Leaving dog in a car - how long?

[wangle99]

How long would you consider leaving a dog in a car (not talking about in hot weather of course).

Is it acceptable to do it at all?

Provided it's definitely not going to be hot (and at this time of year you can't ever be sure) I'd say it was fine to leave your dog (securely) in the car -- if s/he is happy being there.
My last dog hated and detested the car and we would never leave him there at all. But current dog loves it to bits and would be well-miffed if I didn't take him along on the school run, supermarket shop, etc, whenever it was cool enough.

I wouldnt leave my dog in the car..
She is bad enough when I leave her in the ouse.. she sits at the front door waiting for me to return.. God knows what she would be like if we left her in the car..

The only time she goes in is to go to shows.. (when we showed her) to the vets, or for a drive to forests or somewhere for a nice walk out.

I haven't read the thread, so sorry if I repeat/offend anyone.

I owned my first spaniel when I worked full-time.
From being 16 weeks old she would spend her days outside my office in the car, except of course in the height of summer when the days were hot.

I would go out and take her for a long walk at lunchtimes and after work (which was my main reason for buying her in the first place), but between 9:00 and 1:00, then 1:45 to 5:30-ish, she was in the hatchback of my Ford Escort. I always made sure she had water, in winter she had a hot-water bottle (refilled at lunchtime), on mildish days I would leave the back windows open a little.

She was a very happy sociable little dog, always perfectly willing, in fact eager, to get into the car (so she obviously didn't hate it).

I think that as long as you can guarantee a strategy for spending time with the dog, you are not parking in a dodgy area where the dog will be stolen (quite a risk with good pedigrees I believe), it really shouldn't present a problem at all.

Mind you, I do know someone who's Springer spaneil, completely ate the dashboard of his Mercedes, because it could smell polo mints left in the glove locker.

I loved your message, clumsymum. What dedication, filling a hot water bottle for your dog twice a day. She sounds like she was a lovely dog and it's great, isn't it, to have your little companion around as much as possible when you are driving to work, running errands and so on. Some dogs just adore car rides.
Last week I saw a lovely old man, cloth cap, and about 80, with his little old border terrier in a wheelbarrow, with a bit of sacking for comfort. The dog was too old and frail to walk, but neither of them wanted to be parted when he went out to the shops, so her wheels her about the place.