Leaving Pets in Your Tow Vehicle

Well I have sat in my own light colored vehicle with all windows open and it is hotter inside than out. Just open the door and feel the cool air from outside come in. In a dark colored car, or one with a dark color interior, it is even worse. Try it sometime. Sun shining and 80 degrees , add a little humidity and you will not be comfortable.

Autostart (remote start via key fob). Use it all the time... Last week I drove from DC to KS with 2 kids and 2 dogs. Had to leave the truck unattended LOTS for human potty breaks and food purchases. Autostart the truck, go do what we need, and be back within the 10 or 15 minutes before the autostart shuts off (I honestly don't know the timeframe it runs for - we just hurry...). Tons of people walked by the truck with it running and Sadie sitting in the front seat - never an issue. Even the time we DIDN'T get out of the store before the truck shut off.... (We were late by seconds - the interior was still ice-cold when we got in).

Leaving animals alone in a vehicle in hot weather-- even briefly-- can be a real issue and it really depends on the vehicle, the animals, the area (crime and so on) and above all, just what kind of weather you're talking about. Ninety is one thing, 115 is quite another. Also, the color of the car is a factor in how hot it will get with the windows down. My cars are always white for that reason.

My little Escort wagon, crosser of many miles on I-40, had a key so loose that I could pull it out and leave it running. So I would do that and leave the dogs in the car for very short times.... such as running in to pee or buy a snack on the road, since I had no other human. One day we pulled into a motel parking lot and I ran inside to check in. Unfortunately I forgot to pull out the keys and.... worse luck... I had also not replaced my spare key in my purse after the oil change just before the trip. So it was in the car, too.

Ruh Roh! Fortunately the car kept running and the dogs stayed cool while I waited for AAA to come and open the door for me.

One thing that's always a good idea, though, is a spare key in your purse or wallet, whatever you always carry on you. Ninety-five percent of the time that spare key will be taken with, even if the purse or regular keys are forgotten. My spare wasn't there that one day, but has saved me many other times.

I can leave my dog, wallet, and car keys in the bed of my truck, guarantee they'll all still be there when I get back.

We almost never leave the cats unattended in the TV when on a trip. Either he stays with them or I do until we're on the road again.

doxiemom11 wrote:
Sorry, but even with windows open and can get very hot in a car in a short time. That is not safe if the sun can shine on that car at all and it's over 65 outside.

you need to look around the parking area of a performance dog event. You'll find lots of open vehicles with dogs inside relaxing (not panting). It's not until it gets into the upper 80s that the temps inside an open vehicle become a concern. But this is just based upon my personal experience for close to 20 years. Others in my venue have been keeping dogs in open vehicles without deaths for many decades.

doxiemom11 wrote:
We see that all the time and in each case I am thankful that the owners cared about their pets enough to keep them cool! We had controls on the door area of my Envoy and our pets locked us out when we stopped at a garage sale and left the keys in the ignition (not running). We then started carrying 2 sets of keys as they would jump up to watch us and step on the auto door lock button.

We learned that lesson years ago. Everytime we go somewhere in the RV, we both carry keys. It's easy to just get in the habit of keeping it in your pocket. Oh, boy, has that turned out to be a good thing, many times. :W

doxiemom11 wrote:
We had controls on the door area of my Envoy and our pets locked us out when we stopped at a garage sale and left the keys in the ignition (not running). We then started carrying 2 sets of keys as they would jump up to watch us and step on the auto door lock button.

I ALWAYS pull the keys out as I turn off the engine - have had that happen a few too many times; mostly by Bailey, my daughter's Shih-Tzu who steps onto the armrest to look out the window. It's not such a threat with my Escape - the lock buttons are on a vertical part of the door; but yes, my Trailblazer was easy for him to lock me out.

doxiemom11 wrote:
Sorry, but even with windows open and can get very hot in a car in a short time. That is not safe if the sun can shine on that car at all and it's over 65 outside.

:h

Yeah, that accounts for the extremely high mortality rate for people in cars without air conditioning and stopped for hours in traffic jams.

Sorry, but even with windows open and can get very hot in a car in a short time. That is not safe if the sun can shine on that car at all and it's over 65 outside.