Adult Cav Height Question

There have been lots of posts on safety for dogs in cars lately with great advice and showing different types available. After reading them I decided I didnt want to lug my 24" crate about as in the early mths there are lots of vet appointments and then training classes. For my needs the vari-kennel type appeals to me - light, easy to clean and the one I brought home fits my car nicely. Its about the same size as a large soft sided sherpia one many of you mentioned for plane travel.

But when I looked up a cavs height to withers, its says 12-14 " so how do your cavs fit a 12" height? It the idea that they must remain lying and cant get up to turn around?

The rest of my family really wants me to go up a size to the 24 long, 16 wide and 16 tall so from 6mths up they can still stand up and turn around. But I think getting one that big defeats the purpose, as I might as well just lug the 24 inch crate which is a similar size - just heavier!

I guess its not a diaster if it doesnt fit a full grown cav as I would prefer to eventually use a seatbelt harness for short trips and would want to bring the crate for longer trips anyways. But I would like it to fit till she is behaved in the back seat by herself which may take a yr. So how long will the 22 long, 14 wide and 12 tall one fit approximately for?

12 inches tall is way too small for a cavalier. You need the larger size. The varikennel 200 is considered the right size for a breed standard sized cavalier.

If you don't like keeping a large kennel in the car then consider something like the Skykennel -- these easily come apart into two pieces and nest together and can be stored in the trunk/boot/hatchback area when not needed. Actually most crates come apartinto two halves.

sky kennel: http://www.futurepets.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=DO29133

Why do you think it would take a year for your cavalier to sit in the back seat? On a properly fitted safety harness, most dogs just settle down if you ignore them. I've used them with puppies to oldies. Be cautious with harnesses though -- the point is not to keep them in the back but to restrain them in the case of an accident. many people have way too much slack on those harnesses or the wrong type of harness that could either throttle the dog or slam it right into the back of the back seat. The dog needs to be as restrained as a person wearing a setbelt -- eg a small amount of movement but not enought to be thrown forward.

We have used a harness designed for the car on our boy since he was about 4 months old. It was an extra small, he's now in a small, it clips around the seatbelt and can have a lead clipped on to it for pee stops on long journeys. He took to it no problem, hardly any fuss at all
However, we got lazy and stopped using it for short trips, I had him on my lap. Bad mummy! We are now getting him used to it again, but he sits and wimpers and sighs at us a lot
:roll:

Just my opinion, but I think it's too small. Why not look at some of the softsided, folding crates that are lightweight, portable, easy to fold down/set up and have good visibility for the dog?

murphy's mum said:

We have used a harness designed for the car on our boy since he was about 4 months old. It was an extra small, he's now in a small, it clips around the seatbelt and can have a lead clipped on to it for pee stops on long journeys. He took to it no problem, hardly any fuss at all
However, we got lazy and stopped using it for short trips, I had him on my lap. Bad mummy! We are now getting him used to it again, but he sits and wimpers and sighs at us a lot
:roll:

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Where did you get it? We are looking for something like this for Cicero. I have a "look out" puppy seat for my car, but dh doesn't want to have a puppy seat in his car seeing as we RARELY take his car anywhere. He wants a cheeper alternative. (our puppy seat was $120).

I doubt a softside crate would be safe for travel (no protection at all in an impact, and would be crushed if a car rolled or could be impaled by debris and would be hard to restrain on the seat) -- but might be an option for carrying to appointments alongside using a harness? Although I've always thought they are more an indoor 'crate' for adult, non-chewing dogs (the ones I've seen -- they are only canvas stretched over a lightweight frame). Puppies can gnaw right thru them and don't know if they'd be very stable for carrying a dog. Maybe there are others available that are sturdier and safer for travel in the US but haven;t seen them here.

I have a soft Sherpa shoulder bag that could carry Jaspar til he was about 9 months and would still carry Lily now as an adult -- that would be a good option for carrying after the drive, alongside using a seatbelt harness during the drive. Sherpa carriers are not just for airline use.

All dog seatbelt harnesses I have seen have a clip on top for walking dogs and will double as a walking harness. I have some by Doggit, a US distributor.

MathisGreen said:

where did you get it? We are looking for something like this for Cicero. I have a "look out" puppy seat for my car, but dh doesn't want to have a puppy seat in his car seeing as we RARELY take his car anywhere. He wants a cheeper alternative. (our puppy seat was $120).

Click to expand...

Ours is a Hi Craft Dog Harness, we got ours in Pets At Home but i'm sure you can get them on-line. I remember seeing them at Petplanet.co.uk

Wow am I confused! I remembered in a post everyone saying the Varikennel 200 was the right size for a cav but didnt note actual size. So when I bought it yesterday it said #200 (but was a different make) so I assumed it meant it was the same size as the vari manufacturer.

However, the sherpa large bag is only 12" hense my confusion as so many of you say you use it for travel. Maybe I am just searching the wrong sherpa bag - but I looked at a few sites.

I prefer the hard kind because I know in a harness I will constantly be checking the review mirror. If it whines in a cage it may not be happy but I know its safe. If it whines in a harness I will be checking the review mirror to be sure its not tangled or foot slipping between seat or any number of things. Its not so much I dont trust the puppy to learn to behave so much as I dont trust my self to not constantly check the review mirror and then that jeapordizes us both.

But at least for me I have made a choice to get the larger one and just leave it in my backseat. If ever I had 3 people in the car, I'd take the other one with the cab anyways.