rockhillmanor
On the Road
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quabillion wrote:While driving into Midland today on IH-20, I saw something new to me. Coming up the on-ramp was a large sleeper MDT, pulling a gooseneck horse trailer. Pretty common 'round these parts.
Anyway, this guy had his blue healer(sp?) on the flatbed of his truck running around and barking. Now I have seen alot of ranchers with dogs in the BED of a truck, but not on a flatbed, on the interstate, while towing.
I saw the very same thing too. I posted it last week. It was at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Quote:BTW: Saw a dog today riding loose in the back of a pickup truck with a fifth wheel attached.
Gotta admit he sure knew how to bob and weave when the truck turned.
The KEY here is HORSE TRAILER. This is common practice with the 'horse people'. "I" being one myself, but NEVER did it with my dogs.
Horse people dogs go everywhere and do everything...
AND against all odds they never get hurt.
31 ft Four Winds
Chevy Tracker 4x4 Blue Ox
We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
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garyashley
Tennessee
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Being owners of a Blue Heeler, this makes me cringe. She will ride around town with Gary in the back of his truck with the tailgate UP but if we are hauling the camper, Buckets and Holly are on the back seat of the truck with harnesses on connected to doggie seatbelts. Before pulling out on the road, we make sure everyone is buckled up. We wear our seat belts to be safe in case of a crash; I want our girls to be safe, too.
Gary & Ashley
& Holly (our mini schnauzer)
& Buckets (our Blue Heeler)
Shelbyville, TN
2006 KZ Sportsmen Sportster 37K Triple Slide
2007 Chevy 3500 LT Crew Cab 6.6 Duramax/Allison
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Burro
U.S.A.
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We see a lot of this in Montana...never saw a dog fall off yet. That said, it always makes my blood run cold. I guess I have too much imagination.
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tsh
Ohio
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It seems like I heard something on the news a couple of years ago about a state, don't remember which one, that outlawed dogs riding in pick up beds. Personally I cringe every time I see this.
Terri
Joe & Terri
S/W Ohio
'02 Ford Explorer Sportrac
'07 Rockwood Roo 19
2 Campin' Dogs - Dustin & Chi Chi
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hockeyfreak
Wake Forest, NC
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I don't see the problem here. The dog is probably perfectly content to be riding on the flatbead. Our farm dogs always ride in the bed or on the flatbed. Who wants a manure covered dog sitting in the cab? Our dogs are alway ready to go with you...if you even walk near the truck they load up into the bed.
2005 Ford Excursion, PSD
2005 Flagstaff 26BHSS
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BCSnob
Knoxville, MD
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What will happen to a dog in the bed of a PU if you are rear ended at a stop sign or broad-sided going through an intersection? How would you feel if your dog fell out or was tossed out of the bed and you ran over it?
Beyond the emotional loss I wouldn't want to risk the loss of my investment in time and money getting useful farm dog. A fully trained working Border Collie can cost $5,000-$15,000, way more costly than cleaning manure out of my vehicle. Teaching dogs appropriate boundaries on the farm and that harassing livestock is not acceptable is way more effort than getting manure out of a vehicle.
BTW "The dog is probably perfectly content to......" is not a good reason to allow it to do something. Dogs are perfectly content to do things we know are not safe before we teach them not to or they learn the hard way. Dogs are perfectly content to drink automotive antifreeze if we allow them.
Mark
* This post was
edited 09/18/08 09:59am by BCSnob *
Mark & Renee
Jasper the Greyhound
Working Border Collies: Duncan (retired), Rae, Gyp (retired), Jody, Peg, Bette, BJ & Nell
2001 Chevy Express 2500 Cargo (rolling kennel)
2007 Nash 22M
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hockeyfreak
Wake Forest, NC
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BCSnob wrote:Beyond the emotional loss.....
Mark
This is the whole flaw in your thinking. To a farmer/rancher a dog is just another farm animal. We don't cry when a calf dies or have to put a cow down, etc.
We're talking about dogs that sleep in the barn and take a bath in the horse tank.
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BCSnob
Knoxville, MD
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hockeyfreak wrote:This is the whole flaw in your thinking. To a farmer/rancher a dog is just another farm animal. You should read past that comment to the financial reasons given.
To this small sheep farmer a trained dog is more than just another animal; it's a farm hand. With a trained dog 1 person (even without a 4-wheeler) can easily manage 100s of sheep or cows.
We don't cry but we still wonder what we could have done better or different every time we loose (or I need to put down) a sheep or lamb; IMHO to do otherwise is poor animal husbandry and not fiscally responsible. Would you purposely increase the risk to the lives of your cows by doing something one way that you could do differently without much effort or cost?
Mark
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hockeyfreak
Wake Forest, NC
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To answer the OP question: Yes, our dogs ride in the bed of our trucks and we have NEVER lost one dog in 40 years.
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tsh
Ohio
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The difference seems to be if the dog is seen as a beloved pet and part of the family or just property.
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