Options for securing dog in the car.

nicol

Hi,

We have a 12 week old golden retriever pup. We currently use a small pet carrier when we are transporting her in the car. She's beginning to outgrow this option so I'd like to hear how other safely transport similarly sized dogs. I need options that will do long term. We have a Ford galaxy with one of the rear seats removed so there's plenty of space.

Thanks in advance!

cruais

you could buy an animal seat belt. it connects from the dogs harness into the car seat.

tk123

I have 2 GR's and they have car harnesses clipped in place as well as a guard to contain them in the boot. Be very careful using a walking harness as most of them aren't suitable for car use. You need something with a chest plate to protect the dog from impact - an aldi/lidl one might suit a small dog/pup but not a full sized retriever.

My older guy has a Bergan Harness and the younger one has an old Clix one that I'll be replacing once she grows out of it. The Bergan one is MUCH better than the clix one but for a pup like yours I'd go for something cheaper like the clix as it won't last long but will provide enough cover for the time being because she's small. .. In my old car I used to just clip the harnesses to the cargo hooks/loops but the new car has loops on the back of the back seats for baby seats so I have the harnesses clipped to them... The Bergan one has a strap with carabiners/clips on either end and for the other one I just bought a carabiner in a camping shop for the other harness and no problems. You can get straps too that will clip to the harness and plug/attach to the seat belt. or even use a bungee strap.

Don't buy a harness in a pet shop either - try it for size and buy on amazon for half the price! A

KittyKat76

I use the Outward Hound Deluxe Pet Lookout Car Booster Seat for my two dogs. Works a treat and its only €19.99 now. Getting a window vent can be a good idea aswell for your dogs on long journeys.

tk123

KittyKat76 wrote: »

I use the Outward Hound Deluxe Pet Lookout Car Booster Seat for my two dogs. Works a treat and its only €19.99 now. Getting a window vent can be a good idea aswell for your dogs on long journeys.

The OP has a golden retriever so would need a fairly big booster seat! :pac:

McShe

A harness that you can click in like a seatbelt or clip on works really well but you'd probably end up having to get 2 given your pup is still growing. I've one (that I will be selling) which would fit from when she's about 6 months upwards but you'd probably need to get a medium size while she's the size she is now. They're a great solution though. We used ours in the boot of a Ford SMax.

Cocolola

I travel from Galway to Limerick and back a couple of times a month with the mutt and he's a pain to travel with. Currently I have him in a crap walking harness (I know) which is clipped onto a strap tied to the roof handles. He kept getting knotted when he was clipped into the seatbelt clip.

He's always trying to get into the front, he gets quite anxious in the car and only settles if he can sit on somebodies lap in the passenger seat, which we don't really allow of course, way too dangerous. So I've been thinking of getting a big soft crate for the backseats in the hope that as well as confining him, it might settle him a bit better to have a cosy den. Anyone have any experiences of using soft crates?

But I'm just after doing a bit of Googling and it would seem that pretty much all the methods people use to secure dogs in cars fail when crash tested

There's a report here from the Centre for Pet Safety on harnesses.

A video in German showing harness and plastic crate crash tests.

Apparently there's only one approved crate that passed crash tests (Variocage) but it's over $700 so a teeny bit out of my budget :eek: And the best harness, Sleepypod ClikIt starts at around €135 so also out of my reach.

tk123

Cocolola wrote: »

Anyone have any experiences of using soft crates?
.

I'd recommend getting one from pet planet. They're well made and cheap - so if the dog wrecks it it won't be the end of the world. Lucy jumped through ours and ripped an big X in it - it was like in Gladiators where they jump through the paper at the end :pac: Apart from that incident Bailey sleeps in it and loves it! (And we don't need to close it for him so the damage is hidden lol!

Cocolola

tk123 wrote: »

I'd recommend getting one from pet planet. They're well made and cheap - so if the dog wrecks it it won't be the end of the world. Lucy jumped through ours and ripped an big X in it - it was like in Gladiators where they jump through the paper at the end :pac: Apart from that incident Bailey sleeps in it and loves it! (And we don't need to close it for him so the damage is hidden lol!

Lol, great mental picture of Lucy doing that

Cheers I'll give them a look.

Joeseph Balls

Cheap and cheerful...

carav10

Having been involved in two bad accidents with my dogs in the car, I would only recommend a crate. It protects them from other items flying around and protects passengers from flying cannonballs.
A harness doesn't protect them from other loose items and won't protect them from whiplash like injuries.
I had been using one of the collapsible crates and this protected them in both although was dented. Now I have a purpose built crate with rear escape hatches in case a rear end prevents the boot being opened.
And for anyone who does not currently secure their dog in any way, please do. Mine would probably not have survived the second crash if it wasn't for being in a crate.

ABajaninCork

I have a car harness made with seat belt webbing which the dog's had since a puppy. It's the only harness His Highness can't slip!

I forget the name, but I got it at Petstop for a reasonable price and it has different sizes, so I'm sure one could fit your Retriever.