A recent poll taken by the American Pet Products Manufacturers (APPMA) revealed that almost 50% of those surveyed regularly take their dog with them when they travel in the car. But the bad news is that almost all of them failed to safely buckle up their dogs to prevent the animal from being injured in case there was an accident.

It’s difficult to say why so many loving dog owners take such a nonchalant attitude towards safety when traveling with their canine companions. However, it’s never too late to change your habits. So along with ensuring that your dog stays in one piece in the event of a crash, there are additional safety tips that can help keep him alive and well to enjoy the ride.

Buckle Up Your Dog Just Like You Do

Every dog enjoys being able to run loose inside of a moving vehicle, but it’s not a smart choice for you to allow this to happen. Should an accident occur he could be thrown through the windshield and cut up into a million pieces. And any dog that is naturally over-excited could jump on your lap and make you lose control of the steering wheel.

Teaching your dog to run and retrieve is a very basic and easy training command for him to understand. It is one of the easiest of tasks to train your dog to do, such as pick up a newspaper or a piece of mail, and it’s fun too!

You can begin the exercise by first showing your puppy or dog how to focus on the area in which you want him to retreat from. You do this by simply pointing to the location with your finger. Your goal here is to get your dog to scope out the exact area while looking for something to bring back to you.

The best way to take care of this first step of retrieve training is to use little bits and pieces of dog food or dog snacks. Take out the food and just sprinkle two or three treats on the ground. Do not let your dog run to eat the food too fast. In fact, you should first train him to sit and stay until released, then you point to the ground and say “pickup”, “pickup”.