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Seems like I’m due to ask another stupid question.


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Has anyone seen or heard of a dog that has jump off a roof? 

I see a lot of roof dogs here. I’m building a second story deck and would love to leave off railing because of the view. I have two large smart dogs that would join me up there. I believe they would be fine as I had a three story roof top deck at my home in Houston and they never seemed tempted to jump the railing. 

I want to get the horror stories out of the way before I make my command decision. 

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I can't imagine it happens very often, but when I lived in San Miguel 16 years ago, I was walking a route I normally took every day. There were 2 huge, heavy dogs that lived at a house there, as I recall, something like giant sheepdogs. Just as I was walking by, one of the dogs, who I had noticed standing in an open balcony door on the second floor, which had no railing,  came flying out the second floor and landed on its side with a thud on the street. I don't know if he spotted a cat and forgot where he was, or what, but it was the most crazy thing. I fully expected the dog to be dead on landing, but it ran into the house. I can't believe it didn't suffer internal injuries.

You can get railings made by a welder that are attractive and wouldn't spoil the view too much. You can even design it yourself. The lower part where a dog could fall thru could have transparent plexiglass.

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I have no idea about jumping off of roofs but when I lived in Bend, Or. I was involved with the local Humane Society. I learned that dogs fall out of pickup trucks a lot more often than the cowboys ever thought possible.

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10 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

I have no idea about jumping off of roofs but when I lived in Bend, Or. I was involved with the local Humane Society. I learned that dogs fall out of pickup trucks a lot more often than the cowboys ever thought possible.

Lol! 

I love Bend. Lived in Portland and my favorite day trip was to Bend. 

My Grandfather was a rancher and always had at least one dog in the back of his truck. The only ones I remember dying did so from being hit when chasing cars down the dirt road to the house - and the one Grandma shot for killing her prize winning rooster. 

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Sad  to   say, since I have been here, I have  seen 3  separate incidences of a dog coming off a roof - do not know the cause, but  two resulted  in deaths,                                                             and the 3rd may as well have been dead with the all internal and limb  injuries that occurred.

The idea   of a decorative railing seems like a good idea, or   ?? plexi-glass although that is a lot more expensive I believe.

 If it was me, I value my dog's safety  over a grand view. .  

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2 hours ago, cedros said:

If you don't have a railing people will be very reluctant to go near the edge to see the total view.

The only thing going to the edge would do for “total view” would be giving them a peep at my neighbors junky side yard. The mountains and treetops can be seen just fine from the middle. 

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You have obviously made your own decision.  Any friends you may have can decide for themselves if they want to spend time on your roof.  As for the dogs you already know accidents happen ... With people as well as animals.  But, of course, they would have to be stupid enough to put themselves in harm's way.

 

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34 minutes ago, Wookie said:

You have obviously made your own decision.  Any friends you may have can decide for themselves if they want to spend time on your roof.  As for the dogs you already know accidents happen ... With people as well as animals.  But, of course, they would have to be stupid enough to put themselves in harm's way.

 

I like the idea that a decision to join me on the roof would make a good filter for who wants to hang out with me. Having said that...

You can get up the stairs and to the lounge furniture without coming close to a open edge. One would have to choose to either walk over to the edge away from the seating or be so thin the wind could blow them 10+ feet to be in danger of falling. 

I was more concerned the fear of heights has been bred out of dogs than concerned my human friends weren’t capable of smart choices. But the more I think about it, the more I believe people’s comments are right. My dogs will be fine. I just can’t let any people up there with me. 

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It sounds like you have made up your mind in advance-no railings. After some time you will find that you need them. I have seen this a number of times.

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We have the 3rd floor patio at our house here. It is surrounded by a low wall that is 14-16 inches and 10 or so inches across the top. Our dogs, even though they are fairly large will jump up on the ledge and walk around the perimeter as though a street. It makes me nervous as it is a long 3 stories to the sidewalk and street below. I will usually call them off without startling them..so far no falls but I can't imagine NOT having a low barrier of some type around the perimeter. Ours is low enough so that while seated we have good unobstructed views .My take is you need a low border around your patio area.

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I am with LFA and  we help Mexican nationals of limited means with emergency care.  It is not uncommon for a young dog to come in with a broken leg  or worse from falling off a roof. I was at one of our Vets yesturday when a young blue healer about 5 months old was brought in after falling off a roof it looked like her leg was broken . Most of the ones I have seen have been young dogs I guess the older ones have learned to be careful. I would never leave one of my dogs unattended on a roof but supervised with a railing you should be OK

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makes sure the fence is built strong and secured, we do not want a fence to fall in the street, with a dog,  when the dog jumps up and puts its paws on  it to see the passing cat or other dogs. it seems a common occurrence in the news of people  and animals falling off balcony that were not built well

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We have a one story house with a flat roof enclosed by a low (1 foot high) cement wall. A few years ago we were socializing on our backyard patio with a neighbor who had brought his dog (schnauzer). While we were talking the dog climbed up the stairs leading to the roof and shortly after JUMPED OFF!  Luckily and amazingly, he landed on the grass in a way that didn't cause any broken bones, or any damage.  I speculate that the dog must have heard his master's voice during our conversation and decided to go to him in the fastest way.

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