Would you do this?

[camperforlife]

I don't own a fifth wheel, I pull a TT so I have a question for the FW experts.

I was on I75 in Tennessee this weekend and a truck with a fifth wheel passed me with 2 large dogs in the bed of the truck. Were the dogs at risk of injury besides the obvious issues with dogs in the bed of a truck at 75MPH?

[laknox]

I grew up on a farm, so dogs always went in the back. You never knew what they'd get into and you didn't want whatever it was inside. Also, I usually had a full cab moving workers around. Dogs learned early that, if they stayed in the bed and off the toolboxes, they'd =stay= in the bed. They started getting up on the boxes, they could very easily fall out. Field speeds, not highway speeds, but a 4' fall learned 'em quick. When traveling more than a couple miles, they got short leashes snapped to the GN hitch, enough to let them stand, but not enough to let them jump near the bed rails. Now, if I ever get another dog, it'll be small enough to ride inside =and= I have a crew cab, so more space.

Lyle

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Personally not crazy about dogs in the back of the truck. A few years back I saw a dog on a leash tied in the back of a truck. Driving along the dog jumped out or was thrown out and was dangling on the fender while the driver was trying to get stopped.

[rockhillmanor]

Nope.
One small bump in the road, change lanes too quickly, swerve and you have 2 dead dogs from being ejected AND the possibility of killing another driver who swerves to avoid them when they hit the pavement. 😞

[dblr]

On a different note I have another question: Our friend would let his dogs ride in the 5th wheel when he traveled, I am not a dog owner but thought that was the most unsafe place to have them when moving am I right? He is a big dog lover so this kind of surprised me.

[camperforlife]

agesilaus wrote:
snip:75 mph is way too fast for any 5ver or TT.

I agree and will note that I was in a car not towing.

[newk]

mamestra wrote:
I guess it about how much you love your dog, would you put a child or anyone you love in the back of a pickup....

When I was a child I had to ride on the front fender.... until my family moved to Iowa in '58.


I found them a couple years later.


No, I wouldn't put my dogs in the bed of the pickup.

[Terryallan]

mamestra wrote:
I guess it about how much you love your dog, would you put a child or anyone you love in the back of a pickup. Ours is inside the truck with his own seatbelt.

Yeah I would. My kids traveled in the back of our truck on every camping trip we took in the 80s, and 90s. Why? Because back then crew cabs were a rare breed, You never saw one. So when hooked to the trailer. The kids rode in the back. I did put a cover on it, and a boot between the cab, and cover. Until just recently. It was the accepted way to travel with the family, and I remember when I was young. The neighbor with a truck, would take all the kids riding in the summer to cool off. Great fun.

So yeah, I would.

[Halmfamily]

In the great state of Alabama its against the law for your dog go ride in the bed of the truck but legal for people to do so, go figure. I've seen many dogs come close to falling out of truck beds and would never put them of fellow travlers in harms way. My dogs always ride in the cab withus, sit between both kids in the back seat.

[mamestra]

I guess it about how much you love your dog, would you put a child or anyone you love in the back of a pickup. Ours is inside the truck with his own seatbelt.

[ontheroad101]

I am still wayne_tw wrote:

poncho62 wrote:
I would think so....Some people shouldnt be allowed to own animals....or have children for that matter

X2

X3

[Lantley]

ReneeG wrote:
No. I would definitely not do that. Our dogs ride in the back seat of our pickup. We used to have a TT and the big dogs rode in crates back there - strapped down. I know that was not the safest but I hate seeing them loose like that to roam and get thrown out easily.

Unless your dogs are in some sort of harness there is a danger to your dogs being unsecured in the truck. Don't get me wrong I don't secure my dog either, but in the event of an accident the dog is a risk/liability.
There is less risk to the human passengers in the cab by having the dogs in the rear of the truck.

[kcherry]

It may be too fast to tow, but dogs love trucks.

[agesilaus]

75 mph is way too fast for any 5ver or TT. I saw a claim that 100,000 dogs a year are injured riding in the bed of a pickup. The number seems to be to 'cute' to be real, but I'm sure many dogs do get killed. Especially when you see them standing on a toolbox while the truck runs down the road. The wind under the nose of a fifth wheel is very turbulent too.

[ReneeG]

No. I would definitely not do that. Our dogs ride in the back seat of our pickup. We used to have a TT and the big dogs rode in crates back there - strapped down. I know that was not the safest but I hate seeing them loose like that to roam and get thrown out easily.

[deleted-2]

Dawgs were probably loving it...or hanging on for dear life :E

Ummm...
I would never do that.
We love our dawgs way too much to ever risk their lives intentionally.