Riding in the Car

What do you use when traveling with your Cavalier in the car? When I go pick Ellie up Im bringing her regular plastic crate as thats what the breeder said I could use so thats fine but in the future, especially if its just me and Ellie and not my husband, I wanted something a little less bulky and easy to move with to put her in the car. I was thinking of a soft carrier that I could carry but Im finding it hard to find one I like and one that can accommodate Ellie without being too big for me. Right now Ellie is just about 7 months old and she weighs 12 lbs My breeder said she probably will gain another lb or 2 before she is done growing and most carriers I looked at have their weight around 12lbs as a medium but I worry if she gains any more weight she wont be able to fit that and I should get a large but since Im kinda tiny myself I dont want something thats cumbersome and huge and I wont be able to manage on my own. Any suggestions? And also at 12lbs is that normal for a doggie Ellie's age? Is she big, small, average? Im not sure as I have no experience with this really. Thanks so much as always!

I use a soft sided crate with a metal frame. It has a shoulder strap and handles. It has a zippered front and a zippered top. Believe it or not I got it a Walmart. The weight capacity is for dogs up to 20 llbs. I think it was around $40.00. It also has loops for the seat belt. Lily is almost 6 mos annd weighs about 13.6 lbs. She has just enough room to lay down, so this is only good for short trips. For longer trips we use her hardsided crate.

http://www.petsplaytime.co.uk/acatalog/Car_Harnesses___Safety_Equipment.html

An RAC car harness. It's great. All I have to do is put the harness on him and then put the seatbelt through the loop and attach it and off we go! He just sits there quietly looking out of the window now!

It's a 2 in 1, so when we go for a walk down the park, all I have to do is attach the lead to the harness. It can be used for general walking.

He's 21 weeks and I bought him the medium (on the smallest setting). Looks a bit lost in it but he'll grow into it!

I use the lookout car seat and attach Maddy's harness to the seat belt.
The lookout lifts her up in order to see out the window which she loves.
Pam

For long trips & if we need to take a crate for sleeping overnight we put Sonny in a large plastic crate with wire windows in it. It is very large & takes up most of the back seat of the car, and it wedges in very tightly behind the front seats so it can not move about.

For short trips we use a car harness similar to the one Mishmosh displayed in the url.

Toby wears a Petcare hardness from Countrywide stores. It clips around the seat belt, but you have to make sure the seat belt is done up.

He is quite happy in the back but sometimes I feel he could do with a cushion as he isn't quite tall enough to see out of the window which he loves.

We use the Lookout car seat as well . All of mine LOVE being able to see out of the window and they also frequently take naps in it too !

here is Colby in his when he was a widdle pup

My girls vote for the Lookout seat as well. I have the larger one so that all three can "pile" in. I think there are at least 3 versions so you should be able to find one that works for you. I added sherpa lined harnesses to use in combination with the seatbelt snaps that come with the seat. What a difference it makes when every one can see out.
JaneB

Ours sit in dog beds with a Puppia harness with a strap that attaches to the seat belt--you can get at any petstore. I would also recommend them to be in the back seat only as an airbag can surely kill an animal in the front seat.

Thanks for the tips everyone I guess for now Ill try to puppia and seat belt harness with the seat. We shall see once she gets here I guess.

4 days 4 days 4 days!!!!

A puppia or any harness designed just for walking is not actually safe as a car harness -- remember that a dog can be thrown forward on an impact of only 30mph with a force up to 20 times its weight in the first foot it would travel after impact. For an adult cavalier weighting 15-20 lbs, a Puppia would be unlikely with its construction to restrain a dog thrown with the force of 200-400lbs against that harness and its ring. Either the harness would break, or it could potentially hang the dog or decapitate it due to the way the Puppia neck is constructed. If you look at car harnesses they have a completely different construction and would not be able to hang the dog. It is also quite easy for many dogs to pop right out of a Puppia if they were thrown backwards -- Lily can easily escape hers if she simply wants out of the car. :yikes:

The only harness I know of so far that is actually safety tested in proper car tests and exceeds human safety standards, is the Ruffrider: www.ruffrider.com . I am sure some others are adequate, too.

For a puppy I'd just use a correctly sized crate til adult size unless you want to buy a succession of harnesses as they must fit properly.