4 hour drive to bring pup home..

[Jinnybean]

Our girl is coming home in 2 weeks. We are SO excited. We drove to see her today and it took 4 hours to get there. We’ve stayed over in a local seaside area and will drive back tomorrow. But obviously it will be 4 hours home when we pick her up. I have a wash basket I’m
Going to use and sit in the back with her. What sort of things do I need to bring? What about if she needs the toilet?

Thank you!

Pic for attention ;)

Thanks for the previous message that I had missed re Volvo guard, we do have a Volvo estate, we had a metal guard on the last one but this one has the Volvo netting. I will talk to DH about what we do. We do have a crate but it takes up almost all the boot.
Anyway very glad to have read this.

There's always a risk with dogs travelling in the car.

Personally I hate seeing dog in boots as unless they're in an (expensive) crash tested crate, if something ploughs into the back of you, the rear end of your car is going to get crushed and your dogs will stand no chance.

I'm a dog walker and all dogs travel in the back seat of the car. I have covers down to protect the interior, and they travel in harnesses attached to seatbelts which go over the headrests. I have a metal grate to stop them getting into the front seat/drivers area for added safety.

I am happy to use crash-tested crates in the boot as well, but I'd never put a dog loose in the boot unless there was a proper dog guard in place.

It's been illegal for dogs to ride loose in cars for years though generally the police don't do anything. I regularly see people driving along with their dog sat on their knee!

My friend has a nice puppy bed/ box with a harness that fits with the seatbelt. Very secure and safe and means the dog is comfy.

We left our crate with the breeders for a week so it smelled familiar, and they gave us a used bedding towel to line it with.
We still use the crate for journeys over an hour because it shuts down outside stimuli and Ddog stays calm. On the last journey it was just me and him- not a peep!
Otherwise we have the harness and seatbelt for local trips.

BTW our dog is a mini Schnauzer and the crate fills more than half the back seat. A crate for a GR must be huge!

@icedcoffees

There's always a risk with dogs travelling in the car.

Personally I hate seeing dog in boots as unless they're in an (expensive) crash tested crate, if something ploughs into the back of you, the rear end of your car is going to get crushed and your dogs will stand no chance.

I'm a dog walker and all dogs travel in the back seat of the car. I have covers down to protect the interior, and they travel in harnesses attached to seatbelts which go over the headrests. I have a metal grate to stop them getting into the front seat/drivers area for added safety.

I am happy to use crash-tested crates in the boot as well, but I'd never put a dog loose in the boot unless there was a proper dog guard in place.

It's been illegal for dogs to ride loose in cars for years though generally the police don't do anything. I regularly see people driving along with their dog sat on their knee!

I will have a think about a crash tested crate, this was my big fear, as in the crash (when ddog was thankfully at home with me) the crate we have would have been completely crushed and possibly caused more damage to dog than without it.

As long as its a genuine Volvo mesh cargo net it should be sufficient depending on how big a breed you have.

Check that its suitable for your model and year of car too. Fitted correctly with the clips to the fixing points. Speak to your Volvo garage before changing it for a metal one. You can get metal ones on ebay just check year and model match yours.

Volvo cargo nets are wire reinforced so not normal netting. Also the back seats are reinforced to stop cargo moving.

I've had a few Volvos

Sorry, pressed send too soon. When I brought our pup home (over 4 hours) I layered the crate with puppy pads then a towel.

Had about four layers, if he'd had an accident I could scoop out one layer and bag it without having to stop.

Our pup slept nearly all the way home, little cry until the end of the road then fine. We had to stop for toilet stop but he was fine.

Yes to straight out to the garden when you get home.

hedgesgalore thank you so much, I am sure it is the Volvo net guard, but I will double check and speak to the garage and chat to DH about what to do. What do you think is the safest option ?
I want dog to be safe , (and passengers too obviously.)

@SirVixofVixHall TransK9 do crash-tested crates. They're not cheap but you can sometimes pick them up second-hand from their website.

Thank you I will go and look.

@SirVixofVixHall the safest option will depend on the size of your breed.

My pup is a small breed so he travels in a crate in the boot, fixed to the Volvo fittings. I have the old shape XC90 with the mesh cargo net up. When he is fully grown I'm going to get him a crash tested crate. We also have a V90 CC with a metal dog guard we still use the crate, but mainly he's in my car.

If your dog is too big for a crate Volvo do a metal divide and tailgate guard so you can still open the tailgate without the dog getting out. Probably get these on ebay have never looked as I have always had a crate. Dh bought a metal guard for his old shape XC60 from ebay so these bits are out there.

@SirVixofVixHall - our car came with a net guard. Pup managed to climb round it onto back seat when small - luckily whilst sat on the driveway! I think she'd probably be too big already now, but we've got a car specific metal guard now instead.

Thank you all! Going to get a crash tested crate for the back once she’s home but for now Iv ordered the seatbelt thing to come home in. We go on a lot of trips and having 3 kids in the car she can’t go in the back but when we pick her up and in the day it will just be me and my husband so she can go on the back seat.

If you're intending to come home using the seatbelt restraint with a harness I'd seriously consider sending the harness to the breeder to see if she can get pup used to it. Our crash tested car harness is not easy to put on and not easy to adjust and I wouldn't have wanted to risk having to try and wrestle pup into it to come home.

tizwozliz which harness do you have ?

@SirVixofVixHall For the car it's a Kurgo Tru Fit harness, I bought it second hand as knew the size we needed wasn't going to last very long. We didn't use it to bring pup home.

We do a mix of boot travel and back seat travel. Personally I'm comfortable having mine in the back of the estate car without being in a crash tested crate. If I only had a hatchback I'd be looking at different options

Mine travels in the 4x4 boot in a crate. It never occurred to me if it was crash tested or not

Will be checking that out later today. I know it doesn’t move much though as so much stuff is in my boot which hopefully will stop crate sliding around in an accident.

My dog either goes in a crate secured by seatbelts or is clipped onto an isofix harness. He's not very big but the crate doesn't leave much room for people

[quote tizwozliz]@SirVixofVixHall For the car it's a Kurgo Tru Fit harness, I bought it second hand as knew the size we needed wasn't going to last very long. We didn't use it to bring pup home.

We do a mix of boot travel and back seat travel. Personally I'm comfortable having mine in the back of the estate car without being in a crash tested crate. If I only had a hatchback I'd be looking at different options[/quote]
Thank you.
I have a medium sized dog, 15kg .

Will be checking that out later today. I know it doesn’t move much though as so much stuff is in my boot which hopefully will stop crate sliding around in an accident.

It's not so much about it moving, more if someone collides with the back of your car, the sides of the crate could buckle and your dog could be crushed.

Hello. It is not a legal requirement at all to have a dog in a crate or in a harness in a car. Your dog is required to be suitably restrained and must not cause a distraction to the driver. This could be either in a harness or in a crate but could equally be in the boot with a dog guard up or sat in the footwell . As long as the dog is not causing a distraction it is legal. However I would not recommend using a wash basket.

This could be either in a harness or in a crate but could equally be in the boot with a dog guard up or sat in the footwell

A dog sat in the footwell is not suitably restrained and if you get into an accident, you may well find your insurance doesn't pay out - they'll argue the dog caused a distraction by not being restrained correctly.

I had a crash last summer with my dog in the car - the fact that he was suitably restrained (harness and seatbelt) saved his life.

@icedcoffees

Will be checking that out later today. I know it doesn’t move much though as so much stuff is in my boot which hopefully will stop crate sliding around in an accident.

It's not so much about it moving, more if someone collides with the back of your car, the sides of the crate could buckle and your dog could be crushed.

Yes I know that’s what’s now worried me. So will be going tomorrow to the local pet shop & check out alternatives.

@makingmyway10

Hello. It is not a legal requirement at all to have a dog in a crate or in a harness in a car. Your dog is required to be suitably restrained and must not cause a distraction to the driver. This could be either in a harness or in a crate but could equally be in the boot with a dog guard up or sat in the footwell . As long as the dog is not causing a distraction it is legal. However I would not recommend using a wash basket.

How is sitting in the footwell being suitably restrained?