If your dog rides with you

[Boondox]

My golden retriever, Barley, lost 3" of his tail while riding next to me on the RTV bench seat. I was not wearing the seat belt, and as near as I can figure when we hit a bump the bench seat came up a bit and slammed back down on the little guy's tail, snapping the tail bones. Blood all over the place!

He's at the vet now, and since the end of the tail is hanging on by a bit of flesh he'll probably lose that piece.

Just a note of caution: had I been wearing the seatbelt the bench would have stayed put and my dog would be in one piece. I don't ordinarily buckle up in the RTV, but will from now on if I have a dog with me.

Pete

 

[creekbend]

So sorry about your "Best Friend". I sincerely hope that everything works out. Just a thought? Is there a way for you to install eye hooks at the front base and the back base of the seat? Then you could use bungee cords or some type of straps to secure the seat. Using this method, you will be able to quickly remove the bungee cord if needed. Just a thought. Or maybe another design of your own that would offer a solution?

 

[timswi]

That's terrible...I can certainly see how it could happen now that you've brought it up...Never thought of that.

Hopefully your buddy will recover well...Tell him I have a finger that looks like his tail, that way he won't feel alone.

 

[Boondox]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I might just start wearing the seatbelt. Pretty much my entire property is hilly, and the belt keeps me from sliding around. Now that I know it protects my dogs as well, more the reason!

Barley is home sleeping it off. The vet wrapped the stump in some sort of pale pink dressing that oddly enough makes his tail look like a ***** pointed in the wrong direction. What an image!

The challenge is going to be keeping him from fussing with the dressing till things heal up.

 

[creekbend]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I might just start wearing the seatbelt. Pretty much my entire property is hilly, and the belt keeps me from sliding around. Now that I know it protects my dogs as well, more the reason!

Barley is home sleeping it off. The vet wrapped the stump in some sort of pale pink dressing that oddly enough makes his tail look like a ***** pointed in the wrong direction. What an image!

The challenge is going to be keeping him from fussing with the dressing till things heal up.

Did the Vet give him one of those collars? Some people refer to them as "shame collars". If not, rest assured that I only mean well by this suggestion, but it would really help and aid in his recovery, if he had one. Dogs hate them but it sure beats an infection due to an non sterile wound. It will help keep the dressing on, but who knows, he may find a way to get to the tip of his tail anyway. Only a suggestion, because our dog had one after surgery and it helped. Good Luck.

 

[brin]

My dog once had an injured paw and I put one of my old socks over the Vets bandages and used Duct tape to keep it on...he tried for awhile to get it off and finally gave up...it works and it should work on a tail as well..you might want to give it a try.

 

[Boondox]

Ah, the Cone of Shame! Unfortunately, a wonderful dog named Tadcaster (I lost him to cancer last June at age 5) discovered that he could run between trees or pieces of furniture and shatter the cones...a lesson he shared with my other dogs. With Barley they last less than five minutes.

That's not his only disagreeable habit. I can't put any cargo in the sidecar with him, because if anything falls on him during our adventures he picks it up and heaves it over the side! :laughing:

I find that a light dab of Vicks on the bandages discourages chewing. Dogs hate the smell of Vicks!

 

[groundcover]

Sorry to hear about your pup's tail ! Hope they don't end up adding any anti-tail smash switches to the RTV's though !:laughing:

 

[Beltzington]

Hope your dog gets its confidence back, my dog sprained her tail and was useless for 3-weeks. Apparently the tail is a status symbol in the canine world.