Would you ever leave dog in car overnight?

[Righttoo]

I am thinking on friends/family driveway, or small quiet hotel?

I remember my parents doing this occasionally but not sure if’s considered an ok thing to do.

we live in Scotland so not many warm nights where heat is too much. Wouldn’t do it then obviously

I would have left our previous dog in the right conditions in the same scenario. She loved being in the car. OP can look at the temperature to see how cold it is at night!
Current dog has to travel in the car in a crate otherwise she finds it stressful so wouldn't leave her. We have used a camera before in the car to keep an eye on her. Is that a possibility?

Yes they are animals hence we don't put them into beds like children. However, most people feel a lot of affection for their dogs and want them to be comfortable at night.

OP asked a question about what we would do and people are giving answers, there's no FFS about it.

My initial thought was absolutely not but thinking it through I can’t work out why. If theft wasn’t a concern or temperature, my dog sleeps in his crate happily overnight and isn’t with us as his crate is in a different part of the house. Why is a car different?

Locked cars can be broken into. It’ll be in a crate all day because OP wont take it in the house - she says she can’t. So if it’s only a night stay, the dog will be in a car all day to travel there, car all night and car the next day to travel home. Over 24 hours most likely.

She might hear a dog barking but if it’s whining she won’t. And very often dogs whine when something is wrong, they don’t bark.

No. Not my dog.

Double posted

I wouldn't consider making a trip with dog to a family members house when they may be unwelcome due to not knowing how other pets would react etc. I'd leave that visit for when I was dog free another time

No but she's needy and would bark and howl. If one of us slept in the car with her though she would be as happy as Larry.

Lots of cars have temp control these days. One assumes OP will use common sense here - the dogcould be a Spitz breed, for all we know!

Because a car can quite easily be broken into or stolen while the owners are blissfully unaware in bed.

It happened to my parents - woke up one morning to find the car gone off the driveway. They hadn't heard a thing. And this was in a nice, rural "chocolate box" type village in the Lake District.

@LameBorzoi and temperature control malfunctions, and cars can still be stolen.

See my post about my parents' car being stolen off their drive while they slept. They were totally oblivious until my dad woke up the following morning - by that time it was four hours away on the other side of the country.

To answer a few questions. We wouldn’t do it if very cold, but she is a border collie with a thick coat so think she is designed for colder temperatures. She fell asleep literally lying in snow before

relatives are happy for her to come inside. Their dogs are friendly but we haven’t tried it and I wondered if my dog might not like it. We are very outdoorsy and would be walking lots in the day with her. They have large garden she would have during the day too.

car boot is big space with grate between boot and seats. She isn’t in a crate.

I wasn’t planning to leave her in car all day while we sat in house

I appreciate everyone answers. I asked cos I wondered it it crazy idea. Clearly a lot think it is

What would happen if it needs to go out during the night?

For those saying cars have climate control, how does that work if you are not in the car?

It's a dog, not a newborn baby. It doesn't need an owner hovering 24/7. No wonder dogs are so anxious these days. If there's something wrong, my dog won't whine, she will tell me. She will make sure I know, by barking if I don't respond initially.

If there is a possibility that the dog will get stuck in the car for the whole trip, then no, I wouldn't take them, or would have a back up.option. That's not clear from the OP. It might be that the dog is OK loose during the day, but they don't want her unsupervised at night.

If the relatives are happy for her to be inside why not just have her in your room overnight? I'm sure you can use doors or gates to keep the dogs apart for a couple of days if necessary.

While the risks of leaving her in the car may be vanishingly small, I imagine you'd never forgive yourself if something were to happen to her.

Some cars have climate control designed especially for this situation. Usually EVs, because you need the battery to run the climate control.

No because it's not a throw away toy to be locked away when it's not convenient.

My parents did this when we were little with our first dog. He loved the car. We were yourh hosteling. He howeled, stressed, chewed all the casings and cables for the lights in the back of the boot. It was a disaster! I’d never do it with my dogs unless I was literally on the ground floor and I could park the car right outside the window. And even then I’d be worried about temperature.
Cant your family let you have them in your room? If not I’d take a tent or find a hotel that takes dogs.

Cars have no insulation and get very hot and freezing cold. We bought a travel crate which also goes in tents.

I have done this when wild camping before because my dog was happier in the car than he was in the tent with me where he was constantly on alert for noise. I take a second phone and set up a dog monitoring app so that I can see him and which would alert me if he made any noise. He's outdoors all day long walking for miles at these times so very happy to sleep in the car and has a non-spill water bowl next to him.

The car is his safe space and he is an anxious and reactive dog who is relieved to be able to stay there rather than cope in overwhelming environments (and in terms of safety of others this is important as unfortunately he has a bite history). I don't consider it cruel for my dog but can see for others in different circumstances it may not be best decision.

So in your scenario, with my dog, yes I would, but he would be out for several hours in the day walking beforehand.

@suggestionsplease1 a dog sleeping in a a car right next to your tent isn't the same as a dog sleeping in a locked car while you're in the house, though.

Cars get stolen and broken into while they're sitting on drives - often while the owners are totally oblivious upstairs.

Well that would be incredibly rare and my car would not be in the least desirable to car thieves!

I am possibly visiting friends 100 miles away next week and considering this scenario myself.

I consider this choice and risk level more acceptable for me and my dog as we would be able to go and he will love all the walks I plan on doing in new places on the way up and back and will be able to be with me majority time rather than in kennels, where he comes back hoarse from howling as he is unhappy.

I won't have him in their house as they have a child and his bite history means this is not acceptable.

I have a difficult dog unfortunately and although I have a good friend who knows him well and dog sits when I am away I can't ask her constantly. This option allows him to stay with me, go on new walks which he loves, and keeps others safe at the same time. It's a very constraining life with a reactive dog and you have to make decisions accordingly.

This is for a one night trip.

@suggestionsplease1 i know what you are saying. Sometimes pros and cons to be weighed up for a better life for both of you