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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Thanks Autumn (and Jonathan)....Kurgo is highly rated for safety, but didn't know how well it goes with Corgi conformation.  Izzy, unfortunately doesn't "zoink out" yet.  I also feel better knowing that the dog is secured in some way, so that he can't hit the back of the front seats.

I totally understand. We've also been considering like a basket car seat thing for dogs. I think they come with built in halter. I can try and find the link for the one we were looking at and see if that'd be something you were interested in. 

Thanks Autumn for the idea of a basket car seat.  I thought this type of thing was only made for very small, toy, dog breeds.  Sounds like a safe idea, if well-secured to the rear seat. Seems easier to hop the dog into the back seat with a harness on though (my car is low). I don't like jumping dogs out of cars, or trucks, though (we have a long telescoping ramp for our larger dogs that travel in the back of our tall truck-with-canopy. Seems dumm, to use a heavy-duty 3/4 ton pickup for one Corgi?)

You're welcome. They make bigger ones for in the back seat. I found these two. You can check them out is well and then compare them to the other links I had sent and see which you think would fit best. I understand how it is with the truck. We have a Jeep Patriot and whenever I try to go to pick Dodger up he decides, "Nope, I'm jumpin'."

I found this one:  http://www.amazon.com/Snoozer-Outdoor-Lookout-Secure-Safety/dp/B008...

And this one (this one gives you a variety of colors to choose from): http://www.amazon.com/Snoozer-Luxury-Lookout-Medium-Herringbone/dp/...

Thanks, Autumn for the good links to baskets. But I have finally made a decision to stay with a seat harness.  Narrowing down the choices.

The Center for Pet Safety did a test on this last year. The best performing harness was the Sleepypod Clik-it, which kept the dog on the seat during the crash due to it's 3-point design. Every other harness on the market failed in some way. Here's a link: http://centerforpetsafety.org/research/2013-harness-study-results/ . I've since purchased the Clik-It. It's costly, but the peace of mind is well worth it.

Thanks, Jenny n'Crew.  I had been to the site for your link before, and the price of the Sleepypod Clik-it was a bit of a turnoff.  I might end up with something like this though, after some trial of other products.   I try to keep my car by the old rule of 'Wheels Down', so a strong back seat hammock might provide yet another "safety net", should Izzy's harness fail. Far from a perfect system.  I may change my ideas.

I met the Jack Russell that went through a bad big-rig horse-transport wreck in Oregon (with two of my now-dead horses on board).  The little dog flew around the tractor quite a bit, as the big rig turned over, but he was happy as a lark afterward (which is more than I could say about one dead horse, and another severlely injured one...whine). Tough little dogs!

I just sent for an ipuppyone to try, as it does look comfy for Izzy.  We may do more experimentation. 

Thanks!!! To all of the wonderful people at MyCorgi, for much, much excellent input.

I have to ask.... what is a rattlesnake booster?  Is this a vaccine you can get in the event they get bit?  I live in Florida, where there are rattlesnakes, but have never been offered this by my vet. 

Susan, we lived in coastal GA, but we did not hear of rattlesnake vaccine until moving the the SW.  We have more encounters with Western Diamondbacks here, than we did with the Eastern Diamondbacks, and other vipers in GA/FL.  Our risk factor is quite high for diamondback bites here, so decided to try the vaccine, which is made from Western Diamondback venom.  I think the vaccine is s'posed to be less useful in other diamondbacks (like Eastern) and other vipers/poisonous snakes. For example,  it doesn't work at all for Cottonmouths, or Mojave rattlers, as their venom is so much different in "makeup". The local Mojave rattlesnake venom is a neurotoxin, which wouldn't be affected in the least by "rattlesnake vaccine" (you kiss your dog goodbye).  

If you give the vaccine, it does NOT absolve you from going to the vet. Several vets here think that it slows/reduces the affects of the venom, but the dog still needs treatment.  And all poisonous snakes harbor bad bacteria in their mouths, leading to possible secondary infections t'boot.  

Puppies meeting snakes scares the heck outa me.  Izzy has not seen his first rattler yet, so we don't know how stupid he will be....Yikes. We are waiting for the first diamondback to show up on a porch. 

Very interesting, I was going to ask the same question as Susan, then got side tracked.  On your porch!?!/  Yikes!

The porch meet-ups here are quite common, as snakes migrate in to  warm concrete pads at nightfall. Late night grilling on the back porch can be an adventure at times.  Occasionally, a critter will get into the garage (keep doors shut in the evenings!). September is our big snake month, as the nights begin to cool, bringing more snakes in, looking for a snuggy place. We live in a five-acre development (every lot is 5 A.), and backed by 93 more acres of more desert, so THEY'RE Out There!

I have a long-handled sharp half-moon garden hoe that stands in readiness, and I file it to a keen edge. The hoe has 32 "notches" (I count coup on the handle with a black Sharpie marker).  Most people here don't believe in re-location of poisonous snakes, and our household is no exception! 

Darn snakes.

Thanks for the info on the snake vaccine.  The whole snake issue scares the poo out of me.  Already this spring Jeli has come across two right by our house.  The first one, we were on a short walk at about dusk, and she was ahead of me on a long line.  She was sniffing at a stick and stepped over it.  Then it wiggled.  Jeli jumped a foot straight up in the air and came down in a panic!  I couldn't catch up to the snake to see if it was a bad snake, (not that I really wanted to), but I wasn't sure if it bit her.  The second was the very next day.  Jeli started barking madly at the bushes and there it was, all coiled up in the leaves.  Since we live on a small lake I'm always wary of moccosins.  I think the last one was just a water snake but they look so similar. Jeli seems to be developing a healthy respect for snakes, but its making her jump at every twitching twig.  Me too!  I wish there was an effective snake repellant out there.  I would buy it in gallons!

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