# This must be the week for Maltese accidents: STROLLER WARNING!!..



## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

I like another SM person here named *swimsrf* , have also have had a mishap with my dog Baby this week. *I just want to warn everyone here who uses dog strollers, that if you 'think' your dog won't jump out of the stroller,* *don't be so sure!!* Baby has never ever tried to jump out of his stroller before & we have been using a stroller for 2 years now. Out of the clear blue Hubby & I were walking along with the stroller and I saw a white flash & then heard Baby screaming, he had jumped out the front of the stroller & seemed to be hanging by the stroller tether and his harness he was dangling on the side of the stroller! I think he might have hit his back legs on the ground, his front ones & head seemed to be up in the air, Hubby & I scooped him up and tried to calm him down & he kept screaming, Finally he quieted down & we checked all the bones & nothing seemed broken. This all happened in a flash & once he went over the side of the stroller I couldn't see him so I didn't seek exactly what part of him hit the ground :smpullhair: !

He limped that day and yelped a few times, then after that he seemed to be walking just fine. But now he is afraid to walk on our wood floors, but he will walk fine on linoleum & on rugs or grass. I trim the hair on his paws regularly so he is not slipping on that. He always walked on the wood floors before but not anymore. He has been hiding in his crate and won't come out he seems depressed....

He is walking fine but back to the vet we will go {we just had him to the vet for a listeria scare from tainted dog food only two weeks ago...}. Even though he is walking fine, His behavior isn't normal at all & I will have him X-rayed just in case. Baby won't play at all either which is very unlike him. I hope there is not a fractured bone lurking there.... Since he was walking normally & eating & drinking normally I didn't rush him to the vet Sunday & our vets office was closed {Sunday}, but since his odd behavior is continuing I will bring him right away just to make sure. Please say a prayer for :heart:Baby:heart: that there is not some hidden injury that is being masked. We will find out tomorrow.
**In the future we will always keep the top of his stroller closed down at all times, Baby can't be trusted not to try to jump out even though we though he never would, he never tried before....*


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

I hope Baby will be okay. You just never know what they will do!


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

Oh gosh how scary!! My poor dogs get tethered and the net cover is always up. I don't trust any of mine not to jump! Hoping and praying that Baby's not injured, and he just had a scare that he'll recover from.


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## pippersmom (May 21, 2012)

Sending prayers that there is nothing wrong with Baby.


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

I had sort of a similar thing happen last summer while camping. I was walking Ava and Chyna in the stroller through the camp ground and at one point stopped to chat with a guy outside and he casually said to me "you know your dog is dangling" 

:blush::blush: :blush: She didn't get hurt at all, but it was so embarrassing that Chyna had jumped out and was just dangling by her tether. I just plopped her back in and slinked away....:blush::smrofl:

now, had she gotten hurt, I wouldn't be laughing at our incident.

I hope your pup is ok and nothing serious.


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## sherry (Jan 4, 2013)

I hope the vet gives Baby a clean bill of health today! I bet he just had a bad scare and will be back to normal soon!


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

LOVE_BABY said:


> I like another SM person here named *swimsrf* , have also have had a mishap with my dog Baby this week. *I just want to warn everyone here who uses dog strollers, that if you 'think' your dog won't jump out of the stroller,* *don't be so sure!!* Baby has never ever tried to jump out of his stroller before & we have been using a stroller for 2 years now. Out of the clear blue Hubby & I were walking along with the stroller and I saw a white flash & then heard Baby screaming, he had jumped out the front of the stroller & seemed to be hanging by the stroller tether and his harness he was dangling on the side of the stroller! I think he might have hit his back legs on the ground, his front ones & head seemed to be up in the air, Hubby & I scooped him up and tried to calm him down & he kept screaming, Finally he quieted down & we checked all the bones & nothing seemed broken. This all happened in a flash & once he went over the side of the stroller I couldn't see him so I didn't seek exactly what part of him hit the ground :smpullhair: !
> 
> He limped that day and yelped a few times, then after that he seemed to be walking just fine. But now he is afraid to walk on our wood floors, but he will walk fine on linoleum & on rugs or grass. I trim the hair on his paws regularly so he is not slipping on that. He always walked on the wood floors before but not anymore. He has been hiding in his crate and won't come out he seems depressed....
> 
> ...


I am so sorry! Hopefully nothing is broken(but definitely check!)..he may just be bruised and scared to death...I always keep mine zipped up...thanks for the warning!


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Oh, how scary! I hope that Baby is okay.
Hopefully he was just scared by the incident, but it is good to have him checked.
Please let us know how he does - sending good thoughts!


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I have lost count of how many times Lisi has jumped out while tethered! It happened in the airport just this week. I keep a pretty close eye on her so she doesn't dangle for long. I keep hoping she will learn not to do that. We haven't had any injuries thus far, which just shows that her guardian angel is on high alert. She is in a step in harness so not much could actually happen.
Kitzi doesn't jump EVER. I hope your baby is ok.


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## Fee (Oct 26, 2013)

Oh dear! This is really scary, hope precious Baby is doing better, many hugs and kisses from us :heart:


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## Pooh's mommy (Aug 31, 2014)

I hope that Baby will be ok!
That must have been scary. 
Good thing you are getting her checked out if she is not her normal self.
Please update us on what the vet says.
Prayers and hugs to all of you from 
Me and Pooh ❤


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## puppydoll (Jul 11, 2013)

That is very scary. It happened to Carley once but she didn't touch the ground and I scooped her back in the stroller so fast that she was ok. Thank goodness for tethers.
Hope little Baby is okay and back to normal soon!! Hugs:wub:


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## Lisa-Maria (May 9, 2015)

Sandy, I am so sorry that happened. How is Baby doing today? What did the vet say?


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

Oh my gosh I hope he's ok. I bought a stroller to use and I thought the same thing, he will never jump out. Thanks for the warning!!!


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## swimsrf (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm sorry that happened. I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day, and she joked that I should attach water wings to each limb...just in case.


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

*Thank You all!*

*:heart:Thank You so much everybody for your good wishes & prayers for Baby! And thank you also for telling me your own stroller danger stories. *I'm not going to reply to everyone 'individually' this time only because it has been a very long stressful day, it's late and I'm just exhausted, but I wanted to make sure I told you all *THANK YOU! *And let you know what happened at the vet. 

When we saw the vet today & he took X-rays. _*Nothing is broken thank God,*_ but according to the vet this incident caused *'Luxating Patellas' *to appear in both of Baby's back legs. The vet had checked for Luxating Patellas not long before this incident and Baby didn't have any at that time. He thinks the impact of the fall caused the problem to show itself early. He said eventually over time it probably would have shown itself anyway even without the fall. He said that most vets no longer do any surgery for Luxating Patellas which surprised me. He said they only operate nowadays if a dog is _'lame'_ from the condition. 

Baby also has bruising & tenderness on both back legs. The vet gave us some type of meds for pain & swelling we will begin it in the morning, it didn't check to read what it is yet, I'm too tired at this point, it's after midnight as I write this now. I saw the X-ray & got copies. He showed me on the X-ray the patellas positioned in the wrong spots nearing the inner parts of baby's legs. Baby has to stay quiet, & not exercise & must take meds for 10 days. 

I already feel so guilty:blush: about this & to make matters worse when I first walked in the exam room the vet said in dead serious voice & scowling *"how did you hurt your dog"?* which sent me into tears_ :crying:
I was very emotional today_ _with worry_. When I told him I would never hurt my dog the vet told me he had been 'joking'. Mind you this vet is _the very serious type & normally doesn't joke_. He has scolded me in the past about feeding raw food so of course I thought he had 'meant' what he said. I am usually one to find humor in things & know when someone is joking, it's too bad the vet had to pick _today_ to try to be funny for the first time :HistericalSmiley:.

I had been reading a lot here on SM about Pet Insurance, but have been unsure which pet insurance to pick. I was still 'doing my homework'. So of course now according to the Vet Baby now has *'an existing condition'* which won't be covered by any insurance if I finally buy some now. We could be looking at a $4,000.00 operation in the future someday for Luxating Patellas if they should ever get worse....._ I think I'll just be thankful that Baby has no broken bones, fractures or torn ligaments & focus on that fact instead!_ 
*:heart:Thank You again for your prayers for Baby*:innocent:*!
Goodnight! 
*


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Sandy, did Baby actually land on the ground? Was she tethered? The tethers on the Promenade stroller are not long enough to reach the ground. Lisi has jumped out of her stroller more times than I can count but has only "dangled" briefly until we could retrieve her from her mid-air position. Our stroller has 2 tethers so I tether both of them even though I think Kitzi would never jump overboard. I don't usually zip them in as Lisi goes ballistic & bites the screening. I do use it in on an ER kind of basis.
I am not sure I like your vet---I hope he is more compassionate/more knowledgeable than he seems from a distance. I would have taken his remark as being "passive aggressive" because many people tease & then recount it as a joke. But you were there & I wasn't. 
I hope all is well and that you have a better day today!


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## Alexa (Aug 6, 2009)

OMG, what a shock! Hope your little Baby is recovering quickly.

Please keep us updated! 

Normally my girl never jumps out anywhere but mostly I keep her stroller closed. Your story tells us: never say never!

Sending hugs and good well wishes to your Baby!

Alexandra :wub:


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

edelweiss said:


> Sandy, did Baby actually land on the ground? Was she tethered? The tethers on the Promenade stroller are not long enough to reach the ground. Lisi has jumped out of her stroller more times than I can count but has only "dangled" briefly until we could retrieve her from her mid-air position. Our stroller has 2 tethers so I tether both of them even though I think Kitzi would never jump overboard. I don't usually zip them in as Lisi goes ballistic & bites the screening. I do use it in on an ER kind of basis.
> I am not sure I like your vet---I hope he is more compassionate/more knowledgeable than he seems from a distance. I would have taken his remark as being "passive aggressive" because many people tease & then recount it as a joke. But you were there & I wasn't.
> I hope all is well and that you have a better day today!


Thank you for your concern, & yes Baby was tethered & did land on the ground. He must have felt a lot of pain when it happened because he kept screaming ---it sounded horrible, I don't think it was just fear. He hasn't been the same since it happend. All day long he stays in his crate & won't come out. If I take him out he goes back in. He is afraid to walk around and hasn't played since it happened. It seems like his spirit is broken.... The only thing he will seem to do is lay in my lap curled into a little ball with his face hidden in my belly. It breaks my heart to see him this way. He is such a sensitive little guy emotionally & he gets very freaked out when he feels pain for any reason. I hope he doesn't stay sad like this for the rest of his life. 

I guess the tethers on the Petgear Strollers are long. The strollers I have can also fit dogs bigger than Baby so maybe they give some extra length for that reason? I just had assumed that because there were tethers that there was no danger of Baby falling/jumping out, kind of 'naive' on my part I know. I bend over backwards to make sure Baby is protected & safe, and I never saw this one coming. 

I'm not so sure I like the way my vet handles things anymore either. When the vet made that comment he had an angry & very serious look on his face. I can see a visit instead to Dr. Goldstiens clinic at some point will be something in our eventual future.



Alexa said:


> OMG, what a shock! Hope your little Baby is recovering quickly.
> 
> Please keep us updated!
> 
> ...



Thanks so much! & yes 'never say never'. My boy is still not acting like himself. it's so sad, I miss his happy go-lucky little self. He is so serious now, he doesn't 'smile' anymore....:crying:


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

*Improving*

Glad to report Baby is showing signs of improvement. He doesn't yelp anymore when he walks or seem to be in any pain. However he still won't walk on our wood floors, he is still afraid of them, but he will walk on carpet to the edge of the room & look longingly at the wood floor as if he 'wants' to walk on it. I keep encouraging him & am hoping eventually he will get his old braveness back. 

Baby is smiling & wagging his tail again, but he is even more 'needy' now than before the accident {and he was always very needy even before, but now_ more so_.} Baby's old personality is starting to show itself again very cautiously. _He is such a sensitive boy_, a trait that drew be to him the first day I laid eyes on him. Being sensitive isn't helping him recover from this fall though. He is much more improved now that weeks have gone by. As soon as the 10 days rest/no exercise period which the vet had recommended are over, we will be taking Baby out on walks again. Hopefully walking 'outside' will get him walking 'inside' again.

*Here is a 'reenactment' photo of what happened when he fell out of the stroller, Baby is much bigger than this toy so both of his back legs hit the pavement when this happened....*


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I would definitely shorten the tether---it is way too long if Baby hit the floor/ground. You could even tie several knots in it until you can get it fixed.


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

Yes, I am thinking that too about tying knots in the tether Sandi. Part of the problem is that the tether is attached right onto the 'side' of the stroller on the inside right. This means that If Baby tries to jump out on that side where it's attached the tether will always be longer on that side. I can't make it so short that he can't sit up. I'll have to play around with it & see what I can do. I don't know where I could take it to to get it fixed? To a dog stroller fixer upper? I'm not sure who would do that sort of repair. My other pet gear 'NV' stroller is the same way with a long tether over to the right hand side.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I have the Promenade & the tethers are short. Maybe it also has something to do with how high/low the stroller is---in that case it could not be fixed---if it is too low, I mean. You may want to try some other strollers.


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