puppy jumped out the car window

[Jen W]

Last weekend I had my 9 month old puppy in the back seat, in her harness strapped into the seatbelt, when she started acting squirrely.  Even though we were only about 5 blocks from our destination (my mom's house) I pulled over to let her go potty.  Afterwards I did not strap her back in the car harness since we were almost there.  When I got to my mom's (a place my puppy loves more than the dog park and doggie daycare combined) I stopped the car, got out and was coming around to get her out of the back seat when she suddenly leapt through the open window.  I was stunned but she just looked at me, tail and tongue a-wagging saying, "yaay, grandma!!"

 

If she still had her harness on, she would have been slammed against the car door and been dangling there!  Or do you think she would have somehow known she was strapped in and not attempted the escape? 

 

I am not sure if she only tried it b/c we were at her version of Disneyworld and if we were just driving to any old humdrum place she wouldn't be so excited?  Or if now that she knows how to do this she will try it again.

 

I can't decide what to do now.  Never drive with the windows down again?  Never use the harness?  Always use the harness?  Calm down?

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

No, it's a large medium crate that can handle about a 40 pound doodle.  Kona is a large mini at 24 pounds and a bit tall for a mini.  I could probably strap it in the back seat , but haven't tried.  I use the metal tie-down hooks in my Subaru outback and use a ratcheting strap down in the two hooks on the sides of the cargo area.  Not perfect but helps to prevent a rollover.  The seat in front of the crate prevents sliding and flipping in that direction.  Kona is a boy....I know a lot of people call him a she.  Must be more commonly a girl's name since so many people think he's a girl.  Poor little guy!  His full name is King Kona.

[Adrienne]

King Kona is such a cute name.  I apologize for referring to Kona as a she.   I used to hate when people asked if my daughter was a boy when she was an itty bitty baby--even though she looked very much like a girl with earrings and headbands (...in their defense, she was lackiing in the hair department, LOL!!) Send my apologies to Kona as well :).

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

hahahaa!!!  So funny!  My niece has an adorable new baby girl and she gets so mad when people think it's a boy due to her lack of hair.  King Kona doesn't seem to mind.  He thinks everyone is his friend and he loves them no matter what they call him. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Hopefully this photo works to show you the very simple strap I use up and over and through the handle of the crate and then over to the other side of the cargo area. The photo of him in the back of my car when I picked him up from the specialist who saved his life. Amazing recovery. And then of him the next morning literally begging to get back in to see the vet who almost killed him. Very scary two days.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Wouldn't load earlier

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Hmmm...won't load photo. Trying again

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

It shows you can add three but they only load one

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the photo.  It is really helpful.  I may have to do something similar for Dougie who seems to be getting bigger by the minute.

[Heather & Brinkley]

I've never had Brinkley try to jump out of the window; however, he did jump over my back and out of the car once when I had the door open.  I was blocking the door but within seconds he managed to do some magic jumping bean action and he ran all the way down a VERY busy city street.  We were visiting a garden in a city as a possible wedding venue for one of my wedding clients.  He was with me because I had just picked him up from doggie daycare which was right around the corner.  He should have been tired so I don't know what got into him.  He ran into a 4 way intersection, almost got hit by a 4-runner, tried to run into the corner 7-11 and then ran 11 blocks or so down a busy street.  I threw off my heels and threw my purse into a bush, left my car door wide open and went after him. The only reason I caught him was because a nice stranger saw him... and me... and pulled over and helped me catch him with the burger he was eating.  

He's never tried that again-- but I always grab him before leaning over to put on his leash now.  

I think you can still open the window-- just not as far.  He shouldn't be able to squeeze out. Good luck.  At least he did it when the car was stopped. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I can just imagine how scary that was. I had a friend talk me into trying to get Kona to obey off leash for a Fe minutes. He did fine and listened and looked at me and followed my commands for about two minutes, then bolted into the street right as a car raced up and almost hit him. I screamed like a mother with a toddler about to die in front of her. That was the first and last time he's been out front without a leash. I'm so worried he'll never learn fear or safety recall commands. I need to hire someone to help me at this point. I can't handle the stress and fear I have for his safety.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Yeah, Brinkley knows his commands and obeys most of the time- but I'm always worried he'll choose to ignore at the worst time.  The no leash thing isn't for me.  The most I do is let him run behind our house in between us- back and forth- with his leash attaches so I have something to grab if I need to catch him.  He gets PLENTY of run time in our yard with play-dates, too.  

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper did a similar thing once when she was about 1 - she was going to the beach with our neighbour and her dog, and her friends and their dogs. the dogs were all in the back of the van (which i wasnt too comfortable with as non were strapped in). the window was open, but not enough for a dog to get out... youd think. cooper saw she was going but i wasnt and jumped out the window of the (thankfully only just ) moving van. very scary. now i never has the widow down more than a crack