Need a back seat car harness for our little guy...any safe options made for Corgis?

Last week I had to take 17.7 pound puppy, Izzy to the vet clinic for his final rattlesnake booster.  I had to resort to using my own car, and corralled Izzy inside a large rabbit cage turned on its side.  This system worked, but was far from perfect, even though Izzy was a champ. As the pup grows this is obviously not gonna work.

I have measured wire crates, but I can not find one that will fit through the "sculpy configuration" (narrowed opening/entry) to the wide back seat in my sedan.  Car also has bucket seats in back, but they are not very deep.  A crate can only be a max of 16" wide to fit through the rear door, as the back doors also do not fully open (a full 90 degrees).  If the cage is tall and long, it must be quite narrow to get through the back doors. If long, crate will hit the door. Once in, there is all the room in the world. 

Soooo,...I am trying to find a dog harness that is easy, and SAFE, to use.  I will add a hammock seat cover across the entire back.  I notice that most harnesses are not safety-rated.  My rear seat belts have a very "smooth release", and do not easily "catch", if not jerked hard, which might allow too much movement of dawg?  Do direct-to-buckle tether straps work?  Universal? Some tethers don't even have a swivel on the strap.

Any suggestions for a good harness?  Frustrated here.  Don't have a Soccer Mom Car.

Help? 

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We travel cross Country with our 3 dogs.  For my Corgi I have a strap ( seat  belt material ) that attaches where the seat belt would buckle in.  I attach this to his Ipuppyone Airmesh harness.  I have a seat cover for pets, like you describe, bought fairly inexpensively from Pep Boys Auto Parts.  He fits just fine in the bucket seat of our van.  So far we've made the 1,700 mile trip seven times and have been satisfied with the arrangement.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/301096005864?lpid=82

The link is for illustration purposes only, you may find a better price :-)

Thanks, Anna, for your comments and link to the Ipuppyone Airmesh harness.  The product looks adjustable and comfy for your Corgi.  Your strap/tether has a steel end/insert that slips into the "female end" of the seat belt buckle?  (Sorry, for the lame description.)     Where did you buy the "tether", if it has a steel flange/end.  

As you have had extensive mileage using this arrangement (whew!), this is certainly a good testimonial for the product.   Will the plastic harness buckles hold up, if you have to dog (a pun almost?)  your brakes?  

Thanks again....

Randi, the strap is as you describe it.  I bought it at PetsMart as a set which included a harness, but the harness, though sturdy, would come off because of the Corgi shape, so I decided to use the IPuppyone.  It is adjustable and the air mesh not too hot.  I have had no problem with the plastic buckles> I've had extensive camping/backpacking experience and have grown to trust them in a good brand.  Some of the cheap pot metal is worse, giving a false sense of strength....  Under normal driving conditions, including a sudden short stop, we've not had a problem.  Of course a smooth driver is appreciated by me and the the dogs   :-D

BTW I only use the harness in the car, when walked (even at rest stops) I hook into his collar.  One must be diligent in not hooking the car strap to the collar, that could break the dog's neck on impact or do damage even in a hard breaking situation.

Thanks, very much, Anna,... for the additional info on the fit & buckles of IPuppyone. I agree that some metal can be weaker than plastics, depending on the makeup of the product.  It's difficult to buy strong horse snaps anymore, because most are now of Chinese origin, and made of very poor alloys.  Easy to break these, and causes bad habits (pulling) in equines (plastic snaps don't work with horses, sigh).     Happy, to hear that your harness did not come apart during a sudden stop.

Greatly appreciated the comment about the fit of the IPuppyone, as Corgis do seem to be built a little different from some hounds. We get very hot where we live, so the air mesh fabric sounds great.

I would never consider restraining a dog in a moving car using a collar. Yikes!

BTW Mowgli uses a Large.  He weighs around 24 Lbs.  It fits him just right, so if your Corgi is bigger, I would consider the next size up.  They have a pretty good size chart available.

Two of the boys have Solv-It harnesses.  They have a tether on them with a clip so you can clip the tether to the shoulder belr.  The third boy has a sturdy harness from the local Petco that didn't renew its lease.  I have an extender (don't get the cheap ones-they don't stay buckled) from Amazon and it clips into the seat belt receptacle.  I don't remember what I paid for any of them.  Sometimes Doggyloot or one of the other flash sale sites has them on sale. 

I have looked at the Solv-it harnesses, but didn't know how well they would fit a Corgi. Some of the harnesses look like the breast portion of the restraint might be too wide, or long, for a Corgi.  Most of the makers of car harnesses illustrate their product using much larger hounds. Don't know how well any are designed for Corgis.  Thanks for the input, and the tip for using Doggyloot.  I didn't know of the site. 

Tucker & Butler have the Solv-it harness.  Tucker doesn't have a very broad chest and is on the skinny side.  The harness can be adjusted to fit  They're easy to get on and off.  The other brand I have is a little more difficult to get on and off.

Thanks, Beverly and crew.  Izzy does not have a broad chest yet, being still quite "adolescent". He is definitely on the "skinny side". We think we bought a Doxie?  Appreciate the comment about ease of use/removal. I am hoping to get a size that Izzy can grow into, which means we may need a lot of adjustment. 

I think there was a post a while back about dog harnesses. They showed a crash test using them and it came out that they did more harm than good. We stopped using ours and Ein just chills on the back seat or takes a snooze in one of my kids' car seat (if they aren't in them). Maybe look into a barrier to keep the dog in the back seat.

Andrea, I searched Corgi.com discussions for dog harnesses.  There are quite a few older posts,  but I saw virtually no recommendations for brands. I got the impression that a lot of people preferred plastic kennels, or wire crates, to back seat harnesses.  Izzy is just too Fizzy, to leave unrestrained in the back seat.  Don't want to take the chance of him climbing into the front, as I am making a corner, etc.

A family friend had recommended these to us: 

http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Companion-Nylon-Harness-Small-Medium...

http://www.amazon.com/Kurgo-Leash-Zipline-Vehicle-Restraint/dp/B002...

http://www.amazon.com/Kyjen-OH00679-Hammock-Travel-Easy-Fit/dp/B000...

She had gotten these for her chow chow and said they were really helpful. We haven't gotten around to getting them yet because every time we got for car rides Dodger just kinda zoinks out. So you could always try one of these.

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