** Caution Everyone Should Read This

[ronerjones]

Well Spring Break came and as of today is gone, the kids go back to school tomarrow. Unfortunately our Spring Break camp-out was cancelled last minute due to a very unfortunate accident that could have been avoided. I only tell this story in hopes that someone else on this forum may become awair and avoid what happend to us this weekend. We were all set to go and the weather was great. What we did not realize was that while packing the truck Gabby our dog followed us out and decided to make herself comfortable under the trailer for a nice afternoon nap. I needed to move the trailer to a low spot to make it easier to load up the bikes and the unthinkable happened. Thank God I am very causious when I do move and inched forward very slow. Gabby was lucky to be able to get out from under the trailer but did suffer a dislocated hip. This has been a week we would like to put behind us, however, we have several more weeks of doggy recovery to go through. I hope every single person out there has or will put into effect a very stringent check list that gets viewed prior to moving their trailer. We did our walk around we unfortunately did not do a look under. Remember weather its your pet, a neighbors, or even a stray its worth that extra 10 seconds to look under the trailer to make sure all is safe.

To one and all happy and safe camping.

[RickH]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate accident, but was glad to hear Gabby will recover.

[denbert]

Thanks for the reminder.  We can never be too cautious.  Hope Gabby recovers quickly.

[GrizzlyTaco]

I'm glad your dog Gabby is OK. We never check under our PU when we pull out, but like you say, it only takes a second to look under your PU, and about 10 minutes to get back up!!  Just a bit of humor to break up the tension!!
But for real I'll check from now on.......Thanks,......Ed

[austinado16]

I'm sorry this happened.  Dog's are tough and I'll bet Gabby snaps right back.  Thanks for the head's up though!

['tiredTeacher]

Remember whether its your pet, a neighbor's, or even a stray, it's worth that extra 10 seconds to look under the trailer to make sure all is safe.

I've also heard it's a good idea to locate your cat before closing a slide out.

[McCampers]

That's a tough situation.  I'm sorry to hear of your family member's injury.  Safety for everyone involved is always a priority.  I hope she gets feeling better soon.

[ronerjones]

I appreciate the comments, just a quick update Gabby seems to be doing much better. Her leg will be bandaged up for another 3 weeks. We do have to keep her off her feet for that entire time. She is only allowed up for potty breaks, otherwise she is getting spoiled rotten. Oh well she certainly deserves it. I will be surprised if she still wants to nap under the vehicals.

[Jon Spencer]

Also, check for the little rugrats too, if you have them.  The youngsters can get real excited come camping time and run around like chickens without heads.  

As far as animals are concerned, the super loud exhaust on my TV helps to wake'em up, but you can never be too careful.

[flyfisherman]

And ... there's been many a child (and lot's of pets, too), run over in the driveway by the family car, backing up, without it beiing hitched to anything.

[syoungblood]

I've also heard it's a good idea to locate your cat before closing a slide out.

This is too true!  This past summer, we were closing up after a nice week.  I closed the slide out partially from the outside, maybe half way.  Next, I hear a loud scream from my wife inside.  Our cat ran into the opening under the slideout that is created when you close it.  Because of the slideout location, we were blind to kitty's condition.  My wife is hysterical and in tears.  All we can do is pray and try to get Nick to come out.  It took almost thirty minutes.  I was trying to figure out how to disasemble the slide out.  WAY too much stress for the end of a trip.  Nick eventually came out and was unharmed.  Lesson learned and now shared with you all.