Preventing another serious accident

[Steve Collins]

Yesterday, our dog ducked under the trailer to race one of us to the back yard. In doing so, she struck her back and hip on the backside of the framing for the steps. If you take a close look at them, you will see a very dangerous sharp point:

(I circled the sharp point so you can see what I am referring to.)

Abby sustained a 4" laceration on her back and is now recuperating at home. We are $341 poorer but she is doing well.


This morning, I got out my sawzall and a file, cut off those sharp points on the backside of both trailer steps, and then filed all the edges smooth and gently rounded. Even if she hits one of them again, it will likely do far less damage and may not even break the skin. Here's the "after" shot:


There's not a lot of space to put some protective edge grommeting on these areas. If I put some there, it would probably interfere with moving the steps in and out. I might get some angle iron pieces and connect them from the bottom of the step back to the frame. That would prevent her from even getting into that area again.

Just thought I would share this with all of you. If you have a dog that likes to get under the trailer, this might be a safety issue that you may want to look into.[/url]

[DF5.4]

Thanks for the heads up. It's a tough way to find it though. I hope Abby heals up quick.

[medbill]

Thank you for the heads up and taking the time to post this. Best of luck to your dog and hope she heals up well and soon.

B

[kanyonkitty]

Steve,

Thanks for the info. I sure hope Abby heals quickly. That looks like a very nasty cut.

Kitty

[emam]

Hey Steve, thanks for the heads up!! Thats right were our dogs lay ever time we're all hanging out around the camper!! I'll pull the grinder out tomorrow and file those edges down


Thanks for the heads up and we hope Abby heals quickly and safely!!

Pat

[irishguy101]

I hope she is doing well and I will do my steps also, Thanks

[mbart5fan]

Steve,

Sorry to hear about Abby's injury but glad she's on the mend. Hopefully she'll be ready for your next camping trip. We store our coach at our daughter's house and they have a yellow lab that will run full speed right under our rig. I'm afraid he'll hurt himself or do some damage to the coach eventually. Now I see how true my fears are.

Mike

[Al in PA]

Steve:

I'm sorry to hear about Abby's accident. She looks like my daughter's Shiba Inu, Brody, from that angle. Small dogs are quick and they like to run under low things like Sunlines or coffee tables - anything that gives them a size advantage over bigger dogs or people. I could picture our lab going under the trailer in pursuit of Brody, but not at the same speed. Thanks for the heads up. It looks like a lot of grinders will be put to good use in the near future.