When driving with a puppy freely becomes dangerous

Being a veterinarian, moving dogs with my car became almost a daily affair at a point. Some clients might decide to bring their pets for grooming, surgery, treatment or vaccination during the morning hours and will just leave for their places of work. Many of them come back to pick their pets when going home or during short breaks at work while some will rather pay for their transportation back home. I always carry these puppies in crates and when they are okay with moving cars I might decide to just place them at the back seat during the transportation.

One of them I kept freely at the back seat shocked me while I was driving. The puppy was very silent and I didn’t know the dog was actually moving. This puppy was a Lhasa Apso puppy and 6 weeks of age so he was small and could pass through small spaces. The problem was that I didn’t know the puppy was actually moving.

On trying to step on the brakes on getting to a T-junction I stepped on the puppy with the brakes pedal. The puppy screamed! I was temporary destabilized with the car but somehow I managed to gain control of the car again. I had to park to take some breath and place the puppy inside the crate then continued my journey.

Some puppies will make a lot of noise when you put them in a crate especially during transportation. Their cry or scream can make you very annoyed and might force you to bring them out of the crate just to keep them silent. To some, I would keep them on my lap or just bring them out of the crate and place them on the back seat. If I’m moving with my staff then the person will have to carry the puppy to minimize or stop the noise.

After that incident, I always try to go along with my staff in case the puppy starts to make driving unbearable for me.

I don’t know if you have had this experience before but it can be dangerous to just release the puppy into the car freely especially when they can be able to pass through tight spaces under the seats especially the driver’s seat. In fact, if you can bear the noise or cry from the puppy in a crate while you are driving please leave the puppy inside that crate until you get to your destination – the noise will not kill him.