Car safety - two dogs

[lurchermummy]

Any recommendations for car safety seatbelts/harnesses please, we have two dogs, a lurcher and a JRT. The little one uses a fabric travel crate currently but he's outgrown it. The big one has a car harness with a seatbelt clip on it but the strap is too short and she can't sit properly. Both have to go on back seat of car. Ideally I'd like both to have a harness and be safely clipped in but with freedom to lie down/sit up as wanted. Thanks.

Hammock on the backseat and then plug one into a seatbelt on each side if they get on

@SarahSissions thanks yes that might work

They should be in the boot really with a proper dog guard.
Very few harnesses are properly crash tested and may give way in a crash. Not a risk I would take personally.

You need a metal crate or guard for the boot.

Boot not a good idea, it's a saloon with a very sloping rear window and it gets very hot in there plus my lurcher finds it difficult (and stressful) getting in and out. Would love an estate car but can't afford one atm.

We've got a harness made by RAC, purchased from Halfords, its got a big loop on ot that you feed the seatbelt through (and a couple of clips to use a strap to clip in, I imagine like what you already have), that might work at he will be able to lie down as the loop moves up and down the seat belt...if that makes sense!

I would use a dog seat cover and get a guard to put between the front and back seats as added protection.

Then, harnesses for the dogs plus seatbelts that loop around the headrest so the dogs can't accidentally stand on them and undo them. I got mine off Amazon ☺️

@coffeecupsandfairylights yes I think I'll do that thanks

I use 2 isofix dog seat belts for my dog clipped to his normal harness (ruffwear). He stands, sits, lies fine with them both attached.

Dogs have escaped from cages that have been squashed in a crash.

@RIPWalter do you have a link or brand name to the isofix dog belts please?

I also use isofix clipped to a car harness. Then your seatbelts are available for people.

www.amazon.co.uk/Bingobang-Adjustable-Harness-Reflective-Elastic/dp/B08QKWRBNC/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?adgrpid=132999482145&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPGUBhDwARIsANNwjV4KCGKYKuitDeusuAxJ4mtrXfLJiCLPgH7GPw7nKNcDBBG__ErUv0oaAkQAEALw_wcB&hvadid=583090090534&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9045246&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=12154378292251138643&hvtargid=kwd-1574453659132&hydadcr=291_1865659&keywords=isofix+seat+belt+dog&qid=1654428859&sr=8-9

Thank you! @RIPWalter

Our beagles go in a covered metal crate on the back seats - they can't see out so no barking or sickness, they settle and sleep by the time we are out of our road! I'm always worried about putting dogs in the boot as that's a crumple zone.

@Sagaris thats exactly why my family have never put dogs in the boot. Just wish they'd develop proper safety harnesses that are properly crash tested.

I think currently the ones out there are more designed to stop a dog being thrown about the car, rather than also designing them to keep a dog as free from as much harm as possible.

I'm also astonished that car manufacturers haven't realised what a selling point it is to not only develop such a safety belt but also build them - or safety point fixings - into their cars.

Apparently there are crash tested harnesses available in the US - although how good they actually are, I have no idea. I think current restraints are more designed to protect other car occupants from damage that a loose dog could cause them, rather than protecting the dog. I've actually witnessed a 'working dog' being thrown from the boot part of an estate car in a crash - he survived that, but then panicked and ran across the motorway, and was killed instantly. Probably wouldn't have happened if he'd been restrained in the car.

The problem is there is no requirement for the harnesses sold at the moment to be crash tested. And if they are it's in terms of preventing harm to human passengers rather than preventing harm to the dog. That would be incredibly difficult to do, you'd need a crash test dummy based on a dog (there is one, but again, it's just a solid weight designed to test the dog's potential harm caused as a projectile) and covering all breeds/sizes almost impossible. It's taken decades and decades to get biomechanical crash test dummies of all sizes of human and has been funded by car manufacturers or safety institutes. Nobody is likely to fund it for dogs. Too expensive for the harness manufacturers/animal charities and too niche for car manufacturers.

You could fix a dog harness/crate thing onto isofix mounting points for child seats, whether anyone is designing one I don't know. And now simulation software exists I assume you could design a virtual doggy crash test dummy, but again not sure what the cost is.

The safest place for a dog would arguably be the footwell but I think that's illegal now?

Duh sorry I should have read the whole thread not just the last couple of posts - I see a few people have mentioned isofix fitting dog belts.

Sleepypod do the Clickit Sport and Terrain harnesses which have both passed crash tests using a properly calibrated crash test dummy. You can also find the videos of the specific crash tests for these harnesses and other brands on youtube.

The important thing with crash tested harnesses is to make sure they are only used according to the crash test directions. Any additional tether or extension can lead to failure at either end of the clip. Unfortunately, the more freedom of movement they have, the less safe they are in the event of an accident, as they’re not properly restrained and become a projectile that is then snapped back by the tether, which is dangerous to them and other occupants of the car.

For some reason it cut off my last sentence which did say the second video is hard to watch, as it details some actual cases where dogs have been injured due to using extension tethers.

The new/redesigned Ruffwear Load Up is crash tested and has a loop for the seatbelt to feed through, so they can sit or lie and the seatbelt mechanism itself locks on impact to stop them being thrown forward. No additional clip or tether is needed, so less points of failure.

ruffwear.co.uk/pages/load-up-car-harness-testing-design

Looks reasonable for larger dogs, but the 25lb dog test video was awful, think it would have broken it's neck.

Yes, really horrible RIP!

I think they really need two connection points on the harness: one low, one high.

Sorry, yes. I would think it’s only suitable for the OP’s Lurcher not their JRT.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading/research re car safety for dogs recently, as I am picking up my toy breed puppy in a couple of weeks. (I had Lurchers before.) I didn’t feel any of the crash tested harnesses were suitable for small breeds, for various reasons, but mainly as they just don’t have the advantage of their own weight to prevent them being flipped/thrown around like bigger dogs. I ended up buying an isofix crash tested soft carrier, which was out of stock everywhere in the UK, so I had to order it from America. They used to be EB Jet Set Forma Frame, but have been taken over by Sherpa. The older design needed an additional isofix base to be clipped on, but the new one has the isofix straps built in.

I’m not 100% happy but, after everything I have read and watched, felt it was the best I could do. I was looking at the Sleepypod carriers, which are £££s, but do test well, but they are hard to get in the UK since the pandemic and even with a tiny breed the reviews seemed to say pretty universally that they can be too restrictive and dark for the dog.