We have all seen it a thousand times. The heartwarming image of a dog with his head out the car window, ears flapping in the breeze, mouth open in an apparent smile. It brings a smile to our face as well, right? But that sweet little dog could be in danger.
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This exposes your dog's face to rocks, dirt and debris that can get in their throat, or worse, in their eyes and cause irritation and possible injury.
You can imagine the damage even a small pebble can have on your windshield or your car's paint. The cornea of a dog’s eye is much more delicate and is not as easily repaired. Debris can also impact a dog’s ears, nose or throat and cause severe inflammation and other damage.
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Dogs’ eyes and ears can get windburned and it hurts, even though they can’t tell us so.
Dogs seem to love how the wind feels on their face as they're cruising in the car with their head out the window, but even the wind has potential to harm your dog's eyes and ears. It seems unlikely that a breeze could send your dog to the vet, but it does happen. The high-speed winds cause repeated and rapid flapping of a dog's soft ear flaps ( pinnae ) against your dog's skull. This can cause trauma to the ear as the blood pools in the ear flaps leading to painful swelling.
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Your dog could jump out of the car while it’s moving.
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If you get into a fender-bender with another vehicle, your dog could be seriously injured.
We all know that you have the best intentions when you let your dog enjoy the breeze from the window, but we urge you to think of your dog’s safety next time, as it could be in jeopardy.
Article written by Jeff Willis
Sources:
https://www.kurgo.com/dog-travel-statistics/
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/pet-travel/let-dog-stick-head-out-window
Photo source: canva.com
