Car travel crate, guard or other?

[flooredbored]

All going well I should be getting a smooth collie pup in 6 weeks or so. So starting to think about travel arrangements. We have a fiat 500L mpw which is a small 7 seater. Our two children sit in the middle row. One is still in ERF seat so the row has to be pushed pretty far back. Looking at the travel crates the 36inch seem to be the biggest we could fit. Would this be big enough for a smooth collie? The boot is fairly large but ideally we would rather not give the entire boot over to the dog when older with just a dog guard. (I understand as a puppy they would be best contained in a crate.) I was considering whether it would work better to put the third row up and get a hammock for the dog and restraint so leaving some boot space. Although I think if I did that I would still want a guard between second and third row so not sure how practical that would be. Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully received.

[Haberpop]

I would always go for something that is crash tested for the safety of the dog and the passengers. I had a border collie and a sprocker in one of these in the back of my Fiesta but they also do harnesses and dog tailgates that might be worth considering.

[SlothMama]

I second the safe dog crates, they are pricey but very sturdy.

[ThisIsTheFirstStep]

I think a crate is definitely the best way, none of the other restraints passed safety tests (I believe there is one seatbelt that passed).

We loop a seatbelt through the handle of ours so that it is totally secure.

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

We are also getting a smooth collie pup in a few weeks (five for us). When she’s little she’ll be going in a large airline travel crate kept in place on the back seat with seatbelt.

We have an adult dog who’s currently in a crate in the boot but won’t have room for two crates in the boot when she’s got too big for her puppy one. So we’re going to have to have a dog guard/safety harness combination (still working on the details). Our older dog is a complete Houdini and managed to wriggle out of his expensive, crash-tested harness in seconds

[flooredbored]

Thank you all for your replies. Lots to research and think about.

Haberpop could you tell me which size crate you had in your fiesta please?

Noitsnot do you think 36 inch would be big enough for a smooth? I've seen conflicting advice some say it would be fine others recommend 42 inch. We are getting a bitch so in theory will be on the smaller side.

[Haberpop]

The single large hatchback size.

[Whitney168]

How exciting, are you both new Smooth owners noitsnotteatimeyet and flooredbored? What colour? Dog/bitch? Who are you getting your pups from? Are you going to have a go at showing them?

Yes, I would say a 36 inch crate would be fine for a Smooth (unless a particularly big male), will certainly do you well to start a puppy off at any rate. Dogs actually tend to travel better a bit restricted, to be honest - our logic wants to give them room, but they seem more comfortable with less.

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

New smooth owner, Whitney168 but not a new dog owner as we have a lovely 4-year-old Toller. Ours is a tri-colour bitch from Foxearth. We probably won’t show her as she’s got a small patch of white on her back - apparently her sire had the same marking as a puppy but his faded and blended into the rest of his coat as an adult so it may fade but may not! We’re hoping to do agility with her (and just have fun with her too... our Toller is a very gentle boy who much prefers female dogs so I’m hoping she will be compatible with him. Both her parents have a lovely temperament and she seems to be a very happy little puppy

[Whitney168]

Great news, a lovely breed that needs more new owners, and stars at agility and obedience work. Trevor is such a nice man, too, so a great place to start - am sure she'll be a lovely dog.

[noitsnotteatimeyet]

Here she is

[Whitney168]

What a sweetie - what are you going to call her?