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What's the best way to keep dogs protected from the car, and vice versa?

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Boxerluv 
#1 ·
Last month, I got in a car accident with both dogs in the car - very scary! I was driving straight and was hit by a driver turning left and pushed into a ditch, totaling the car. Luckily, everyone was unharmed, but it could have been so much worse. I'm so glad that both dogs were in the back seat at the time, but that's not always the case.

I do have one of those hammocks, but it doesn't work very well. I use one of those seatbelt buckle things on one of them, Bubba, and he always gets twisted under the hammock, so I never keep it attached to the front seat.

I've been in a rental, and the dogs have managed to make a bit of a mess in it (whoops). I'm getting a new car, and I'm looking for suggestions on how to protect my dogs and manage the dog hair, either with a seat protector or some other product. I'd also like door protectors to keep them from scratching up the side panels.

Obviously, my pups' safety is more important that protecting the car, but I'm hoping I can find a good product or products that help with both. I'd like one that stays put on the back seat, comes up high enough that they can't jump into the front seat, and possibly has some kind of guard so that they can't get under it. I will be getting a CR-V, so I need something to fit in the little bit bigger space. Has anyone used a back seat protector that works really well?

I've been looking on Amazon, but there is a surprising number of fake reviews on these products!
 
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#2 ·
Safest would be the smallest crash-proof crate your dog is comfortable being in and having that crate strapped down to the car's frame using ratcheting tie-downs or similar (not bungees).

RuffTough kennels are pretty economical and are among the most common. I've also found that local welders can make custom crates for a decent price. My two medium RuffToughs were 220CAD each, while my custom built metal ones were 240CAD each.

I also use a seat harness for my GSP mix. The clickit sport is supposed to be the best, but I found it doesn't work well for long lanky dogs. I switch to the ruffwear load-up which is not quite as safe, but doesn't cause my pup to have panic attacks on the highway. If you are going to harness route, make sure to find videos of how the harnesses behave under high-speed impacts. A lot of them don't have reliable stitching and the dogs can still become projectile hazards.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the advice! I think my dogs would lose their absolute minds if I tried to put them in a kennel in the car, lol. It would definitely be worth a try, though!

I'll also have to look into the harnesses. I use the leash now mostly to keep him contained in the back seat, but having the wreck was definitely a wake-up call!
 
#4 ·
Back when I was looking into car seats for my dog this is the one I finally settled on https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000634MXM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 Laughably it was only used once in the car and I basically have a very expensive dog bed, as he loves to sleep in it in the house.

What I did discover on that one car trip is that you MUST make sure that whatever restraint you use to secure the dog in the seat has no slack, basically only allow the dog to stand, sit, or lay and not move around, any slack and the dog can jump out the seat and potentially dangle from the harness, or in event of a crash fly out of the seat. So if you go with this seat also look into a crash approved harness and tether.
 
#5 ·
Agreed with failedslacker. IMO properly secured crate would probably be the safest.

Rufftough seems to be one of the more popular ones now, but there's also veriocages, Impact crates etc...

I have yet to save up for a RTK, but I will eventually. For now we just use a regular wire crate strapped down with ratchet straps
 
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