Car harnesses for dogs

[BigBookOfNonsense]

I'm getting a company car soon, and as it's branded and the boss is a dog person I have to abide by the letter and spirit of the law and best practice and... you get the picture. Best practice only.

On the very few occasions that the dog has gone in a car (I don't have one of my own), he's become accustomed to sitting on the front passenger seat, unrestrained, ideally on someone's lap As I will also sometimes have to transport bulky items I can't have him in the back seats, and as he is a rescue that was not crate trained as a youngster I'm not sure he'd cope with a crate or boot guard. I'm hoping that having him in a harness on the front seat will be appropriately compliant.

Does anyone know where to find a good quality car harness for a small breed dog? I feel like I need an AllAboutDogFood for car harnesses, as I have no idea what I should be looking for / which brands have a good reputation.

You can find appropriate, legal restraints for dogs in PAH or Halfords.

Unfortunately Pets at Home and Halfords are both notorious in certain circles (small furry owners, cyclists) for giving out awful advice and selling substandard products to the unknowledgeable, so I'm not really keen on going there as I know what will happen!

Does anyone know any specific brands of car harness?

The company of animals (the ones who make the Halti) make a good car safe harness. You can also buy one from Dogs Trust, no idea what brand they use but, have had three dogs using them for years now.

It depends whether you want a harness to just restrain or a harness that is approved to safety standards for crashes . I have an RAC harness which restrains but I doubt it meets current crash safety standards as it’s pretty old . I doubt people in Halfords are dog experts however I must add that lots of their cycle centre staff are extremely knowledgeable and helpful .

If you put crash tested dog harness into google it’ll bring up the few that are.

There’s very few harnesses that have been crash tested and passed. I’ve got a sleepypod harness, but it was eye-wateringly expensive. Worth it though, as in the event of a crash, I know the dog is going to be secure, and most importantly, won’t hit me in the back of the head and kill me!

I use a crate in the boot for several of my dogwalking clients who were rescues or who didn't get crate trained as pups. Only one sulks about it - but she's still not going in the front passenger seat as she is quite big and an inveterate mud wallower!

We have this one.

It clicks directly into the seat belt socket. The Springer seems comfy enough in it.