Reply #17: My dog loves to ride. [View All]

[LWolf]

I don't take her as often as I did when she was young; I lived closer to town then. Now, living well outside, I make fewer but longer trips, and I don't like to leave her cooped up for multiple errands.

She still wants to ride, though. When the weather is nice, she rides in the bed of the truck, leashed. When it's not, she rides with me. She won't ride in the extra cab; she has to ride in the passenger seat. She mostly doesn't distract me; she'll curl up in a ball and relax. When she's looking out the window, though, she can be distracting. She's an aussie and STRONGLY territorial. She has nothing to say about cars, but pedestrians, bicycles, and other dogs can send her into a frenzy of barking.

The reality is that she just wants to be where I am. No matter where that is. If I hook up a harrow to drag around the weeds, she wants to ride. When I ride a horse out the gate, she's there, and will go many miles without a problem, even at 8 years old.

I generally don't take my hand off the wheel to manage her. I have been known to drive with one hand, and leave the other resting on her head. It makes her happy. I generally drive one handed anyway, whether she is there or not. When I'm braking, one hand is usually on the gear shift. If I wanted to keep her out of the front seat, I'd leash her in the back. It's a pretty simple solution.