Bounce From The Back Of A Truck

A friend of mine made the mistake of letting his german shepard ride in the back of his pickup truck without being tied.
He was hauling a smal load of boards and misc stuff and let the dog ride along. Going through the main street of town the truck tire hit a hole in the road and the dog who was standing on the end of one board was thrown into the air and out of the truck.

The shepard's head hit the pavement and caused severe head injuries. He rushed the dog to the vet, but a CT Scan, showed damage that could not be fixed. My friend took his dog home and held it lovingly until it died. He said the dog had rode in the back of the truck many times and had never fallen out.

This accident shows how unexpected accidents can happen in the blink of a eye and animals should always be crated or tied, to prevent accidents like this from happening. He thought by leaving the dog free it would have a better chance should he have a car accident, but that usually not the case.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you tie or crate your animals?
Ever had an accident with your dog?

I'm sorry to hear that about your friend and his German Shepherd. It's awful when something so unexpected happens.

People should ask themselves that if people can fall from the back of a truck, what more dogs who don't have opposable thumbs? If I did have my dog placed on a truck, I would rather have him inside. And if that's not possible, then he'll certainly be on a short leash where I can see him and where the impact of driving through a corner or a curve or swerving won't have him tossed out of the back.

If it were a crate, I'd definitely make sure that the crate itself is securely tuck or fastened to the truck as well.

I do hope that people won't make mistakes such as this ever again.

How sad and terrible for all involved.

I don't like to see dogs in the back of trucks even when tied. Have heard of a dog who was tied in and then when it fell out of the moving truck it was hung to death of the side of the truck.

Absolutely sad.

We have a truck, but they ride shotgun on the seat next to me. They love it just as much.

Shows how anything can happen so quickly. So sorry for your friend. But a good reminder to all of us to be thinking of things like this.

One of my own dogs was killed this way when a friend had my dog in the back of his pickup truck and the dog climbed up on his tool chest that ran the length of the cab. My friend was drunk and driving to fast and went around a curve way to fast and my dog fell off the tool chest.

Before he could get his truck parked and get the dog who appeared unhurt, another unknown driver ran over my dog and killed him. It was a great loss to me as I loved my dog very much. We buried him along side a lake where he used to love to run and play.

(03-20-2013, 05:08 AM)4sweed Wrote: One of my own dogs was killed this way when a friend had my dog in the back of his pickup truck and the dog climbed up on his tool chest that ran the length of the cab. My friend was drunk and driving to fast and went around a curve way to fast and my dog fell off the tool chest.

Before he could get his truck parked and get the dog who appeared unhurt, another unknown driver ran over my dog and killed him. It was a great loss to me as I loved my dog very much. We buried him along side a lake where he used to love to run and play.

Oh my gosh! That's just awful. I'm really sorry to hear that. It's already bad that your friend was recklessly driving like that but then your dog even got hit by another car. It's just so bad... I don't know if I could take that.

Just some trivia I've picked up a long time ago... Did you know that Mitt Romney was criticized when he admitted to tying his dog's carrier on the roof while the family traveled on a 12 hour trip? Seamus had a bad case of diarrhea and PETA found it disturbing that Seamus was placed in a carrier on top of the car.

Gosh, at least the dog was in a carrier, according to PETA, one would have thought the dog was just tied to the roof. lol
I think we all do things now and then, that in after thought know that it was not such a great idea. As long as the carrier was tied sercurely to the car and the dog was safe from harm and not facing into the wind, he was no doubt okay. I wouldn't have done it, but who am I to judge.

I have a friend who has a large black lab. He didn't think anything of it and let her ride in the back of his truck, she jumped out trying to chase after something and hurt her paw. He tried for years to find a solution other than amputating her leg, but it would never heal properly. Eventually there was no choice, which broke my friend's heart. The dog is happy as can be now, happier than limping around with the bad paw even. While this isn't as bad as the accident in the original post, I hope people realize how dangerous this can be. If you know anyone who lets their dog ride in the back of an open truck, please warn them!

Aww, that's just so sad..
I don't think I could let my boy or any of mine ride in the back of a truck, I'm a little paranoid and like them right there with me in the seat and they seem to like it too. That's not to say I'm really against putting dogs in the back, I'm sure some dogs like it as well, but I just know that I can't do it.

That's very heartbreaking though, I feel for the dog and your friend, having to suffer so much for one little mistake.. But I suppose that's how we learn, right?

Yeah, it's sad. My friend is one of the most loving dog owners I know too, but I guess he just had a lapse of judgement and didn't think about it. She is a happy dog though, like I said he takes great care of her, so I suppose it's a happy ending. She still runs and plays and gets around pretty well on three legs.

I was recently in an accident and I unfortunately had both of my dogs in the car with me. I was driving home (only two blocks away) when a man ran through a stop sign and hit me. He was speeding too and when he hit me, he hit so hard my car went into the other lane. My pitt bull thankfully only thumped against the back seat and was fine. My schnauzer was not so fortunate, he went flying (from the back seat) and hit my windshield hard. Having hit my head very hard I was pulled out of the car and taken into an ambulance immediately, the whole time I continued asking to see my dogs. When I was finally let go ( I got a confusion) I found them with the police officer on the scene. He was unbelievable kind to them he had even bought them water since it was a hot day. The schnauzer had a limp for a few days but the vet said nothing was broken( thank goodness!). I am eternally thankful the police officer was there to help both me and my dogs, he got them out of the car safely and comforted them the whole time I was gone. He was especially kind to the pitt bull which I think gave me more hope considering all the terrifying videos you see of police officers shooting dogs. I am so thankful that neither my dog or I was hurt during this incident.

There's a video on Youtube (that I won't post here, since it would be kind of distasteful considering the subject of this article) of some pilots who brought their dog with them while they were flying a small plane around. Apparently the dog wasn't secured to anything, so as they were pulling some G's the dog can be seen in the background floating up in the air. I will admit, I laughed when I first saw it because it looked kind of cute. But at the same time, some turbulence could have made that situation much more grim for it.

This is one of the most tragic things that can happen to animals, especially at the hands of owners who have a responsibility for their safety. I am so sorry for your friend and his loss though, I know it must be hard for him. I often see owners who have their dogs riding in the back of their pickups, bouncing around, standing on toolboxes, or propped up on the edge, swaying precariously about. I feel so scared for the dogs as I watch them nearly fall out with sharp turns, bumps, and sudden stops. It's like watching a train wreck about to happen.

My family owns trucks, and there were times when my dad would take us kids for a ride with our border collie and golden retriever in the back along country roads. At least the speed limits were reduced, there was less traffic, and us kids were there to hold onto the dogs. However, I would not recommend, as an adult, that people put their dogs in the back if they can help it. I don't think they should be tied in either. My best bet is to have the dogs crated and tied securely. Now we own mini dachshunds and of course, those are always crated in the back.

All I know is this phenomenon is truly awful. I can't imagine the horror of having to witness such an accident, and the infinitely worse, unthinkable wretched feelings of guilt and sorrow that must result for the driver/owners of the unfortunate furry victims. I only hope people understand the danger they are putting their animals in when simply putting their dogs in the back. After all, would you just put an infant unsecured in the back of a pickup? No. So why would you do the same to a dog?

What terribly sad stories. As a former Veterinary Technician I have had to witness such tragedies, from seeing the initial injuries to seeing the healing process that these pets have to go through to fully recover.

The most horrific incident that I had to experience involved a large hound mix that not only fell out of the back of a pick-up truck but was tethered by a rope and drug for roughly a quarter of a mile. The images of this poor fellow will never leave me.

This badly injured boy was skinned on both sides of his body. I don't think that anyone could ever imagine seeing exposed muscle and bone on a precious pet...that was still breathing. Miraculously this poor guy had no head injuries or broken bones. In shock and in horrific pain we sedated our boy to do the initial treatment of his wounds. This involved a medical procedure called debriding which involves the removal of dead and damaged skin and tissue in order to promote healing and growth of new skin and cells. The technique is simple however not for the faint of heart. Debriding consists of the literal scrubbing of the tissue until it bleeds thus promoting healing, cutting off loose skin that will die and trying feverishly to avoid the bones and muscle tissue as much as possible.

Moving forward I will tell you that this dog remained in our clinic for 6 weeks while receiving hydrotherapy 2-4 times per day. Treating him was heart wrenching. Seeing his agony would make one want to drag the owner around behind the truck, just for giggles.

Our boy made a full physical recovery minus the scars and emotional trauma that he will likely never get over.

Some people may gawk and ask why I would be so detailed in this post. All I can say is that I would hope that if someone who supported our furry friends riding in the back of a vehicle, might change their minds and retell this story. Even a tethered dog cannot escape harm.

Lets not put our furry friends at risk. Why do it? What is there to gain?