I will try to explain this so readers can visualize the danger. I have a pickup truck with tube type running board steps. These are very popular options. I have my seat folded up and my crate in the rear seat area. My dog always jumps from the street up into the truck. It was raining the other day and he went to jump in the truck like he always does. He slipped and fell backward to the ground with one rear leg caught between the tube type running board and the truck body. There is a open space between the tube and truck body. He screamed in pain. I twisted his leg and pulled it out. I will never understand how he didn't break his leg. I will never understand how I didn't break it when I twisted it to get it out. He is fine but it scared the heck out of the both of us. I now have a sturdy box for him to step up on before jumping into the truck. There was one strange positive caused by this scary ordeal. When it was over I was petting him to calm the both of us down. The dog looked at me in a way I've never witnessed before with any dog I've ever owned. If a dog could say thank you thats what he was saying. That one incident created a lot of bonding. Happy Veterans Day.

Edited by lee sternberg (11/12/2007 06:49 AM)
Edit reason: spelling

As soon as I read your 2nd sentence "I have a pickup truck with tube type running board steps", I got a visual of what happened. My gosh, what a nightmare, I can't imagine. So glad your dog is ok.

Thanks for posting that - another safety tip a lot of us may not think about.

I used to delivery pizza in a Jeep. The jeep had a similar set of "nerf bars" on the lower door frame. I was in a hurry one day and it was raining. I slipped and fell to the ground; I also lost the pizza

They are slippery and that gap can catch a small child or dog.

I'm still debating whether or not to get a set of running boards for my truck.

Running boards are fine, as long as they are not the tube kind or ones that have a gap between the vehicle and the running board itself.
Funny this post is here today as our night ambulance crew just picked up a hunter that had done the same thing and snapped his tibula and fibula this weekend......YIKES.

Glad to hear your dog is okay.

Nerf Bars thats right - I forgot the trade name for the tube type running bars.