Suggestions for safe car travel?
I was curious as to how folks secure their beloved Corgis in their cars when they travel. Since she was about 12 lbs. Lucy has ridden in a booster seat that allows her to see out the window; she is hooked up to it. But this has only been for quick trips. She has not been in the car for more than 15 minutes at a time. As I am thinking of taking her up to Maine this summer for a little get away, I have been trying to look for easy, comfortable, and safe modes of travel. The harnesses I've seen at the pet store seem ok, but I didn't know if anyone had a better suggestion. She is now 22.5 lbs (1 year old).
I suppose I should add that I have a Honda CRV. Thank you!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kaitlyn & Chase on
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So sorry I have taken so long to respond! I haven't been getting MyCorgi messages sent to my email this week for some reason!
Yes! I use a child's booster seat for Chase sometimes. He really likes to sit in it! If you look in some of my pictures you can see him in my little sister's booster seat. He looks uncomfortable but he must not be!
He has his own seat, it's not girly like my sisters. I also use a doggie seat belt with him in the seat. You can adjust it so that he has to stay in the seat or so that he can get in and out.
I don't usually use a crate because he doesn't like it at all and cries the whole time.
You can get a booster seat at walmart for like $20
:)
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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on
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I'm a bad dog mom... Waffle is loose in the car, even for our 6 hour trips to/from school. I have a harness but he is miserable with it on and it gets STUCK and it becomes more dangerous for him to wear it than for him not to wear it. u_u I have yet to find a suitable car solution. The harness was $30 so I am hesitant to buy a new one and have it have the same fundamental flaws this one does. My car is too small for a crate.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Given time, he may get used to it and figure it out. Ours get twisted up a bit, but they settle.
We have 2 types, one that clips directly into the female seat belt latch, another that clips into a mountaineering carabiner that I keep on the seat belt. I try to keep them as tight as practicable -- they have some wiggle room.
If he stays in the back seat, that might be OK, but a dog must never be allowed into the front. I know of a fatal accident here caused by a dog interfering with the driver/owner, who died in the head-on collision.
A hard crate is probably safest.
Note that most chest harnesses can be slipped over the head without unbuckling/tangling. You have to fold the front legs through.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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Rosie and Rocky both wear a seat belt harness in the car. I use one that has a padded front. It slips over their heads and their front legs just step in then it clips at their shoulder blades, so just one snap and they're in it. I don't use the part that slips through the people lap belts. I found that they got all tangled up with this arrangement. I have a short strap that snaps into the seat belt buckle in the car and then clips to the harness D ring. This works just dandy for their short legs. They are just fine in this arrangement and learn to step over the strap. We drive to GA every fall and they never fuss at all. They can lie down, turn around, see out the window if they put their feet on the door arm rest. I don't have to worry about them jumping out when we open the doors. When we stop at rest stops, we leave the harness on them and just clip their leashes to their collars after unclipping the strap from the harness. The only time we don't put them in their harnesses is for VERY short trips around our small town (pop1500 so it is small) otherwise they are in the harness and attached to the seat belt buckle strap. The harness is an Easy Rider brand and they wear a Medium. The harness is very adjustable and appears to be comfy. Works great for us!!!
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Permalink Reply by Terry Irene Blain on
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This sounds like the harness we use for our two dogs Smokey (Scottish terrier) and Bandit (the corgi). If we don't need to take agility stuff, we go in my Saturn and they get clipped into the back seat. They can sit up or lay down as they want.
When we go to an agility tria, we take the pickup truck and the dogs lay on the seat between us. We just went to visit our son and daughter-in-law and go to an agility trial. It was a total of 8 hours and the dogs did fine (yes, we made four stops for drinks and potty stops).
You wouldn't transport an child without restraint in a car/truck - so why would you not secure you pet?
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Permalink Reply by Potus on
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We have the same set up as Karen and Potus loves it, makes it super easy to go from travelling to walking as soon as we arrive somewhere.Also, like Karen we don't use the harnesses that attach to lap belts- the poor pup gets tangled up, but rather have a short strap that connects into the buckle and onto the D-ring. Potus has free movement over the back seat in that with the strap he can move from one window to the other.
I've never used a crate but remember a similar post awhile back about car safety and I think I remember reading that crates aren't the safest mode of tranport- if you happen to have a crash their is nothing to protect your dog rather they become a projectile in their own crate and may injure themself in the crate or, in worse circumstances the crate can become a danger to other passengers and injure them. I feel more comfortable using the same type of restraint for Potus as I do for myself.
Also, can I please urge everyone to secure their dogs, and themselves no matter how short the drive, horrible accidents can occur on the same short stretch of road you travel everyday.
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Head-on fatal collision on SR520 bridge caused by loose dog interfering with driver/owner, who died.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny, Tucker, & Zoey on
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I drive a Miata, so the dogs have to ride in the front seat. I turn off the passenger side air bag. The dogs wear a Champion seatbelt harness. You can check them out here: http://usak9outfitters.com/CCSS.htm . Most harnesses from a pet store will not stand up to a car accident-- the plastic buckles will break and the stitching may come undone. Do some research if you plan to use a harness-- there are several reputable ones out there that have been crash tested.
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Permalink Reply by Laura Rochette on
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Everyone above has given great advice. Thank you for the very thoughtful comments about both crates and harnesses. A couple of brand name harnesses helps me too as I figure this out. I did buy one at PetCo and did find it hard to adjust to size and wondered about the plastic buckles. Again, thanks all.
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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we use a soft-sided crate for car rides. It has a metal frame with canvas and mesh sides, purchased at Petco.
I used to let him ride in the car unrestrained, then one day I was hit by a red-light runner. Sidney was NOT with me, but the impact was so bad...if he HAD been with me he would have been thrown free of the car and into the road. From that day on, Sid rides in his travel crate. He hops right in.
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