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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on September 24, 2013 at 7:18pm

I don't think I've seen this particular study on harness failure rates.  Thanks for sharing!

(The 100% failure rate is one of the reasons I don't feel terribly bad that he isn't harnessed in the car...)

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Permalink Reply by Bogart the Cardigan on September 24, 2013 at 9:17pm

Ok, that was scary. For any long rides or rides that involve highway driving, we use the travel crate.

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Permalink Reply by Marissa, Bandit, and Bacon on September 24, 2013 at 9:40pm

My pup isn't home yet, but I plan to have her in the crate for any and all car rides.

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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on September 25, 2013 at 1:22pm

One thing any harness WILL do is keep the dog from distracting the driver.  Fatal head-on caused by dog in driver's lap on SR520, Washington state.  One main thing seatbelts do is keep people from being thrown from the vehicle.

Just before crossing this log on the Pacific Crest Trail, I tested my lightweight safety harness and discovered that Al would slip neatly out of it in a  vertical hang.  The log is 2-3' diameter, 6-8' above the river.  How to effectively belay a dog across a dangerous log is a problem I have not solved.  Some heavy-duty harnesses might hold a dog in a vertical hang, like a climber's seat harness, but would they pull me off the log?  Would they drown the dog in the current?

Al didn't even blink at this crossing, and arguably would have been safer without the "safety" rope to trip over.

There was a beautiful 4-span log bridge here.  The 2003 storm wiped out every trace of it.

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Permalink Reply by Wilson Waddlepants and Joyce on September 25, 2013 at 1:29pm

We don't take our pets in the car very often but when we do they ride in crates that are strapped to the back seat.  After seeing a few dogs run away from scenes of accidents, it scared me, and we decided never to let our dogs ride loose in the car.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on September 25, 2013 at 3:04pm

I agree that crates are the best. I do leave a leash on my dogs so if I were to ever have an accident and the crate was ok the would have a safe way to get the dog out as they could be so scared they might also "run" when the kennel door was opened.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on September 26, 2013 at 11:49am

omg thats so scary! i want to put a crate in the car but since its a sports car theres no way it would fit :( so i bought a mesh harness and a strap that hooks on the the clip of the harness and then u click it in like a normal seat belt but after seeing this i dont think that would be safe either

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 26, 2013 at 12:07pm

This is very scarey. I must say though that trying to stuff two dog crates in a car is not appealing either.

Our model has a loop in the thick harness material that the regular seat belt simply passes through, so there really arent any clips to come loose. My dog who wears a harness mostly drives lying down, sideways across the seat. I wonder how much difference size and position of the dog make?

When they say crates are safest, remember they are referring to plastic solid travel crates. My own crates are wire and many wire crates are collapsible, so I don't know how they'd fare in a test either.

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