Do you leave your dogs in the car?

Depends on weather and time. If it's not to hot/cold I've left mine in the car while I ran into a store. At most they've been left for 10 minutes. If I know I'm going shopping they don't go, this is only if I've taken them somewhere else and just needed to pick something up on the way home.

It depends on the weather...we never take them anywhere if it's blazing hot or too cold outside.

I do but only under certain conditions. I will take the dogs with me on errands if it is not too hot or cold out and only if I'm going to be in the store for under 20ish minutes.
If I go somewhere where my dogs can be seen from the store (like a window seat in a dinner or the like) I will still bring them even if I will be a little longer because I would be able to see them.

You'd be surprised at the amount of stores & the such my dogs can go into though. So they come with me more often than a lot of people would think. A few of my friends own stores & allow my dogs inside, a lot of my shopping is done at pet stores & they are welcome there too, my friend who owns her own hair salon allows my dogs there when I go, my dogs are allowed in a few bars too (obviously I only allow them to come when it's not busy and even then I rarely go anyways). Pretty much the only time I have to leave them at home is when I go grocery shopping.

I lock my car & turn on the alarm and if Raustyk is with me I still lock & alarm my car but you would have to be really stupid & have a LOT of guts to mess with my car with her in it... you'll know why before you even get near my car. She is VERY protective of my vehicles.

The only times i've left one of my dogs in the car is when Amy and I walked across the street in the canyon, they were still in our site - When Amy & I went into Subway - and I checked on them numerous times - and if someone is in the car with them.

I would NEVER EVER leave them in the car over a 5 minute period. No way, huh uh! I would never want to be left waiting in a car for that long, so there's no way i'd leave my dogs. They are much safer and happier left at home.

I don't think that is right.

never have to! because crayola is my precious service dog, he can go into restaurants, stores, almost anywhere with me.

but if I get or have a 'family' dog, I still wouldn't want depend on weather or time - in case of emergencies! maybe I'm being non-sensly tense leaving them in anywhere (except my home) but I wouldn't want leave them alone, helpless, forgotten for so long in case I'm thrown into hospital. :eek: that would be the worst thing I'll wake up to! :(

Eww a couple of HOURS?? I would NEVER do that! If I was planning on going to a store for a few hours, my pups stay at home as much as I love them.

But if I'm making a short trip and I'll be in and out, no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, then sure I'll bring 'em. Of course they HAVE to stay in the car because the only store pets are allowed in here is PetCo and Petsmart hehe

I've left Finn in the car before. If I just have to run in and out of a store or something, usually less than five minutes. I have, though, left him in the car if I've stopped at a Wendy's for lunch or something...but, I'll only leave him then if I can park near a window and then sit near the same window. but, I've only done that a couple of times. I don't think it's that big of a deal, as long as it's not extreme weather, one way or the other. When I travelled from Texas to South Carolina, he obviously had to stay in the car every time I stopped to get a drink or use the restroom or whatever. And, for daily trips and stuff, I'd rather take him with me and have him wait a couple minutes alone in the car than stay at home alone while I'm gone. It's more fun for both of us if he goes with me. :)

After getting a pm about my reply on this topic I thought I would just clear everything up here. First of all, it is NOT hot out side when we take him so we don’t have to worry about that. People taking dogs out of cars is totally unheard of here, plus the car is locked and we are always parked in a very public place. And he likes it much more than staying at home, he is totally relaxed in there. As I said before, he’s usually in there for 30 mins.

I agree, Kay. They are much safer and happier at home. :) We rarely take them, though. Like I said, it has to be very cool (not as in REALLY cold) but a nice windy day and it isn't too hot or too cold. :)

The worst I ever did was leave RB Angie in the car when I ran into the seven eleven. I never took my eyes off her. I didn't like the feeling of her being alone and I never did it again.

No. If I'm going to be going to a store they can't come into, I leave them at home.

Out in public, I generally leave my dog alone in the car for about as long as it takes me to pay at the gas pump outside and get back to the car. He typically only goes if he can come out of the car with me, or if I have someone else to wait with him for a short amount of time while I run in to do a quick errand, or if we don't have to leave the car (he thinks the drive-through is the funnest amusement park ride on earth).

I don't worry about dognapping much, b/c as soon as the excitement of being in the car wears off, he crawls under the back seat and dozes off. Unless something interesting is going on, you wouldn't even realize there was a dog in the car.

Only for a few minutes at a time, the longest my dogs ahve ever been left alone was maybe 10mins. I don't like leaving them in the car alone at all so I usually stay with them if my parents decide to stop somewhere for longer than 10mins. That being said, the dogs don't come with us if we plan on stopping somewhere. They're much more comfortable at home.

The only ones that usually go for car rides are Jack and Micki, they absolutely love car rides and expect to go everytime I grab my keys :rolleyes: BUT they only go if I'm just running a few errands or something, I would NEVER ever leave them alone in the car more than 10 minutes if I can help it!

OR if we're travelling and staying in hotels and such, then I would much much rather have them staying in the car then alone at the hotel, but thats a completely different situation...

Lily goes On TONS of Car Rides, and we never leave her in the car. We've taken her in K-Mart AND Target before, and there are no NO DOGS ALLOWED signs, so everybody loves her.