The wind in her hair, the smell of freshly cut grass, the noise of the city… who wouldn’t want to stick their head out the window to see what’s going on? It’s the same for your pup, who might find it the most exciting thing to hang halfway out of your car to see what’s going on. Why, you ask?
Well, we can’t directly ask our pets, but the logical answer would be all the same reasons that humans like it. Many dogs (barring motion sickness or other nausea caused by being in a car) love seeing what’s going on. The fast paced different sights, the car ride, all the people going by – your dog is likely stimulated by all this and you can see it in the unadulterated grin that she’s wearing as she’s looking around.
It’s said that dogs use 40% more of their brains on smell than we do, making their sense of smell infinitely stronger. Have you ever seen her fish out that dog bone from under the couch that she was hiding from last week? She can sniff it out, and because of that heightened sense likely enjoys all the different smells outside that she doesn’t get at home.
The problem with this is that your dog is at danger for many things happening. All dogs should be restrained in your vehicle for their safety. We had a post yesterday that goes into more of this. When their heads are outside the window and you’re going at high speeds, they’re in imminent danger of debris going into their eyes or their floppy ears getting inflamed from the wind or items flying around.
Of course the worst case scenario would be that they could easily fall out of your vehicle in the case of a sudden stop or jolt which can cause everything from superficial injury to instant death.
We understand your dog’s need to look around and see what’s going on. Just make sure that he keeps both you and himself safe by being restrained in a car seat or harness of some kind.
