Advice please - car restraints

[TwitterTwatterofTinyMinds]

Hello there. We will be stepping into the world of dog ownership in March, when we collect our goldendoodle puppy.

I wondered if people had any advice on the best way to restrain a dog in the car? The dog will be coming into work with me most days, so will be a regular traveler, so want to make sure he has a solution which is safe and comfortable for him. I have seen crates which go in the boot of the car, but have also seen 'harnesses' which work with seat belts. DO you have any experience of either, and which have you found best.

Thanks in advance!

Ours sits on the backseat in a seatbelt - it's absolutely fine but you do need to make sure the seatbelt is fairly short so they can't access the front seats. Make sure you use a harness and not a collar, though :)

We use a small travel crate, it was actually our puppy crate before he grew! He’s very happy and always just goes to sleep as soon as he goes in there.

Thank you - so one vote each! I suspect while he's little we may go with a crate, to bring him home in at least, but once he's big enough for a harness will check out the seat belt option as I like the idea of him being in with the 'gang' in the car.

Mine travels in a bed on the seat with a harness.

I would rather she was in the boot but she just climbed over 🙄

Mainly when they are covered in mud or the occasional time when the car is full so there isn't enough seatbelts to go around (we anchor it by tying it elsewhere but not ideal).

In the Mini we clip a bungee seatbelt adapter to the back of her harness. That way I can choose whether she goes in the front or back seat and which side. I like this but my car is filthy, even with towels down.

In the big family car she goes in the front passenger footwell or clipped to a metal ring in the boot but I don't like this as she sometimes gets up and tangles her lead in her legs. I need an alternative but not sure what. She's big already and I have to lift her in as it's high.

I would add the advantage of the crate is no matter how muddy he is my car stays clean! We have towels in the base of the crate which I just put in the wash when we're home

We have a harness and a seatbelt. We had a travel crate/box type thing but she had outgrown it within weeks. She likes to lie down on the back seat so the harness lets her do that. We were worried that she'd hop on to the floor of the back seat and get stuck down there so we bought a cover that clips on to the front and rear headrests and covers the floor gap so she needs to stay on the seat.

Collie sized dog - his crate is too big.
He was in the boot behind a grille, but he kept busting through to sit with the kids.
So now he's in a harness with a seat belt connector, from Halfords for a tenner.
It works well, especially when he gets a bit freaked out by cattle grids, but the back seat and the kids are FILTHY

we have a harness with a long strap that you can put the seatbelt through and then secure. Used in conjunction with a dog hammock! ....heavy duty canvas with loops to go over front and back headrests, and protects the car seats too. Also means he cannot fall down the gap between the front and back seats.

He was in the boot, but doesn't like being that far away, and there's too much space, plus if lying down he could not see out the windows. So the back seat is much nicer for him.

He does have a crate in the house that he quite likes but it's really not big enough for him so I would not want him to use that for any length of time.

Worth bearing in mind that the dog travel harnesses & crates don't have to meet any safety standards so while will likely work for restricting movement, can totally fail in a crash odd really given puts the occupants at risk. There's only a couple of harnesses on market that have attempted to work to restraint standards & happy to show the crash tests. In UK when i looked while back was Sleepypod clickit, ruffwear load-up & Ezy-dog drive but maybe more since.

These crash test videos are disturbing but give you an idea of outcomes.
www.centerforpetsafety.org/test-results/harnesses/2013-harness-crash-test-videos/

In many cars the boot is a crumple zone which may effect dog in a crate, also need to consider access if rear ended, does the crate have an alternative access from inside vehicle to get dog out. I prefer crates as less restricting for dog and had a heavy duty car crate by barjo in past, it does limit boot usage although most stuff I could put inside an empty cage. They are expensive new but is a good secondhand market when people change vehicles. There's also guard combos can get for behind seats/boot hatch which be better use of space than a crate but dogs do escape out of broken windows in a crash so personally would go for designs that also cover them.

We drive a van so puppy is crated in the back. Lots of space as she grows (giant breed).

Our miniature dachshund has a dog car seat (essentially a box that is held in with the seatbelt) she wears a harness and is strapped into it. She can lay down and sleep. Recommend seat/box for a small dog.
We also have a car seat cover from Aldi (it's like a big car mat) that slots over the headrest. We use this with a harness and seatbelt clip for our larger dog, or they go in the back of our 4x4, loose in the back but there is a dog guard and it divides the boot into two.

In my car he goes on the back seat with a harness. I have covers for the seats, despite having them my seats are filthy!
In DH car he goes in the boot.

We use a crate. I tried a dog seat belt strap connected to the harness. Never again - it cost hundreds to replace the seat belt column as it got totally stuck and wouldn't release. The garage said they see it often and are always warning against them.

Thank you all - lots to ponder! Maybe I'll just have to buy a bigger car to have room for a crate (any excuse!)

Our friends have a soft crate which is easy to pop up and down on the boot rather than a metal one.

When my girl was a puppy I bought a puppy booster seat which was brilliant but now she's grown a fair bit it's too small as she can tread on the edges which I don't feel is safe. I have just ordered a seat protector cover and a seatbelt clip that will fit onto her harness so she can just sit on the seat.

We use a crate then its no issue if she is muddy or wet, she is quite content and sees it as her den to sleep in.

an unrestrained dog can get you into issues with the insurance in case of an accident and cause death or injury.
safest for dog and passengers is a crate in the footwell or a special transport cage in the boot. plastic or wire cages in the boot are not safe enough in a crash. harnesses can cause the dog great harm.

Ours go in the hatch boot wearing harnesses that clip in. Tbh if there was an accident they'd still get hurt but at least they wouldn't be flung forwards onto us or through the windscreen.

I initially used a harness which plugged into the seatbelt holder. Smartass pup figured out how to press and release. So now he rides in the boot behind a pet shield on a comfy bed.

Ours go in the boot with restraints that clip to rings on the back of the seats. We have a guard to stop them climbing over although they don't really try now.
In our old car they sat on the back seats with seatbelt clips but they ruined the fabric and the drooling of one dog permanently stained the inside of the door.