... I left my dog in the truck with the doors locked and the a/c blasting.
It was a really hot day. I was picking up a prescription for a friend. While checking out, I saw a woman looking somewhat frantic apparently looking for the manager and I thought, hmmm. As I get to the truck, she and the manager came running up. She yelled at me "you left that dog in your car!!!!"
I showed her the truck was on and ac was running. She apologized to me and I apologized to her for scaring the shit out of her. I thanked her for looking out for dogs. She said she runs a rescue. I think we even hugged, IIRC. My dog gave her a kiss, I do remember.
I love taking my dog with me as much as possible. She absolutely loves car rides and going on "missions" as me and my partner call it. She is all gung ho out in front so we call it going on missions. Or family pack rides.
Wouldn't miss those for the world.
Is there a risk? Sure. That's why I won't leave her for more than about ten minutes or so. If we are more than 10 minutes, one of us will check on her or I will check if by myself. I'm more worried about someone stealing her. i drive a very well maintained late model truck with a big air conditioner. Bad things happen - I know. I remember that cop who left his dog 4 hours and the engine quit. The idea she is going to put the car in drive is kind of silly - unless she presses the brake with one paw and shifts with the other.
Yeah, bad things happen. They happen at home too when owners are away. I live on the top/third floor. If the ac quit it could become dangerous in a matter of hours on a bad day. We just installed a Nest so that would help. There is also the worry of fires when I am gone. I never run the dryer or dishwasher when I'm gone mainly because a small fire could be devastating. I also worry about her getting stolen in our yard. I've had friends have dogs stolen out of yards. I no longer let her hang out in the yard by herself. On nice days, I keep her on the third floor deck and let her go in and out.
My dog is better cared for than a lot of kids. She sure sees the doctor more than me 
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