Quote: Sandy Moore

Judy <<<<<big hug>>>>>
Gunnar <<<<<big hug>>>>>

What a relief that Gunnar is OK. I'm sorry that happened to him and happened to you. But Gunnar is OK and I hope you can be OK soon too. I find myself more focused on you, Judy, at this point cause of the guilt, since Gunnar is fine.

For those of you who are now looking into car harnesses for their dogs, here's the one I bought, after having bought 2 others I didn't like: http://www.canineauto.com/champion.htm

The dog can turn around without getting caught up because of the design of the tether, and it can be tethered to the backseat seatbelt or to the tether anchors in the back of an SUV. Good strong harness, strong tether. The rings on the harness are heavy duty, as is the clasp on the tether. Good price.

Oh Sandy thank you soooo much for posting that. One of the reasons I never used the harness I bought was because it was sooo restraining. It didn't allow for any movement whatsoever. I didn't know about the one you posted. It's perfect.

With any luck, they sell it in retail stores and I can, therefore, get it today. If not, I will order that immediately. Until it comes in the mail, I'll use the harness I bought.

Thanks again Sandy .

Glad he's OK Judy!

Judy, another good point about the harness is that the tether itself can be made short, long, or anywhere in between. None of the buckles slip AT ALL, neither on the harness or on the tether. So where you put it is where it stays, which was a major fault in the other 2 harnesses I bought and when Lear would squirm the buckles would slip and once slipped so much that he was able to get out of the harness and loose in the car --- on the freeway. So I'm extremely happy with the Champion Canine harness I got. He can move back and forth and nothing slips.

Judy, just coming on board this morning and wanted to add that I, too, am so glad that nothing serious (except, of course, your brief thought of suicide :grin came of this mishap, and that, perhaps, we have all learned a very valuable lesson at your expense. I am also looking into the harnesses that Sandy posted.

Hugs to you and Gunnar.

 Quote: Jan Williamson

Judy, just coming on board this morning and wanted to add that I, too, am so glad that nothing serious (except, of course, your brief thought of suicide :grin came of this mishap, and that, perhaps, we have all learned a very valuable lesson at your expense. I am also looking into the harnesses that Sandy posted.

Hugs to you and Gunnar.

Well, it's a good thing you came on board when you did...with the noose sufficiently tightened around my neck, I was just standing on the chair, about to kick it out from under me when I glanced at my computer for one last look and I spotted your post, which made me laugh . Whew, that was a close one!

Jokes aside, I'm really, really glad to see another person (and Beau and Chance ) benefitting from the episode and subsequent thread.

Judy, has your heart rate gone down yet? I know what you mean about the guilt of a near-accident...remember when Carbon got caught on the too-low fence he tried to jump over because we thought he was too young to try and jump it?

Well, that same day we had an 8 foot fence installed. At least we learn from our mistakes. Puts how valuable our dogs are to us into perspective, too.

I'm so glad Gunnar's okay. I fell out of car when I was five...be glad he has all that fuzzy fur because the road rash was the worst part!

Ditto Sandy's post and recommendation of the Champion harness!

I suspect that anyone who's driving around with an untethered dog or a dog in a crate that's not secured probably hasn't been in an accident and found out how fast an animal or any loose object travels from one side of the car to the other, or back to front or whatever. And your 6 lb. laptop doesn't compare to a 50 - 100# dog!

Ever seen videos of those side impact crash tests? Picture that with you dog starting on the non-impact side, launched about 4 ft. to the opposite side of the car. Even in the partitioned back of an SUV, there's a lot of room for movement in an accident.

I recently got the Champion harness (see her post for link) It's exceptionally well made and I'm very happy with it. I've had two other ones (one I think I even recommended one of them here - it was o.k., but my dog kept backing out of the harness!) The Champion is by far the best I've seen. My dog is very content with it, can move around a little, sit and lay down. It's a cheap investment.

HOWEVER, before anyone purchases one, please PM me - I don't want to post it - for some negative feedback re: the company and ordering process.

Mike

 Quote:

Even in the partitioned back of an SUV, there's a lot of room for movement in an accident.

VERY true. Though I use the "partition" method, my dog is so big and my station wagon is so small that it's similar to being in a crate. Any more room than that and it would be easy to see how a dog could get seriously hurt. But here's a question: How do you handle harnesses with multiple dogs?

Judy,
Thank you for sharing your experience; this is now we all learn from each other. I used to work with other horse owners and we all shared our 'dips%$t of the year' stories. It takes guts but we need to hear them. I'm so glad it was a lesson learned without a tragedy.

Also, I'd like to add for car safety for everyone, please keep in mind the air bags. These are very dangerous for dogs and should be disabled if possible when you harness your dog to front seat- otherwise, crate or other suggestions that have been mentioned.

Thanks again and don't beat yourself up. We're human! Darn it! :-)
Lynn