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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Travelling in the car

23 replies

anniebear71 · 20/05/2015 18:18

, have a new puppy and up to now just put her crate into our boot. It's a pain though as the lip of the boot is too high and I can't open the crate door!

Going on holiday in August and don't really want to have to buy a roof box. I was wondering if just to get a special car strap so she could sit on the back seat between my 2 daughters, but one has special needs and might not cope if the puppy is still nipping then. Plus the poppy might not just be happy sitting there.
I had looked at the dog booster seats which they sit in , does anyone have one? I presume it's not going to fit onto the back seat with 2 teenagers??
Thanks for any advice

OP posts:
hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 20/05/2015 18:29

You can get harnesses that attach to the seat belt.

We put some blocks under the crate in the boot to raise it up enough to stop the crate door catching on the lip of the boot.

Original poster
anniebear71 · 20/05/2015 22:39

ThAnks x

OP posts:
basildonbond · 21/05/2015 06:44

We've not found an escape-proof harness - we tried three and Ddog could get out of them in seconds so he's back in his crate in the boot

The good thing is long car journeys act like sleeping pills for him - we drove from London to Scotland last year and he was as good as gold

TooBusyByHalf · 21/05/2015 08:55

When the car is really full Ddog goes by the feet of the people sitting in the back. Dogs are good at squeezing into too small spaces, and kids too. She just lies down after a short while. We've never used a harness or crate in the car.

HemanOrSheRa · 21/05/2015 09:04

We've got a harness with an attachment that clips to the harness and then fastens into the seatbelt clip thingummy.

Floralnomad · 21/05/2015 10:08

Mine sits on the seat with a harness ,he's never escaped but he doesn't try to he has always loved the car

Owllady · 21/05/2015 10:30

One of my dogs used to like sitting/sleeping in the footwell of the passenger side.

Collaborate · 21/05/2015 10:38

Beware of the possibility that pup might chew through the webbing of the belt that clips in to the buckle. WE've just bought roof bars (£40 eBay) and roof box (£139 Tesco), so 6th pup now has the boot to herself. She's no distraction there, but if she were on the back seat I'd just know there wouldn't be a moments peace.

SonceyD0g · 21/05/2015 12:31

Dogs generally happier travelling in the boot. Once she is a grown up you prob won't need a crate just a dog guard. Have you looked at the canvas crates they take up less space and unzip for easier access.

LetThereBeCupcakes · 21/05/2015 12:33

How about putting your DDaughter in the front of the car, and you sit in the back with pup and other DDaughter?

Long term though, I'd really recomend something like a dog pod. What sort of car do you have?

Collaborate · 21/05/2015 13:03

Canvas crates come with a warning not to use them if your dog's a chewer.

basildonbond · 21/05/2015 13:44

We now have a maelson soft crate which goes in the boot and ddog can sleep in it when we go on holiday ... it takes up a lot of space though, we're ok as our car has a ginormous boot but for most cars you probably wouldn't have much boot space left ...

Fudgeface123 · 21/05/2015 14:04

Dogs should always be fastened in or crated during car journeys, you wouldn't not restraint a child so why wouldn't you restrain a dog

tomatodizzymum · 21/05/2015 14:28

I did a lot of research as dog car harnesses are not safety tested and most will be less safe than a crate and dogs can escape. Eventually I found the Bergen Harness, one of the only ones that's actually safety tested and our dog never escapes (actually he sleeps on the floor) supposed to be used on the seat but we have no spare seat to accomodate him (big smelly labrador) so we hook it to the isofix in our people carrier or in the truckbed (covered) of the farm pick-up and it works just as well. Where we live the fines for an unrestrained dog are high, and the police were happy with the security of the harness when they saw it.

TheHappinessTrap · 21/05/2015 17:36

I thought insurance policies would be voided if you couldn't prove your dog doesn't cause the accident by moving about the car, hence harnesses, bars, etc.

SistersofPercy · 21/05/2015 23:17

We use an RAC harness which the seatbelt passes through. I have used the cheap one that clips into the seatbelt directly before but stopped for two reasons, one I read they are very unsafe as there is no give in the lead in an accident so will probably kill the dog anyway and two, they actually broke one of the rear belt clips in our old car as it jammed.

Original poster
anniebear71 · 23/05/2015 08:16

Thanks everyone, got a Nissan note. Boot not that big, might hav struggled for space without puppy. And just though she will need her crate to sleep in at night anyway

Problem if I sit in the back with puppy...who drives ??????

I had just thought of harness in the back whilst on holiday so my other daughter can have the pup next to her.
All other times she can go in the boot (the pup, not the daughter !!!)

OP posts:
Collaborate · 23/05/2015 09:13

I've a mondeo. Pup goes in the boot. We now have a roof rack. It's perfect.

tomatodizzymum · 23/05/2015 14:40

I'm sorry, I am one of those car safety geeks. But when looking for a harness look for very very thick straps and not one that has a single plastic buckle (as these do not maintain the force of a crash). A safety tested one is the best option, although they are pretty expensive. Our Bergan one has a padded chest plate and is double clipped with reinforced clips. We use it on the seat and in the boot and like I said, even in the truck bed. I would recommend something pretty sturdy, a dog inside a crate can become over a 1000 kg of projectile in a crash, no one in the seats in front will survive, let alone the dog. It's worth investing in a very good harness!

Geek bit over! Blush

basildonbond · 23/05/2015 17:36

Unfortunately the Bergan is really easy to get out of Hmm - it takes about 5 seconds of wriggling for Ddog to be free so we could only use it when someone was sitting next to him- so effectively useless when driving somewhere on my own...

tomatodizzymum · 23/05/2015 17:55

basildonbond perhaps you have the wrong size? We got two sizes as Ddog is still a puppy. He is still in the medium. He's 6 months now so I tried the large and it came off his shoulders, so back the the medium which fits perfectly for now.

basildonbond · 23/05/2015 18:53

Nope definitely the right size - he was fine with it for the first few months but then foolishly left him in the car on his own for 5 mins when I went to pick up dd from a friend's - came back and he was in the driver's seat! After that he decided it was fun to wriggle out of - even doing it up really tightly only slowed him down by a matter of seconds ... So we've given up and he's back in a crate

tomatodizzymum · 23/05/2015 19:03

Luckily Ddog is the laziest bum in the universe, gets in the car and just flops and farts Grin

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