How hot is too hot to leave dog in the car?

[RutlandH2O]

There's nothing wrong with having a dog in a car as long as there is excellent ventilation, i.e., all the windows/doors are open, the car is parked in the shade, and the dog is in a crate. The problem is, how many people would be willing to leave their cars (and dogs) so vulnerable? Better to leave the dog home, safe and sound, if possible.

 

[Nikki J]

I'm at work at the moment, and somebody has parked in the car park I share with the restaurant next door. They have been in there for a good two hours, leaving their little dog in the car with one window open a tiny crack. I've been keeping an eye on her and she doesn't seem too hot; it's a pleasant day today but cloudy and not boiling. I just printed off a copy of the Kennel Club guidelines about leaving dogs in cars and posted it through their window, and now I'm worrying that I might have been over zealous! So how hot is too hot to leave your dog in the car for an extended period of time?

Two hours is far too long to leave a dog in a car IMO. A tiny crack of a window is not enough air in any weather. In addition, I personally would never leave my dogs in the car and go away and leave them. Unless they were right outside wherever I was and I could keep an eye on them. But never ever would I walk away and,say, go shopping. Anything could happen - I could be run over by a bus, taken poorly, or be distracted.

It is unacceptable IMO to leave dogs in cars for any longer than a few minutes unless all the windows are open and they are in the shade - even in the winter, a car can get very hot and airless.

 

[Nikki J]

Because I can't tell by looking at a dog if it's the right temperature. Because they have left it in direct sunlight with no water and the window barely open and they might find it useful to read the literature so that they don't do the same thing on a hotter day. Because they have been more than two hours now and I don't think there's any excuse for leaving your dog for that long regardless of temperature. And because the bloody thing was barking its head off and it was bothering me.

Appalling!! Some people just do not deserve to have a dog.

 

[blackcob]

Have to admit though the car does pong a bit at times, particularly if dogs have been swimming.

It's not so much the pong as the hair for us, opening the sunroof at any kind of speed results in a tornado of white hair forming in the middle of the car.

 

[Nikki J]

It's not so much the pong as the hair for us, opening the sunroof at any kind of speed results in a tornado of white hair forming in the middle of the car.

Same here! That white tumbleweed undercoat is a nightmare!! I have found though that raw feeding helps tremendously with shed.