Advice on car safety needed

[meljoy]

Hi,
I have just ordered a new car today and it should arrive in April. At the moment Leo travels in his crate in the boot (its a hatch back by the way I dont lock him in darkness in the boot).
So my new car is lovely but Ive down sized and the problem is the crate doesnt fit in the new boot. I have a harness that attatches to the seatbelt so he wont be "free" in the back of the car. I was wondering what others use.

Should I try and buy a smaller crate or is the dog seatbelt sufficient?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mel

[cavalover]

This is what my husband and I got for Butters.

http://www.amazon.com/Solvit-Tagalon...+seat+tagalong

He loves it! This got us through a 24 hr drive from NY to Texas. He refused to sit there with just the harness secured to the seatbelt. Somehow, this made him feel more comfortable and less restricted. He enjoyed looking out the window and being a bit elevated off of the seat. There is an attachment at the bottom of the carrier that latches onto his harness to keep him secured. We assemble it in the back seat of our little sedan (you do, however, need back seats with a head rests and fold-down/single standing capability to secure the booster properly). There are some sample photos on the Amazon link, to include assembly in back seats

[meljoy]

That looks lovely. Thanks I'll check them out here.


Mel

[Lukesmom]

I was able to put Luke's crate on the seat in my previous car (Chevy Aveo Hatchback) and put an intermediate sized Vari-Kennel in there too. Actually, I do it now too in a Volvo S70. In order for it to work with the two crates, Luke's crate has to be one with a side opening door. His crate overhangs the seat, and is wedged against the front seat. In the Aveo, I anchored the crates to the tether hooks and latch anchors that are meant for child car seats. I don't have tether anchors in the Volvo, so they are hooked to a cargo anchor in the back and I think I ran the strap on Luke's crate through to a part of the seat track in front of his crate. Luke's car crate is a regular sized crate for him (24 inch wire).
I also have these for when we can't bring the crates for some reason.
http://www.ruffrider.com/

[LindsayD]

I use a dog harness that the seat belt loops through. http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo
It took Rosie a few days to adjust to the harness, at first she did not like walking with it on, even from the living room to the car, but now it goes straight on and she jumps in the front seat with it on and settles down straight away.

[MomObvious]

Sorry I can't help for enjoy the word boot for what we American's call the trunk

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...cmpid=PPC-G-NA

Fletcher has a medium size one and its plenty of room for him on short trips. He like it naturally he's just happy to be going with us but I love it because I can secure it to the seat AND because it folds up nice and quick and I easily store it in the car whenever I don't have Fletcher. I think its other plus is you can use it as a carrier too.

[Emkaybee]

Truthfully there doesn't seem to be any real research published on pet safety in autos. There is a group doing some but they haven't published their results yet. I settled for getting a strap with a loop--I put the seatbelt through the loop and clip the strap to the walking harness. It's not perfect but it would provide some protection in a crash, and it keeps the dogs in their place in the car with the ability to move around a bit. Tess is well-behaved but my male Golden always wants to "help" me drive. LOL. At the moment the two large dogs travel in the cargo area--just got an SUV--and I plan to get SUV-sized crates for them. Tess, the CKCS, sits in the back seat in a small dog bed.

[Furrfoot]

We had one very similar to this for Rose, and it worked really well (it also folds up for storage). Since we got Emma, we got a Pet Tube: http://www.petego.com/products.aspx?catId=24&prodId=121 that also folds flat. So far, I've been happy with it too. We have the large (you can adjust the length of it via straps to 1/3rd or 2/3rds the original length), but it also comes in a small that looked Cavalier size.

If you google for pet carrier crash tests, you can find a few videos that are helpful. One thing I learned is that I won't put a hard sided plastic crate in a seat with or without a seatbelt around it anymore- they go in the floorboard!

Sorry I can't help for enjoy the word boot for what we American's call the trunk

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...cmpid=PPC-G-NA

Fletcher has a medium size one and its plenty of room for him on short trips. He like it naturally he's just happy to be going with us but I love it because I can secure it to the seat AND because it folds up nice and quick and I easily store it in the car whenever I don't have Fletcher. I think its other plus is you can use it as a carrier too.

[Soushiruiuma]

When I owned a car I really liked the sturdibags. They have places for the seatbelt to slide through so the carrier can be anchored to the seat. In the event of a crash the dog would be thrown sideways against a soft structured surface, have protection from broken glass etc. If you are ever in a crash with the dog in the car that's about the best your going to get, being thrown forward will mean a lot more force along the spine so anything that has the dog sitting with a harness is going to offer very little protection. Leaving the dog loose, or in something open like the hammocks they sell means the dog will be thrown about, potentially out of the car (really, REALLY bad).

But I have to ask, when I rented a car in England this past summer (July 2012), the seatbelts in the backseat didn't have the car seat feature (you pull the belt all the way out and then it can only be retracted (so gets very tight to hold a baby seat, or pet carrier)). Was that just a strange car we had, or do the British not bother with car safety, or is there some secret mechanism?

[MomObvious]

When I owned a car I really liked the sturdibags. They have places for the seatbelt to slide through so the carrier can be anchored to the seat. In the event of a crash the dog would be thrown sideways against a soft structured surface, have protection from broken glass etc. If you are ever in a crash with the dog in the car that's about the best your going to get, being thrown forward will mean a lot more force along the spine so anything that has the dog sitting with a harness is going to offer very little protection. Leaving the dog loose, or in something open like the hammocks they sell means the dog will be thrown about, potentially out of the car (really, REALLY bad).




But I have to ask, when I rented a car in England this past summer (July 2012), the seatbelts in the backseat didn't have the car seat feature (you pull the belt all the way out and then it can only be retracted (so gets very tight to hold a baby seat, or pet carrier)). Was that just a strange car we had, or do the British not bother with car safety, or is there some secret mechanism?

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-4045-Sea...arseat+h+clips This would forever solve that problem. We have an older car which the seatbelts don't have that locking feature either.