Doodle Tail in Car Door

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

OMG... last night I accidentally shut Remington's tail in the car door! I got it out as soon as I heard him cry. Luckily it was in the top part of the door and there is no metal there just the window so I think it gave a little bit. He seemed fine after it happened and there is no marks or bumps on his tail. I don't think it is broken. I was more traumatized by the event than him... Dan said he had never seen me cry that hard since he has known me... which has been 2 years. I was hysterical! Has anyone else had this happen? Could I have broken his tail???

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Sorry this happend to you and Remington....Yes, I'm guilty of it with Hannah...It was dark, and my one sister lives on a very busy street in town so traffic is very heavy. For whatever reason's...my dogs like to enter the back seat of the car from the driver side. Thats also the side for traffic. Trying to keep her safe and watching for cars that we both didn''t get ran over, she jumped in, but was also trying to play at the same time and not really paying attention to getting in the car, I closed the door thinking I cleared her tail....I didn't. Thank God no tail was broke or dis-located that night. It's a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach, like you injured your own child. I sat there for about 10 minutes just holding her and telling her how much she is loved....but Hannah also learned from this..to this day she gets in the car and goes right for the other side and sits by the other door on the passenger side, and I am very cautious to not get tails in car doors...Sadly, yes depending on where the tail is caught some dogs can loose or break thier tails. I had seen a show where a dog had its tail ran over and tried to move at the same time causing the tail to dislodge from where it connected. The dog lost the tail and could of lost control of its bowels and uranating. Luckly all worked out well for this dog....

[Adina P]

Poor thing! Both of you!
It HAS happened to me with Rosco. I think his tail actually DID feel some pain though as he yelped like never before. It was AWFUL and I felt horrible for days.

I've gotten extremely careful since then and usually wait till his butt is at least 90 degrees away from the door before shutting the car behind him. Tail is probably not broken for your pup...but yeah it is soooo scary when these accidents happen.

[BetteB]

Scary! I've done it before, as well. Just barely caught the end of the tail... Agnes yelped but seemed fine later. I don't think any damage was done. However, it did make me more aware of the position of her butt and tail, which is a good thing. Ironically, though, Agnes does not seem more aware of her position and I constantly have to reposition her.

I really don't think you broke his tail, especially if he's not still acting hurt. Think of it as a sharp learning experience so that you'll be more aware of his body in the car... good practice for children, too, I suppose.

[Mommy2Max]

Max's tail was docked when I got him so, no problems there but, I just wanted to say that I can relate to feeling scared to the point of crying. Max ran out the garage once and right towards a dump truck about to dump 6 yards of soil onto my driveway. I thought it was my baby's grave for a moment. I swear my heart stopped and then the flood gates opened. So - HUGS to you both.

~Danielle