Pet Auto Safety

Maya is at the new facility for Day Play and overnight boarding.  You can check her out on their video cam at http://www.woofsplaystay.com/woofs-watchers.asp.  Just select the low resolution or high resolution public web cam.  There are several views to look at.  Maya has mostly been seen on the “Medium Dogs Inside 1″ camera.

I used to live in the country where it was very well known that coyotes would attack sheep, cattle, chickens, and even other dogs. I had 5 acres of land but kept a half an acre fenced so that my dogs would not roam around and get attacked by these coyotes (or mistaken for coyotes and get shot by a farmer). In the fenced yard, my dogs were safe.

However, Duce had a tendency to dig. Like my other dogs, he was kept in the house at night but let outside during the day for potty and play. I liked to be outdoors too so I was generally able to keep an eye on him and stop him from digging. But one day, he dug out and disappeared. I looked and looked for him but the country is a big place and there was still a lot of wild and wooded areas that made it harder to find him.

I really loved that dog and I miss him very much. He was shepherd/chow mix and a beautiful and lovable dog. It wasn’t until recently that I heard about a GPS pet tracker. The company I work with called PetAutoSafety.com sells one in particular called the RoamEO pet tracker. If those had been invented when I had Duce, I would have gladly have purchased one. That way, when Duce got out I would have been altered and hopefully would have been able to track him down and get him back home before he got hurt. This is a great product and probably one of the best pet trackers on the market because it is so easy to use and there is no monthly fee. I have the RoamEO pet tracker now although my dog Missy is almost exclusively and indoor dog. I use it mostly when we go camping or hiking. Missy has never gotten away from me but I don’t want to take any chances with losing another great dog.

Hi, my name is Dawn and I am the primary owner of PetAutoSafety.com and the sole owner of Sephi and Maya. Sephi is a lab/shepherd/chow mix. She is over 7 years old now and a great dog. Maya is a yellow lab. She is almost a year old and growing fast. You can read more about Sephi and Maya at http://www.mydogspace.com/me/naturebydawn and http://www.petautosafety.com/page/1460887.

I started the PetAutoSafety.com site in 2006 with Sephi in mind. Sephi always had a dog seat belt but I didn’t always use it like I should have. I mostly used it for when we traveled on the highway and tended to use it less when on city roads. Why? Because Sephi hated her seat belt and she would always get tangled up in it. The seat belt she used was the kind that had a loop attached to the pet car harness where the car seat belt would pass through. It was very inconvenient because whenever Sephi would turn around in her seat, the loop of the dog seat belt harness and the seat belt of the car would get twisted and sometimes Sephi would get her foot caught in it.

A few years ago, when Sephi wasn’t wearing her seat belt, I had to swerve out of the way of a car coming into my lane. Sephi fell onto the floor and hurt herself. Thankfully, she wasn’t seriously hurt but I was bound and determined to not only make her wear her seat belt every time, but to find a better seat belt for her. And I found the perfect dog seat belt made by Guardian Gear. Instead of a loop that the car seat belt has to pass through, the dog seat belt made by Guardian Gear has a strap that buckles directly into the seat belt receptacle. With this strap, Sephi can turn around all she wants and she won’t get tangled up in it because it is a single strap. Not only that, Sephi doesn’t mind this seat belt at all. Because she can move around a bit more and not get tangled, she actually gets excited now when I put the dog car harness on her.

In 2006, I built a web site for my artwork called NatureByDawn.com. I had so much fun selling online that I partnered with others and expand my market to sell pet auto safety stuff, including the Guardian Gear dog seat belt that my own dogs use.

Missy is a sweet dog. She was rescued from the local shelter I used to work at. She was literally rescued since she was due to be euthanized when I offered to take her home as my own. She was only 6 months old at the time and very adorable. But the shelter was full and there was no room for her in adoption. Our shelter took in over a hundred animals a day in the summer months and we were lucky if 15 were reclaimed, if 15 were adopted, and if 15 were taken by various animal rescue groups. It was sad to say, but a lot of animals were euthanized every day at this shelter, as they are at many shelters all over the country. The shelters don’t do this by choice, I promise. They do it because there is no other alternative. Most of the animals that were euthanized were unadoptable because they were unhealthy, vicious, or just unsociable. But some of those animals would have made great pets.

Missy is such a great pet. She is well behaved and very lovable. I don’t know what I would do without her. Missy is an odd mix, probably greyhound/shepherd. She has the lean doe-like face of a greyhound and the coloring and black saddle-back of a German shepherd. To think that she was about to be put to sleep just because there are so many irresponsible pet owners out there who refuse to get their pet spayed or neutered and let their dogs roam the neighborhoods! If you aren’t going to be responsible for a pet, you should not even have one. So even though I don’t work at the animal shelter anymore, I am still a big advocate for spaying and neutering. And as an advocate for spaying and neutering, I want to encourage you do spay or neuter your dog or cat. Unless you are a professional breeder, you should not be breeding dogs. There are plenty of professional breeders out there and too many irresponsible breeders who breed dogs in puppy mills just to make money. So unless you know about breeding, PLEASE don’t contribute to the overpopulation of pets just to make a buck!

Share your dog or cat or cat with us.  Tell us a cute story about your pet, share your pet’s most recent accomplishment, talk about how your pet overcame a serious health issue, tell us if your pet was a rescue pet or a humane society pet, or just tell us why your dog or cat is the best pet ever!