Dogs are fantastic pets, there’s no argument about that at all. We as a species have found ways to make canines serve our needs in many ways. Police and rescue services use them to sniff out drugs, chase down miscreants and even sniff out where people are trapped in burning buildings. The military has trained many dogs to help sniff out bombs and serve in a variety of capacities, making dogs useful in many ways to serve the needs of many different organizations, but dogs serve a wide range of purposes in our lives.
While we can look back to the first use of dogs with humans in history and revel in the fact that many people still have cattle dogs on ranches, hunting dogs to flush out the prey and even dogs that are able to mark the kill on a hunt most of us enjoy dogs in a different way. One recent development of how we use our canine companions is to be service animals for those who are disabled, but also as an assistant when a member of the military comes home from overseas suffering from PTSD. There’s nothing more important to these vets than a great service dog that can provide a calming and protective presence for them.
As we have studied dogs over the years many therapists have turned to the use of a pet dog as a companion for those suffering from a variety of ailments and even when therapy isn’t necessarily the need for the dog, many of us will have a dog for a pet in our own homes to be part of the family. Pet dogs have such a strong personality in the home that many families feel as if they are simply a small four-legged furry child that is just as much a part of the family as anyone else.
Even though our dogs are important to us in our lives we do know they can easily overheat in a car when out shopping. Many dogs do love a ride in a vehicle, but stopping to go in store puts their lives in danger. There is more information available to us now regarding how hot it can get inside a vehicle and even leaving the windows down a little can be dangerous to a dog left in the car while shopping, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Thankfully the pet owner who stopped to shop in the Wayne, WV Wal-Mart was thoughtful enough to leave the car on and the air conditioning running to help keep here furry little loved ones safe, but this was the beginning of an odd recipe for disaster. While the idea and intention were good, she meant only to allow her dogs the enjoyment of the air conditioning to stay cool while she shopped in the store, leaving the car on left it possible for the dogs to inadvertently make the car engage a driving gear and unknowingly drive the car.
As the story goes, the owner, who is a woman in her seventies, left her car running with the air on with two dogs inside the car. The car began to move and do so at a slow pace causing shoppers at the Wal-Mart to need to get out of the way of the moving vehicle. Eventually the car came to a rest against the wall of the store and from all appearances no shoppers were hurt and the store and the vehicle were both unharmed as well. As for the dogs, it seems they are ready to be sent off to driving school to learn how to drive something more powerful.
Thankfully this incident ended without injury or damage, but things could have turned out much worse. While it can be a lot of fun to take your dog out for a ride around town so they can enjoy the sights and smells of the area you shouldn’t stop and shop anywhere because it’s difficult for you to protect your dog from harm when you do. Please keep your pet’s life in mind and what good common sense is when you take your canine companion out for a ride in the car. See more about this ridiculous incident by watching this news clip.
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