Taking Rover for a Ride in the Fast Lane : City Smart / How to thrive in the urban environment of Southern California

Finally, a new product tailor-made for canus Southern Californicus: the Doggie Window Pad, a “non-slip grip for dogs that like to hang out of the car window.”

Dog owners love to take Rover for a ride, and Rover loves it, too. It’s surprising that the Beach Boys never wrote a dog-and-car-related song, something like “California Grrrs.”

But that hasn’t kept dogs out of our cars.

Sneaky drivers have been known to put a hat on man’s best passenger and pull into the car pool lane. They have been spotted driving 55 m.p.h. on the freeway with their pets perched on their laps.

“I travel with my dog all the time,” said dog-trainer-to-the-stars Matthew Margolis, who takes his German shepherd in his two-seater--but not on his lap--for protection from carjackings. He has even conducted dog-training in cars to stop animals from jumping around and barking continuously.

And there’s Donna Graves’ springer spaniels. If the driver leaves the car, one dog sits on the horn--and, as a result, is never left alone too long. On the road, the other rolls down the electric window, something the owner has stopped by activating the window lock.

For her dogs, riding in the car is the “best thing in life other than chasing squirrels,” Graves said.

Driving with dogs is popular, especially in Los Angeles. Companies have come out with doggie seat belts (one is called Easy Rider), a seat that props up small dogs so they can see out the window and the Doggie Window Pad (though veterinarians frown upon dogs sticking their heads out of moving cars because they could be hit by passing vehicles, get flying debris in their eyes or take a bite out of motorcyclists who drive between lanes.

Dogs riding in the open back of trucks must be tethered or caged, but no one has proposed a seat-belt law for animals inside cars.

Still, dogs should ride in the back seat--in harnesses or carriers, recommends the executive director of the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/Southern California Humane Society. If you slam on the brakes, an unrestrained dog can be thrown about just like a person, injuring itself and others, especially children, said the society’s Madeline Bernstein.

Several years ago, Queen Elizabeth II got in the dog house with safety experts when one of her corgis was spotted curled up on the rear shelf of her limousine, inches from her head.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents grumbled that if the car had braked suddenly, the dog would have been hurled forward and could have injured Her Majesty.

Some dog owners say their pets don’t need seat belts because they are trained not to move around. But Bernstein barked, “So, when you hit a tree, is it trained not to fly through the windshield?”

Riding with your pooch on your lap also can be costly.

Alison Hardy, a San Diego dog groomer, got a ticket for driving on the freeway with one of her five Bichon Frieses on her lap. She was cited under a section of the Vehicle Code that makes no reference to dogs but specifies: “No person shall drive a vehicle when it is so loaded or when there are in the front seat such number of persons as to obstruct the view of the driver.” She paid the ticket, which cost more than $100.

But, hey, she got a court to admit that her dog was a person.

Dog owners should use care in leaving pets alone in the car. “We recommend that you don’t leave your animal unattended, ever,” said Bernstein. Even if a dog owner parks in the shade, cracks open the windows and leaves behind water, the inside of a car can quickly turn into an oven, Bernstein said. Dog owners can be prosecuted under animal cruelty laws if they endanger their pets.

Margolis, president of the National Institute of Dog Training in Monterey Park, said dogs should never be allowed to hang out the window.

But dogs seem to like it so much.

“They look happy because the wind is forcing their mouths open,” he growled.