What do you do with your dog when your driving?

[AngieB]

Chester rides in the back seat in a seatbelt harness ALWAYS.

Why you should always have your dog secured in the car: My Aunt lost her beloved little Pomeranian some years ago when she got into a very small fender-bender accident. She was at a stop sign when some idiot ran into the back of her car at a low speed. Her little dog was sitting un-restrained in the passenger seat and he was slammed into the windshield and died instantly from a broken neck. Horrible and definitely preventable.

That's a horrible story, Monica! Your poor aunt must have felt awful. How scary!

We use the a Lookout too (that I got from Roxanne ). Both girls fit in one seat and do fine.

[Moviedust]

My girls have carseats that seatbelt in and attach to their harnesses.



If you hold your dog in the front seat, please be aware that if an airbag deploys, it could kill your dog. Even if the airbag doesnt deploy but you're bumped, the dog could easily fly from your arms, no matter how carefully you think you're holding it.

We've talked about this issue before, so a quick search of the board will probably give you several threads to read through.

[LauraD]

Safety is everything to me. So from day one Riley has always been in a hard crate which has a place where the seatbelt attaches to it to keep it secure. It is always on the back seat of the car. There is a nice soft pad in there and he usually just sleeps while we go on longer trips. Sometimes he doesn't even want to get out once we arrive at our destination! I have decided that this is the way that he will always travel in the car. I won't take any chances on his getting hurt. I know that riding this way, he is as safe as possible. Plus he loves his car rides!

[Karlin]

Holding the dog is risking its life and yours and AGAINST THE LAW IN THE UK according to the UK highway code.

Here is some basic physics that have to do with the impact force generated by an object thrown forward in a collision.

A 15lb dog (eg a very small cavalier) in a 30 mph minor collision if unrestrained has a collision force of UP TO 300LBS. A 50lb dog (eg border collie or small lab) would be thrown forward at that speed with HALF A TON OF FORCE!

The basic formula is the force generated by a body is up to 20 times the mass (weight) of the body being thrown in a collision. If the dog is on your lap even in a residential street collision at this relatively slow speed, it will likely go straight into and possibly right through the window, the dashboard, the back set, and most likely have its skull crushed and neck snapped.

If your cavalier is sitting on a lap in the back seat or loose inthe back seat, it is likely to be catapulted into an airborne missile. If a dog of 15 lbs hits the head of the driver or passenger with even 50 lbs of collision force, it will break any human neck or potentially, at 300lbs of force, even decapitate you.

This is why it is no longer legal in most countries to carry children unrestrained. And in many it is illegal to carry dogs unrestrained.

Every motor safety organisation says: seatbelt the dog or crate it. Please do NOT leave a dog loose in a car or on a lap.

Please read:

http://www.parkvets.com/petsandvets-seatbelts.html

from this article from a UK vets:

Few commercially available harnesses have been independently tested. The ultimate endorsement must be to establish whether the harness you are considering has been subjected to similar crash testing as used for human seat belts and proven to be effective.

That means booster seat type seats with attached harnesses are most likely not safety tested (and to me have always looked potentially risky as they raise the dog even higher putting human passengers at risk if the restraint system fails). MOST dog restraint systems sold in the US, UK and Ireland are untested as well.

The article states:

Various reviews of the canine safety harnesses have been undertaken some of which can be found on the Internet. There appears to be two clear leaders in the field that fulfil all the above criteria.

Ruff Rider Roadie - This harness has been tested in the States and exceeded the standards for human seatbelts. Some users suggest that it is slightly harder to put on than other systems. Available in the UK from Company of Animals (www.companyofanimals.co.uk). The manufacturer's web site is www.ruffrider.com.

Champion Canine Seat Belt System - A tested harness system that receives consistently good press. The official distributor in Europe can be contacted at (www.caninesafety.co.uk). The manufacturers web site is www.CanineAuto.com .

A crate that is the right size for the dog (eg not too large, in particular, and seatbleted into place) is also a safe form of transport.
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[Kodee]

I currently use a hard crate. It would do an adult small to mid cavalier. Should my puppy grow larger once an adult I will most likely purchase a seatbelt constraint as I only drive about town. For longer trips/hwy I would then have the option of using the metal crate - which for now, is too large for a puppy in a car (too easily thrown about).

For now, Kodee loves and I mean loves her little carry crate - I have to leave it open beside her metal crate as she likes to go in it to play. I also use it to carry her upstairs when I want to put her in the bedroom with me as I make beds etc.. I do this becasue on the third day she was here, while carrying her down the stairs she literally almost lept from my arms - freaked me out enough to not carry her up them anymore!

[Cathy T]

Lanie - you'll love the lookout seat!! We used it with Jake when he was a baby. Unfortunately he outgrew it.

[Lani]

! I hope Lucky doesn't outgrow it ... he's outgrown everything else so far .... We did get the oversized one though and that is supposed to be for dogs up to 30 lbs ...