harness if you do.


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## Golden999 (Jun 29, 2010)

Enzos_Mom said:


> I would definitely not give a rawhide bone while you're in a store. They're choking hazards, at the very least. Please reconsider that idea.


Are we both talking about the same thing? The synthetic looking bones that saliva softens and eventually dissolves that can eventually be swallowed by dogs (Not real animal bones)? I know tons of people who buy them for their dogs and I've never heard of any of them choking. Is that common?



Dallas Gold said:


> We simply don't leave our dogs in the car alone for many reasons:
> 1. Dog thefts happen in my area.


Even if you lock the doors and roll up the windows? Do people actually hurl rocks through windows to snatch dogs from cars? I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I've just never heard of it happening. And truthfully, if it did happen, the same thing could probably happen if you leave your dog by itself at your home.



> 2. It's usually too hot to leave them in the car without air conditioning on.


That's a good point- not a good idea on a hot summer day or a bitter cold wintery day. But 50-60 degrees for 5-10 minutes is fine, especially when the car has been heated/cooled (Whichever is appropriate) until the second you park and will take a little while to reach the ambient temperature outside.

People *do* have to use a little a bit of common sense. If you leave a dog or a child in a car for an hour while it's 100 degrees out, there's a good chance the dog or child will die. For five minutes while it's 55 or 60 degrees out is a different story, though.

What drives me nuts is when a few people fail to use common sense and then people start telling everyone else what to do or legislating stuff for everyone else. Like, yeah, that idiot talking on his/her cell phone going 100 mph and weaving in and out of traffic probably shouldn't be talking on it, but the guy going the speed limit in the right hand lane and giving other cars plenty of space and watching the road while talking on his cell phone is fine. It's stupid that a few people ruin it for everyone else and then they make a law against it. I kind of resent that I can get a ticket for talking on my phone if it's not effecting my driving, honestly.

I had some dude blinking his high beams at me repeatedly because I was talking on cell phone driving carefully in the right hand lane of traffic the other day, on Christmas, no less. Like, f-off buddy and mind your own business. You flipping your lights at me constantly is easily as distracting for both of us as anything I'm doing. Everyone's a busy body these days. But I digress. 

Anyway, basically, I'd say its fine to leave your dog in the car for a couple minutes. Just use common sense. A couple minutes, not six hours. On a temperate day, not on a day where the car is going to superheat and give the poor dog heat stroke or a cold day where it'll get hypothermia. Lock the doors so someone doesn't open the door and steal your dog. I mean, simple stuff, but people do have to think.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Yes, we're talking about the same thing. Not only are they huge choking hazards, but they're treated with nasty chemicals and I've heard horror stories about them causing bloat. I'd trust my dog with an actual deer antler over a rawhide any day.


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## azzure (Dec 10, 2011)

Hmmm, this is surprising about the short limits many of you have about leaving dogs in the car. I've left Gus in the car for about an hour and a half while attending church; he gets a walk beforehand and a walk after and of course, I don't do it at all if the weather is warm. My French teacher routinely leaves her dog in the car while teaching a 2 hour class, and my neighbor, who is the most thoughtful dog owner I know, puts her dogs in the car for a couple of hours when she has company who don't appreciate dog hair. Most dogs I know relax and sleep in the car; they seem to consider it a comfortable den. 

By the way, I gave Gus a cheese stick when I left him to go grocery shopping today; that did limit his barking at least until he swallowed the cheese stick. The closer I can park to the store the better, as he stops barking the minute he can no longer see me.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

azzure said:


> Hmmm, this is surprising about the short limits many of you have about leaving dogs in the car. I've left Gus in the car for about an hour and a half while attending church; he gets a walk beforehand and a walk after and of course, I don't do it at all if the weather is warm. My French teacher routinely leaves her dog in the car while teaching a 2 hour class, and my neighbor, who is the most thoughtful dog owner I know, puts her dogs in the car for a couple of hours when she has company who don't appreciate dog hair. Most dogs I know relax and sleep in the car; they seem to consider it a comfortable den.
> 
> By the way, I gave Gus a cheese stick when I left him to go grocery shopping today; that did limit his barking at least until he swallowed the cheese stick. The closer I can park to the store the better, as he stops barking the minute he can no longer see me.


Uh, when it is 110 outside, yes, it is a short limit! That's why I mentioned in my post that you are in a cooler part of the country! If you left Gus in a hot car here in August someone might just call 911 on you because the dog's life WOULD be in danger in a matter of minutes.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Golden999 said:


> Even if you lock the doors and roll up the windows? Do people actually hurl rocks through windows to snatch dogs from cars? I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I've just never heard of it happening. And truthfully, if it did happen, the same thing could probably happen if you leave your dog by itself at your home.


Yes, one of the saddest stories happened at my local Home Depot a couple of years ago when someone took a diabetic dog from a shopper's car (broke in). We saw posters and flyers for months and it broke my heart to see them, knowing the dog wasn't recovered. If you do a search on the forum, there was a Golden stolen with the truck--the golden was recovered elsewhere in the state, dumped on the road and turned into a shelter. There is a risk of leaving dogs in a car, even if it's locked. Personally, I won't take that risk.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

I personally would not leave my dog alone in a car........just a little over protective I guess...... I think anyone driving and talking on a cell phone should be fined. Rawhide bones......both my dogs have eaten them with no adverse effects...they actually like the pig twists better, however I wouldn't let them munch on them while alone....


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Years ago, a client of mine's car was broken into to steal the radio. The cock a poo was let out in the meantime... She broke her pelvis and was never able to walk on her hind end again. She pretty much did handstands to ambulate. Anyway, it made me paranoid... However in the cooler weather, I will put all six dogs in the car and go up early to LL Bean. My crew altogether can be intimidating....


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Sally's Mom said:


> Years ago, a client of mine's car was broken into to steal the radio. The cock a poo was let out in the meantime... She broke her pelvis and was never able to walk on her hind end again. She pretty much did handstands to ambulate. Anyway, it made me paranoid... However in the cooler weather, I will put all six dogs in the car and go up early to LL Bean. My crew altogether can be intimidating....


Safety in numbers!


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Twice while moving I have driven across the U.S. - coast to coast - with my dogs. The alternative was to ship them via airlines, which is extremely dangerous for the dogs because of the heat in the aircraft hold. 

To take restroom breaks, I had to leave my dogs in the car. They were in seatbelt harnesses, with the engine and air conditioning running and the doors locked (I had a second key with me), parked near lots of people. Maybe this invites auto theft, but I figure the sight of two or three large dogs is a serious deterrent (at least for people who don't know that a Golden would probably just lick them to death) and sometimes there is no alternative.


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## azzure (Dec 10, 2011)

Well, it rarely ever gets to be 80 degrees here, and it's NEVER been 110. Regardless, my top temperature limit for leaving Gus in the car is about 70 degrees, and then only if I can park in the shade and crack the windows open. On the lower end, I wouldn't leave him in the car for long if it was less than about 40 degrees...if it gets much colder than that, I stay home!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Some interesting links on temperatures inside cars:
How Hot Do Cars Get? "_A study from Stanford University shows that even on comparatively cool days, such as 72 degrees, a car's internal temperature will rocket to 116 degrees within 60 minutes. And keeping the windows open a crack hardly slows the rise at all._
Cars develop killer heat, even on cooler days - health - 05 July 2005 - New Scientist
Dogs in hot cars - Health and welfare - Dogs


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## Mom of Maizie (Nov 11, 2011)

*Just a thought*

My puppy is 5 months old and very energetic...not fond of riding in a car either, so I haven't actually tried leaving her in the car by herself except when I'm right outside the car pumping gas.

But...I happened to walk by a car in a parking lot the other day and saw a small dog (not a golden) in the car by itself and it was absolutely vibrating with what looked like fear at being alone there! It made me think...how would I know what my dog would do in the car? I felt so bad for that little guy!!! 

Mom of Maizie


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