Canine co-pilots Thread

[Millennium Falcon]

[jadppe]

This is Kookee in the back and Babaganoush on the seat coming back from Armstrong Woods in Guerneville, CA

Josh
_________________
Currently trying to fix up a 78 sunroof bus. 3rd bus in my life...2 late bay westies previously.

[renobdarb]

_________________
----------
1978 Campmobile, 2000cc w/hydro lifters, dual Weber 44 IDF carbs (50 idle jets, 115 main jets), SVDA distributor w/Compufire.

[renobdarb]

[BusBerd]

[VDubTech]

Bailey in the Bus.....

For all of you volunteer firefighters out there....

Nigel--nobody asked for your opinion. I for one despise your posts. Their wordiness, the atrocious punctuation, the horrible pictures. Not to mention your disgusting attitude. People like you are the reason there was a revolution in this country over 200 years ago.

[NASkeet]

[zxylon]

Now another post is dead.

[VDubTech]

[VDubTech]

[quote="VDubTech"]

[DonH]

Hullo Nigel et al,
While I do find your posts generally enlightening, do be aware that this is an INTERNATIONAL forum, and as such "The Highway Code, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, RoSPA (i.e. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), The Department of Transport" DOES NOT APPLY to most of us.

Cheers,
Don
_________________
69 Campmobile, 75 Bus

[barryben]

Back on topic ... here's Bella on the way to Run to the Sun last year

_________________
1978 2.0i kombi from Sweden

[thewalrus]

Unfortunately I don't have a dog and my cat hates the bus.... But I will say

[renobdarb]

Why do you think we fought the Revolutionary War??? We don't like our government making stupid rules like restraining our dogs in our cars. If the U.S. tried to do something like that, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota likely would secede from the Union. You can't go 10 miles out here w/o seeing some ranch dog riding shotgun with his owner or running free on the flatbed. It's a way of life.

Also, the Daily Mail is a waste of good newsprint. I wouldn't even consider wiping my ass with it or using it to paper-train a new puppy.

Bottom line, know your dog and don't let it get into trouble. Let her have some fun!
_________________
----------
1978 Campmobile, 2000cc w/hydro lifters, dual Weber 44 IDF carbs (50 idle jets, 115 main jets), SVDA distributor w/Compufire.

[Raggamuffin]

[ScottK]

[[email protected]]

Wow....talk about some serious hostility!!!!

I will say this...

As an ower of some rather LARGE dogs - harnesses are NOT a bad idea. Lizzy is pretty lethargic and when full grown will outweigh me. Rocky on the other hand --- well - he still is pushing 90 pounds. Thats a lot of weight - even when I slam on my brakes. That being said.

In modern cars - like my friend's truck - I do have a special padded U-Shaped thing for them to ride in. Corners, and braking seem to affect them the most. They've learned to lie down when cornering and in City traffic.

A harness will not be an option for Lizzy when she is full grown.

That being said....

In a passenger car - I can see where having a harness is a good idea - where the dog is on the same level as the rest of us = and for dogs of a certain size. But in a Bus!? We don't have shoulder harnesses - except the front seat - and I'm sure our Significant Others would appreciate Fido getting that over them - right?

My dogs prefer the rear of the bus - so it isn't an issue. They get up on the couch and sleep - or right behind the slider.

Besides if I'm in a big accident - I think I'd be more worried about the 300 pounds of camper equipment breaking loose and flying forward into the back of my head. LOL.

If I die driving any AC VW - I will have counted it as "The way he wanted to go."
_________________
Ryan

***********************************
1963 Beetle
***********************************

[JMazier]

[fukengruvenoval]

Nigel, Ryan & Jerome, I agree with your comments. In life there are a lot of things one should do. Tethering not only your animals, but any other object with considerable mass should be done before any drive. I have read that in a 30 mph collision, an object can exert a force 20 times its weight. So, my 55LB dog could exert an 1100 pound force on me!!

In my first (and only) accident, back when I was 17, I put a brand new Suzuki 4x4 into a ditch. As you might expect, I was going far too fast in icy conditions and wound up sliding sideways into a deep ditch. $6000 in damage later I escaped unscathed EXCEPT the bruises and cuts on my face caused by my portable CD player and CDs that had been on the passenger seat.

Some US states, including California are now mandating animal restraints. Certainly there is an element of protecting the animal's safety, but the main reasons are reduced driver distraction and reduced injury when your dog becomes a flying projectile.

Now, I am agreeing with you that you should tether your animals. Though I used to have a gate to keep my dog in the back of my SUV, I have never tethered it in the bus.

I suppose we could also debate the safety of driving the buses in general, but that may trivialize the importance of Nigel's suggestion..

Here's some pictures of my dog in the bus.. She only rides up front when she's cold, the rest of the time the back seat is her kingdom:

_________________
Check out my video series at www.youtube.com/midnightoilgarage

[NASkeet]