Can my dog ride in the back of my pickup truck?

Oaklevel wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:

dturm wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
Some states it is perfectly legal, some it is not, some localities have laws against it too.

Most of those states where it's legal require the animal to be secured either by tethering or in a crate.

I didn't read every article referenced, but another thing to consider is the level of carbon monoxide and exhaust that naturally accumulates in a pickup bed due to aerodynamics. Studies have shown dangerous levels to the point that it's a health hazard.

Doug, DVM

Probably so but in Virginia no securing requirements here (other than in a few cities) or probably not in NC...... In Virginia it was legal for children or anyone else to ride unrestrained in a pickup bed still can in a couple cases until a few of years ago. No restrictions on dogs as yet. There was a huge fight to pass the law to have children restrained.

But it is a bad idea to allow a dog or anyone to ride in an open pickup bed unrestrained even though it has been done since pickups were invented.

Yep. When I was playing summer ball. We were taken to the games, no matter how far, in the back of a truck. Only rule. Don't lean on the tailgate. Great memories.
Also for years. My kids, and DW rode in the back of the truck on a mattress, with a truck cap on. They loved it, and since the car wouldn't tow the pup, and that was before extended cabs were offered on normal trucks. It was the only way to do it.

Same here our kids & dogs rode in the pick up bed with a cap numerous times pulling the ole Terry's. It was a common site.........

We had a Boot between the truck rear window and the cap front window. We could put heat back there if needed, AC too, but not so much

Terryallan wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:

dturm wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
Some states it is perfectly legal, some it is not, some localities have laws against it too.

Most of those states where it's legal require the animal to be secured either by tethering or in a crate.

I didn't read every article referenced, but another thing to consider is the level of carbon monoxide and exhaust that naturally accumulates in a pickup bed due to aerodynamics. Studies have shown dangerous levels to the point that it's a health hazard.

Doug, DVM

Probably so but in Virginia no securing requirements here (other than in a few cities) or probably not in NC...... In Virginia it was legal for children or anyone else to ride unrestrained in a pickup bed still can in a couple cases until a few of years ago. No restrictions on dogs as yet. There was a huge fight to pass the law to have children restrained.

But it is a bad idea to allow a dog or anyone to ride in an open pickup bed unrestrained even though it has been done since pickups were invented.

Yep. When I was playing summer ball. We were taken to the games, no matter how far, in the back of a truck. Only rule. Don't lean on the tailgate. Great memories.
Also for years. My kids, and DW rode in the back of the truck on a mattress, with a truck cap on. They loved it, and since the car wouldn't tow the pup, and that was before extended cabs were offered on normal trucks. It was the only way to do it.

Same here our kids & dogs rode in the pick up bed with a cap numerous times pulling the ole Terry's. It was a common site.........

Oaklevel wrote:

dturm wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
Some states it is perfectly legal, some it is not, some localities have laws against it too.

Most of those states where it's legal require the animal to be secured either by tethering or in a crate.

I didn't read every article referenced, but another thing to consider is the level of carbon monoxide and exhaust that naturally accumulates in a pickup bed due to aerodynamics. Studies have shown dangerous levels to the point that it's a health hazard.

Doug, DVM

Probably so but in Virginia no securing requirements here (other than in a few cities) or probably not in NC...... In Virginia it was legal for children or anyone else to ride unrestrained in a pickup bed still can in a couple cases until a few of years ago. No restrictions on dogs as yet. There was a huge fight to pass the law to have children restrained.

But it is a bad idea to allow a dog or anyone to ride in an open pickup bed unrestrained even though it has been done since pickups were invented.

Yep. When I was playing summer ball. We were taken to the games, no matter how far, in the back of a truck. Only rule. Don't lean on the tailgate. Great memories.
Also for years. My kids, and DW rode in the back of the truck on a mattress, with a truck cap on. They loved it, and since the car wouldn't tow the pup, and that was before extended cabs were offered on normal trucks. It was the only way to do it.

dturm wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
Some states it is perfectly legal, some it is not, some localities have laws against it too.

Most of those states where it's legal require the animal to be secured either by tethering or in a crate.

I didn't read every article referenced, but another thing to consider is the level of carbon monoxide and exhaust that naturally accumulates in a pickup bed due to aerodynamics. Studies have shown dangerous levels to the point that it's a health hazard.

Doug, DVM

Probably so but in Virginia no securing requirements here (other than in a few cities) or probably not in NC...... In Virginia it was legal for children or anyone else to ride unrestrained in a pickup bed still can in a couple cases until a few of years ago. No restrictions on dogs as yet. There was a huge fight to pass the law to have children restrained.

But it is a bad idea to allow a dog or anyone to ride in an open pickup bed unrestrained even though it has been done since pickups were invented.

There's another aspect of letting dogs ride in the pickup beds:

Last winter, my son had used his large pickup to pull out his stuck tractor, threw the snatch strap onto the lowered tailgate and was backing it up the driveway, having noted that the 2 family dogs were far away from him. It seems that elderly Banks, the Catahoula who ALWAYS rode in the truck bed, didn't want to miss a ride, so must have raced up to the truck and then missed the jump. My son ran over and killed his beloved dog.....

DutchmenSport wrote:

Don't you know you can always tell a "happy" motorcyclist by the bugs on their teeth!

And THAT is why I smiled at NO ONE!!!

Misty and Daisy are secured in the cab of our truck. When in town Misty likes hanging out the back window of the truck, they don't like hanging out the side windows at all.

wildtoad wrote:
Growing up we would fight for who got to ride in the bed of a pu versus having to ride shotgun. Sometimes would get to ride on the tailgate of the station wagon as well. Folks never owned a car with seat belts till the manufacturers were required to install them. It bothers me to see a dog loose in the back of a pickup though as it has not a say in the matter.

An old farmer always tries to get the middle seat not the window seat. The guy with the window seat opens and closes gates. Doesn't take long to figure that one out in below zero weather and deep snow.:B

Deb and Ed M wrote:
...

Shortly after I was married, a motorcycle was my primary vehicle for the first year. ... there's a ton of crud that flies off tires - sand grains in particular, sting when they hit. ...

Don't you know you can always tell a "happy" motorcyclist by the bugs on their teeth!

DutchmenSport wrote:

My first wreck I had when I was 18 years old, I hit a tree laying across the road in the middle of a horrific thunderstorm at night. I had "stuff" in the back window, and when I slammed into that tree, all that "stuff" hit me in the back of the head. I learned then to make sure nothing would do that again.

I heard years ago (maybe an urban legend) of a woman who died in a car accident, and it was determined that the fatal injury was caused by a box of tissues that was on the back window ledge.