Safe car travel

[woofwoofbowwow]

I have a 9wo golden retriever puppy.

Every time we go in the car and she's in the carrier, bar her first trip home, she whines then poops. So for a quick (2min) journey today DH drove and I had her on my lap - no poop, all fine.

Obviously that is not safe and also she won't fit on there forever! I get that it's early days but I'm looking for a solution that is the least stress for her.

What are people's opinions on car harnesses? She will outgrow the carrier soon anyway and I don't mind buying an interim puppy sized harness.

We have two cars and a bigger crates will never fit in my little car anyway, but we could just use DH car if we take the dog out.

I'm just reading conflicting views on forums. I'm wondering if you dog lovers here have any advice. TIA.

We use special seat belts for our 2 adult Labradors. They attach easily to their collars and they both sit or lie down comfortably on the back seat of the car.

Current UK legislation states that all dogs must be suitably restrained whilst travelling.

@Marthaandthemuffins what make are you using ?

Just off Amazon, less than £10.00 if I remember.

You can alter the length too, otherwise our dogs would probably try to climb onto the front seat!

I did read that collars and a ddog seat belt are a death trap - jolt =snapped neck!! . We use harness and belts.

Please please don't attach a seatbelt to a collar.

If you get into a crash and your dog flies forward, they will break their neck.

We use the Amazon cheapy seatbelt attachments with a harness as well.

Only do a journey after a wee & poop initially and keep it short literally 5mins round the block every day for a week then build it up from there

We used a crate on the back seat which is now in the boot, dog travels amazing

Kurgo, Ruffwear, Ezydog and Carsafe all do crash tested harnesses. It’s important to only use them as per the instructions though, as if you attach them to a non tested tether or seatbelt clip, they’re not as safe and some of the cheaper tethers have been known to fail.

The Ruffwear one can’t be used for walking them, only for for attaching them to the seatbelt, which is a pain, because it’s a really good quality, multi-adjustable harness.

You can find the crash test videos for some of them on YouTube and it is really sobering to watch.

I’ve just done a lot of reading up on crash tested options for dogs in cars. My new puppy is going too be a toy breed and a lot of reviews said the harnesses are a bit big on toy breed puppies, so in the end we went for a crash tested soft crate/carrier that I had researched and seen the crash test videos for.

We have the belts that go round the headrests. Only ever attach to harness, never a collar. If you want to restrain more then you can also use a clip that goes into the belt clip then onto harness aswell.

We have a car seat at the moment, we used it for our little dog and now use it for our puppy, he's a bit big for it but seems to like to sit in it

I actually had no idea that normal harnesses were no good. At the moment I wouldn't feel safe changing over harnesses in the car with a big puppy but is that what people usually do?

My friend has the dad and mum of my pup and they are 30 kg and 50kg. She just uses the headrest attachments on the seats. I am thinking a boot crate would be better?

I really wouldn't have a 50kg dog on the back seat with just a doggy seatbelt for restraint.

Definitely get a crash tested crate.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking, I always assumed they should be in a proper restraint. He is only around 15kish at the moment so still small.

Pressed send too soon on my previous post.

@TranquilBlue Please do check the Ruffwear website if you’re still using that harness. They recalled one of their crash tested harnesses as the buckles kept coming undone.

@Hippopotamus1 thank you, but I decided against the Ruffwear one for when my pup is older, as you can’t attach a lead to it to get them to and from the car, which seems ridiculous.

Iirc, it was the previous version that was recalled and the newer one has been designed to address the issue. I do think they’re more attractive than some of the alternatives, but very expensive for a harness that can only be used as a car restraint and you have to attach a lead to their collar to get them to and from the car.

We have a crash-tested crate too. Cost a fortune but we've been using it for eight years now and DDog loves it.

We use the Ruffwear one. I would recommend it - PP mentioned it is not a walking harness - it is not, but it is perfectly fine to leave on for a short "walk" on a long journey break for example. (We clip the lead to our dog's collar so the harness is just left on for convenience and our dog is not bothered by it).