# Do you take your dog everywhere with you?



## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

First of all, we live in Nebraska, we will be picking up our 8 week old puppy in January. He is a long-coated GSD, so hopefully he will be a little more acclimated to the cold weather, but I was wondering what people's opinions were on taking dogs in the car with him?

I do not work in a place where I can take my dog to work with him, so we are going to crate train him, and I will be able to come home during lunch and let him out and let him go for a little walk. He will live in a play pen while I am at work.

But for when I am home, and have to run errands, should I bring him with me? Is taking a young pup with me in a car everywhere a good idea? I plan on leaving him mostly at home until he is vaccinated, because I do not want him to get sick, but after that, do you take your dogs with you when you run to Walmart really quick? Or do you only take a dog when you are going to a pet store/ somewhere that is dog friendly? I mean I don't run THAT many errands, usually I come home after work and spend time with the cats, so it won't be that different to spend time with the puppy. But, during the weekends my husband and I do our grocery shopping and all that jazz.


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## Ryankappel (Jun 19, 2015)

I take mine wherever I can. And If I can't take him, I usually run that errand on a day that I don't also have to work. I'm in the same boat as you though. I had him since he was 8 weeks. I worked the classic 8-5 monday-Friday shift. I came home at lunch to let him out, and he is out all evening lol. It works  just know that they take a good bit of exercising, especially if they have been asleep all night then in the cage till 5 basically. I plan on a good 2 hours after work of play and running. But he is 1 year old now, in the height of his puppyhood. When he was 8 weeks old he could be tired out in 20 minutes haha


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Wags said:


> First of all, we live in Nebraska, we will be picking up our 8 week old puppy in January. He is a long-coated GSD, so hopefully he will be a little more acclimated to the cold weather, but I was wondering what people's opinions were on taking dogs in the car with him?
> 
> I do not work in a place where I can take my dog to work with him, so we are going to crate train him, and I will be able to come home during lunch and let him out and let him go for a little walk. He will live in a play pen while I am at work.
> 
> But for when I am home, and have to run errands, should I bring him with me? Is taking a young pup with me in a car everywhere a good idea? I plan on leaving him mostly at home until he is vaccinated, because I do not want him to get sick, but after that, do you take your dogs with you when you run to Walmart really quick? Or do you only take a dog when you are going to a pet store/ somewhere that is dog friendly? I mean I don't run THAT many errands, usually I come home after work and spend time with the cats, so it won't be that different to spend time with the puppy. But, during the weekends my husband and I do our grocery shopping and all that jazz.


I try to take at least one with me everywhere I go, fall through spring. I would advise a crate for a puppy, car sickness could be a problem, as well as inappropriate chewing.


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## zio (Sep 25, 2015)

My one year old LOVES to do errands rather than being left home...in fact on rainy days he enjoys just sleeping in the back of my car whether I go anywhere or not


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

I take Fritz everywhere...Toronto, Ottawa, towns in between..shopping, friends! He is the best traveller I have ever had..there are times people are in the car with me, they did not realize he was in the back until I got him out. In the winter, I try not to take him when I have shopping to do. Enjoy


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

I take Liza everywhere I can that allows dogs.


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> I try to take at least one with me everywhere I go, fall through spring. I would advise a crate for a puppy, car sickness could be a problem, as well as inappropriate chewing.


We are going to be having to drive to pick him up when we get him, it is a 6 hour drive, we may try to break it up over 2 days to make it easier on him. So we are going to be able to gage pretty well then how he handles the car. If he is car sick, we will be purchasing a kennel ASAP (we will bring his kennel with us for that first trip, just to be safe, but it will be his house kennel, we'll get another for the car if car rides are a problem). But if he doesn't get sick, we will move his kennel into the house and just get him a seat belt, I'm thinking the Champion k9 outfitters one.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I take at least one, sometimes 3 of mine with on errands. They love going and are quiet, well behaved dogs.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

my dog(s) are with me often.... whether they can go inside, wait outside or wait in the car... if they're going to be a part of my life then I include them in as many parts as I can and get them accustom to that from day one. that said if they couldn't handle any of the above I would hold off awhile but it's always what I'm working towards. I live in an area that as far as weather and safety, I feel comfortable doing so.... it's been that way since getting my first dog as an adult and each dog has helped the next.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Wags said:


> We are going to be having to drive to pick him up when we get him, it is a 6 hour drive, we may try to break it up over 2 days to make it easier on him.


Six hours should be fine. We had a 10 hour drive home with Dena, and it really wasn't a problem. Definitely crate him for the ride.


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## srfwheat (Apr 12, 2013)

Recently, I retired from teaching school so I am home more than I used to be. I am now able to take my three year old German Shepherd, Sarge, almost everywhere I go, with the exception of church or long shopping trips. I take Sarge on vacation with me and stay at pet friendly hotels. There are many places where I live that are dog friendly. I take him to Tractor Supply, Gander Mountain, restaurant patios (McAlister's Deli, Sweet Peppers, Stonewall's Barbecue, Willie T's, etc. - waiters usually offer to serve him, lol), and any short shopping trips. I lock him in my car (if the places I go don't allow dogs) with the air-conditioner on, if hot, with motor running. I park where I can see him or check on him and never leave him for more than 10 or 15 minutes. He absolutely loves riding in the car with my husband and me. My Subaru Outback is less than two years old, or I wouldn't leave him in the vehicle during warm weather. I don't think it would be good idea to leave him in an older vehicle due to the motor possibly going out. I read an article a couple of months ago about police K9's dying from getting too hot in the police cars.


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## srfwheat (Apr 12, 2013)

Oh, Sarge is the German Shepherd in my profile picture. Also, he has never had motion sickness, not yet anyway. He is my heart!


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## cdwoodcox (Jul 4, 2015)

I don't have much of a choice. Whenever I get close to the door rosko is standing there to see what I'm doing. If he sees or hears the keys then he's giving me the where are we going look. I always feel too bad to leave him. If I'm going to be inside for longer than 15 minutes I'll grab my other keys so I can leave the truck running so he has a controlled climate.


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## Milliegsd (Nov 24, 2015)

When mine was between 2-3 months she was terrified of the car wouldn't go near it. But once she was inside of it she was perfectly fine. Took her awhile to get used to the car (on the outside) but she loves going out every where. She gets so excited to go to the car. We take her everywhere that allows dogs


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

srfwheat said:


> Recently, I retired from teaching school so I am home more than I used to be. I am now able to take my three year old German Shepherd, Sarge, almost everywhere I go, with the exception of church or long shopping trips. I take Sarge on vacation with me and stay at pet friendly hotels. There are many places where I live that are dog friendly. I take him to Tractor Supply, Gander Mountain, restaurant patios (McAlister's Deli, Sweet Peppers, Stonewall's Barbecue, Willie T's, etc. - waiters usually offer to serve him, lol), and any short shopping trips. I lock him in my car (if the places I go don't allow dogs) with the air-conditioner on, if hot, with motor running. I park where I can see him or check on him and never leave him for more than 10 or 15 minutes. He absolutely loves riding in the car with my husband and me. My Subaru Outback is less than two years old, or I wouldn't leave him in the vehicle during warm weather. I don't think it would be good idea to leave him in an older vehicle due to the motor possibly going out. I read an article a couple of months ago about police K9's dying from getting too hot in the police cars.


This is kind of what I'm thinking life will be like with our pup! We have 2 newer vehicles ( a 2014 and 2015) so no need to worry about the vehicle going out, more likely he will be in my car (ford escape) rather than my husbands truck (chevy silverado) just because he will fit better in there, especially if we kennel him. Our other dog absolutely loved car rides, I would fold the seats down in the back and he would just lay down back there, but hated the truck because there wasn't a good place for him to lay down. We live in Omaha, and they just recently passed a law where dogs are allowed on patios at restaurants as long as the restaurant gets the permit required, so we are hoping to be able to take advantage of that once the weather heats up a bit (although like I said, long coat, so he shouldn't get too cold once his adult coat grows in) but we will also be taking him to the pet store, and tractor supply, and I also believe the home depot here is pet friendly. The main times he will be left alone is when we go to workout at the gym, and one of our friends has a dog that doesn't get along with other dogs, so we probably wont bring him over there, but we will take him to our other friend's house.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

I just thought I'd add that since the undercoat is what regulates the dogs temp... the top coat will not have much bearing on how your dog deals with the weather. I've seen stock coat gsd with much denser undercoats than my long coat. afterall, it's originally the stock coats that were withstanding harsh winters in Germany.


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

Fodder said:


> I just thought I'd add that since the undercoat is what regulates the dogs temp... the top coat will not have much bearing on how your dog deals with the weather. I've seen stock coat gsd with much denser undercoats than my long coat. afterall, it's originally the stock coats that were withstanding harsh winters in Germany.


Thank you for this information! That's good information to know! I still don't plan on taking our puppy anywhere he would have to sit out in the cold until about 6 months probably (no cafes) especially since I don't want to sit out in the cold with him! If its too cold for me, its too cold for him! But usually the only time my husband and I go out to eat is for sushi once a month. So I think our pup will be able to handle being left alone for 2 hours one Saturday a month so we can go get Sushi. When the weather warms up we will take him out, and we'll gauge how he is acting and if it is too hot/too cold for him.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

see... a rule that I also have which you touched on a little... the moment I feel that my dog is developing seperation anxiety or becoming pushy or demanding about going with me - I would immediately begin leaving them home more, to keep a balance. I love that they can go so many places with me (even to work daily), but I also know that I can stop at any time or leave them for 8 hours and they're fine.


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

Fodder said:


> see... a rule that I also have which you touched on a little... the moment I feel that my dog is developing seperation anxiety or becoming pushy or demanding about going with me - I would immediately begin leaving them home more, to keep a balance. I love that they can go so many places with me (even to work daily), but I also know that I can stop at any time or leave them for 8 hours and they're fine.


Yes, our other dog had TERRIBLE separation anxiety, and it absolutely sucked leaving him at home. He would be fine when I went to work, because it was routine, and he knew it was going to happen. But on the weekends, if my husband and I left together, he would start crying SO loudly we could hear him all the way in the garage (our garage isn't attached to the house). It sounded like somebody was torturing him. So we want our pup to be independent (we also plan on doing crate games with him, I've watched a ton of videos and it looks SO fun, and its a way to keep them calmer, to give them a den) so we won't take him EVERYWHERE, but I do want to take him with me a lot. Especially since he is so cute. But if I'm going to be shopping for a few hours, I want to be able to leave him at home.


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

My dogs go pretty much everywhere with me. They can stay home if it is necessary with out issue now that they are 18mos old, but I would say they go 98% oof the time.


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## viking (May 2, 2014)

I take my boy everywhere, too. He loves to come along and has never had any issues with motion sickness. If the temp is 60 or lower, I'll crack the windows and roof. Any warmer than that and I'll keep the AC running for him. 

Your road trip home isn't too long. Just make a couple potty/walkabout/water stops along the way.


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

viking said:


> I take my boy everywhere, too. He loves to come along and has never had any issues with motion sickness. If the temp is 60 or lower, I'll crack the windows and roof. Any warmer than that and I'll keep the AC running for him.
> 
> Your road trip home isn't too long. Just make a couple potty/walkabout/water stops along the way.


Yeah, we plan on making it up there mostly Friday night after my husband gets off work, I'll drive up most of the way (although who knows after we're tired from working haha) And then we'll pick him up Saturday and be able to take our time getting home with him.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Fodder said:


> see... a rule that I also have which you touched on a little... the moment I feel that my dog is developing seperation anxiety or becoming pushy or demanding about going with me - I would immediately begin leaving them home more, to keep a balance. I love that they can go so many places with me (even to work daily), but I also know that I can stop at any time or leave them for 8 hours and they're fine.


I do this and rotate dogs. They all get a turn, but they have to understand its not always their turn. At the same time, sometimes none of them can come and they have to understand that too.


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## argonne (Nov 16, 2012)

I used to take one of the dogs with me often when running errands, and they all love it, but an incident a year ago has made me wary of doing so.

I took the 10 mile drive to Home Depot to pick up some parts, and took our 3 year old Jack with me (he was 2 then). I parked in the parking lot and went in, leaving Jack sitting in the car. It was 60 deg F out. _I do not leave the window cracked open, because I never lock dogs in hot cars, and I don't want people in parking lots to have access to the dog, nor him to their fingers._

I was in the store for about 10 minutes when an announcement came over the PA system for the owner of a (my car) please come to the service desk. I went to the service desk, and they told me that someone in the parking lot was concerned about my dog.

I checked out and walked out to find $900 worth of windows smashed out of my car (The little ones Jack couldn't fit through). A guy was leaning against the car next to mine, and I asked him if he saw who smashed my windows. He proudly replied, "I did!". I told him "stay right there", and called the police. When I got off the phone, he stated that he wasn't scared, because the police would be on his side.

Long story short, he was charged with Criminal Mischief, and over a period of 6 months, paid for the windows he smashed to avoid prosecution and jail for up to a year. 

Jack, despite sitting in a glass strewn car, was fine. He's a pretty level headed dog and didn't seem traumatized by a lunatic smashing the windows out of the car he was sitting in. If it had been our 1 year old, it could have given her PTSD for life.

Dogs in cars are apparently a new target for political correctness zealots, and they ARE out there, as my experience demonstrates. My vet (of all people) had a similar experience. Your dog does not have to be in danger for them to use "the animal rights cause" as an excuse to aggrandize themselves.

Since then, I take the dogs with me much less often, which is something I sorely miss, as do they.


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

argonne said:


> Dogs in cars are apparently a new target for political correctness zealots, and they ARE out there, as my experience demonstrates.


Yup. I once parked my car in the shade, fully rolled down all windows and the sunroof, gave the dog as much water as she would drink, and went to the store directly beside the car. Came back out 20 mins later to find a platoon of "heroes" next to my car that were quick to inform me of what a monster I am, of how many babies died in cars that week (one actually screamed "don't you WATCH THE NEWS?!?!?!"), and listed all the places they've already "reported" me to. Hilarious stuff.


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## Wags (Dec 17, 2015)

yuriy said:


> Yup. I once parked my car in the shade, fully rolled down all windows and the sunroof, gave the dog as much water as she would drink, and went to the store directly beside the car. Came back out 20 mins later to find a platoon of "heroes" next to my car that were quick to inform me of all the places they've already "reported" me to. Hilarious stuff.


Dang, what jerks are out there! Like I get it. If I left my dog in my car, in NE, in August, in 97 feels like 120 degree weather with all the windows up. I'd break my windows and report myself too. But if it's 60 degrees out with an overcast, and I park in the shade, my dog can survive. I could survive.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

It took awhile for my dog to even like the car k think it's a motion sickness thing. He still isn't crazy about the car but it is not real obvious so when I take him out On a errand run I make sure I can bring him with me like petco or any pet store , Home Depot, outlets, I even brought him into marshals once I was in and out of there no one said anything and a sporting good store just to pick up something real quick.


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## maxtmill (Dec 28, 2010)

My dogs love to ride in the car. My one is a service dog, who goes with me most places. She is getting quite elderly, so when she passes away (  ), my next dog I will be training with for service will be a GSD. He will be quite a switch from my current service dog, who is under 20#!


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Yes, if it's not too hot or too cold. I usually try to cluster errands to places that allow dogs and leave mine home when I'm going to the market. I don't like leaving them alone in the car for the reasons mentioned.


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