To think that's it's bloody dangerous to have a dog "loose" in a moving car?

[MamaMaiasaura]

Just really what the title says. Driving behind a ford ka and dog bounding around back seat and between driver and front passenger seat. Crap driver too. So AIBU?

If you're driving behind a Ford Ka and posting this then YABU

Worra

A young lad went into the back of me at 40mph and wrote my car off outside a school during pick up time because he had a young dog in the car jumping around. He told me at the time he didn't see me stop at the traffic lights because his dog jumped from the back seat into the front so he turned around to calm it down.

I hurt my neck, back, arm, knee & ankle and i'm still suffering two years later!
It was a miracle a child didn't get hurt!

Stupid idiot!

I saw a silly cow a couple of weeks ago driving with the dog on her fecking lap. I was sitting behind her at the lights and it struck me that I could see the dog clearly in the wing mirror. Pulled up beside her at a roundabout and there it was. Dog owners are mostly bonkers.

Presumably if there is an accident dog goes hurtling through the windscreen? I think crates and doggie seat belts should be used. I assume the car smells of dog and is covered in dog hairs too?

YANBU, especially if the dog is moving around.

I'm minding a dog for someone else at the mo, and I have had him loose on the back seat because I don't have a seat belt/dog crate, I have covers for the seats and I don't for the boot shallow but he lies down on the back seat and doesn't distract me.. even so, its not the safest thing to do in case of crashes - I wouldn't use it as a longterm solution.

Shouldn't they be in properly fitted car seats?

Blimey! Never considered it TBH. But he's a calm passenger and prefers to watch out quietly for interesting things like other dogs.

If he sits in the front seat he has to wear a seat belt or the warning alarm beeps the whole journey.

I put the dog in his box in the boot (no parcel shelf) or I have a "thingy" that loops over the seat belt and clips to his harness so he can't jump about loose.

My dog is loose but in the boot bit of my 4X4. I always feel bad if I have to break suddenly and he gets flung about. I know I should have something to put him in - in fact, off to Google.

YANBU
I have my 2 in harnesses that go through the seat belt.
We get told that an unrestrained passenger can kill you in an accident but what about 20kgs (average large breed) of dog at 40mph or faster??

worral.

Posted when sat in car waiting to get ds from preschool. She had dog owners club sticker in her window too. Not great impression of new forest dog owners association.

Dangerous and illegal

OH is a car mechanic. You should never had a do loose in your car in any circumstances because in an accident it could become the loose object that kills you. Ditto a box of tissues on your parcel shelf!

Illegal? Bugger I would have taken her number plate and reported her

I am really funny about not having anything loose in the car. i am aware that shopping on the back seat could come flying over your head in an accident, ditto umbrellas and anything else not strapped in. Put stuff in the boot.

Maybe not the dog though, unless it's a hatchback.

Treblesallround They certainly should, unless they over 12 years old or 1.2 metres in height.

Our dog has always been loose in the car - usually in the boot of a hatchback, sometimes in a foot well. The difference is the dog never jumps around. If the dog has a tendency to jump around then I would either restrain it or not take it in the car.

As with most dog problems - it is more a reflection on the owner than the dog.

As far as I know it is indeed illegal to have an unrestrained dog in the car. Even if the dog doesn't jump around it's still a hazard if you have to break suddenly.

Our dog goes in the boot (estate) with a dog guard. Anywhere near seatbelts and he chews through them in less than 10 seconds.

In the event of an accident a loose dog will be seriously hurt or killed and probably take a passenger or two with them - average family dog like a lab is in excess of 30kg, even at 30mph that'd be enough to kill you.

At the very least they need to be restrained on the back seat with a suitable harness (one that has been tested by the manufacturer to cope with accidents, well padded, adjusted so dog can't wriggle out) and seatbelt restraint - the seatbelt clips/loops can be bought for £2 on eBay.

Ideally they'd be in the boot behind a decent boot guard (a manufacturer's approved one that bolts in, not one of the cheap adjustable ones, they collapse at the drop of a hat) or in a fitted dog cage - again, preferably one that has been crash tested. Look at Lintran, Barjo, Guardsman etc.

Yanbu.

Our dog is always put in a crate in the boot. Anything else with a mad chocolate lab would be madness!

I was told this was illegal when we sought help because our rescue rotwieller wouldnt let us into our small hatch back car He was quite naughty! The ex police dog trainer who was helping us told us that by law, he needed to be in a dog harness - it was not expensive and saved the dog trying to chew my head off every time i got in the car

YANBU.

Any dog, no matter how well behaved could in an emergency situation cause injury and even death.

In the boot or in a harness.

I didn't know it was illegal. Mind you, the amount of wallies who disobey the car seat law and are unchallenged... I won't hold my breath that this one will be enforced either.

We have a metal car crate from Croft. They are lightweight with a metal tray bottom and we cut a piece of vet bed to fit. Would never think of letting our dog travel even a short distance without being stowed away. He can still see out of the back window.