my dog almost died today... i can't get over it.?

Question

My 4 year old sheltie charlie almost died today, I was in the christmas perade today, and i was coming home and my charlie was at my neighbour's house, with my dad. he is usually very skitish of my dad, but when i'm gone there friends. anyways, when my mom slowed to see him, charlie ran from the door, around the house and on to the road, a suv was coming, and the roads were very slippery, there was a snow storm last night. mine and my mom's hears just stopped for like 3 seconds, the suv slid sideways and just missed him. when i got out of the car i was almost crying and i couldn't feel my legs, i gave him a huge hug and i was happy he was alive! it totaly changed my perception of him, i went outside with him for an hour and made an igloo for him. i can't stop thinking that he almost died. any ideas? thanks.

ps. hes a free roam dog, he can go outside whenever he wants without a collar and he always stays home. i always keep him outside when i'm gone to school (unless if he wants to stay in).

Answer 1

If he's a free roam dog, then it's time to prepare for him to be killed by a car or by a person. Possibly, he'll get hit and not quite die, so you you can sit there and watch him suffer.

Dogs should not free roam. That is not a responsible owner and is probably against the law. Bring your dog inside and NEVER allow him out without a leash. Ugh.

To stop thinking about it, bring him inside permanently and then you'll know that it won't happen.

Answer 2

Almost being the word here. When anyone lets this dog out make sure the collar and leash are on him.
There are many shelties who are like this....

Elaborate here- as a teenager a older lady's sheltie got out somehow on the 4th of July after a week of searching for her dog for her I finally called the local radio station. Her sheltie was found clear across town by a lady. This sheltie was walking along side the road scared. The lady said she had to be someone dog for she was very well cared for.
The older lady could not walk well nor drove a car. Why I helped her...
I have ran into other shelties who act this way too, very pretty dogs.

Answer 3

Just be thankful that he didn't die.

Edit: Free roam? Well.. if you want to avoid this same thing (with possibly worse results) happening again, keep your dog inside or fenced in when you can't supervise him.

My riding instructor's dog was always off leash and he always stayed around the barn. He was almost 17 years old and still in good enough health to tag along on trail rides. Then one day he got out in the road and was hit by a car and killed. I wonder how long he could have lived had he not been hit..

Answer 4

I would take comfort in the fact that you're not going to let this happen again. You need to take precautions that he cannot get out of the house and into the road. You could do this by putting a baby gate up in your foyer, that one has to cross through before they can get out the front door, or you could fence in the yard. You have an obligation to him to be a responsible owner. Next time he may not be so lucky. But now you know there will not be a next time!

Answer 5

put a collar with his name on it, on him. stop letting him outside without you watching him. if he has to be outside while your not home get a stake and a long chain so he can be outside and still safe. but he could get tangled so ask a neighbor that home a lot to keep an eye on him. if you have an awning of the back of your house make sure he can get under that incase it's raining if you don't, use a dog house or something. just leave a bowl of water and a little food.

Answer 6

Look, this time you and your dog were extremely lucky. Good suv driver , quick response by you, and dog. Next time it may play out differently therefore you need to take all the precautions you possibly can to prevent this. Training would by my first response.....teach him that running out of the door is NO. You do this by teaching again and again he must sit and wait. Lottsa work but the result may save his life. Good luck

Answer 7

that's so sad=(I almost died.....twice it makes you realize that it only takes a second to die, one mistake or one rash decision. You have to realize that your dog was one of the lucky ones, by not getting hit it gives you and him a second chance. Instead of always being paranoid you just got to be more careful and that accident should make you love him even more. It was a fluke chance, not something that is likely to happen again, you have just got to forget and be thankful everyday that you dog charlie is still with you=)

Answer 8

If you let your dog roam free, then he is likely to be killed at any time. The best thing you can do for both of you is to keep him inside or enclosed or on a run outside. Then you will feel good and assured that he is safe and will not be killed.

Answer 9

It's your own fault. You should of had him on a leash! If he's a "free roam" dog then you should of known from the start that something would end up happening to that dog. It sounds like to me that you didn't really have your dogs safety in mind from the start.

Answer 10

You won't be able ro forget this for a while, however, it may have helped you in the long run since you realized how important your pet is to you. It isn't easy, it has happen to me before with one of my cats. Trust me the worst didn't happen, you will be ok. but to make sure this doesn't happen again, and you don't worry yourself to death, I would consider some kind of fencing, maybe invisable, or something to keep your mind at easy.