Car Safety

[Stacy]

I know we've talked about this before, but I'm trying to figure out how to restrain the dogs for the car ride on vacation. I've read too many horror stories on facebook recently about dogs being ejected from the car, or getting loose during crashes. 

I've been using the Kurgo car harness. It has the attachment that buckles into the seat belt. It seems to work well for Katie. But Maggie is so tall, it doesn't extend long enough for her to sit up well. And then she stepped on the seat belt release and free'd herself. 

More recently I laid the seats down in the Forester and let them have the whole back. The latch system attaches to the back of the seat - let me know if it doesn't make sense, I can take pictures. So when I lay the seats down the latch system is on the floor. I can attach a carabiner to that and then attach them with a leash to the car. But they have a lot of slack to move around back there. I feel like we're okay when we're just in town, but it makes me a little nervous when we're planning to spend 3 -4 hours on the highway. 

The Sleepypod clickit is supposed to be the safest harness (but they're kind of expensive, and that's why I'm asking before I buy.) From what I can tell the seatbelt goes through the loops on the back of the harness and then buckles normally. But they will be very limited in movement. There is this attachment called the Sleepypod s clip that locks the seatbelt out so they would have more slack. But they would have to sit next to each other for the whole trip, and wouldn't have as much room to spread out. Has anyone used this system?

I don't think there is any way to get a Maggie-sized and a Katie-sized crate in the back at the same time. And Maggie hates her crate anyway, so that's kind of out. 

I know, I'm a worrier! I would love your thoughts.

Thanks! Stacy

[Amy and Annabelle]

That's so true Stacy about not wanting your dog to become a flying projectile. Not only do you not want your dog to go flying out the window, you don't want him flying into the humans in the car, small humans would be tragic.

[Kate C Pappas]

My 8 year ASD survived a crash in  my big Escalade. Police said they could'd believe it! This is what we use.

http://usak9outfitters.com/autosafetygear.htm

[Stacy]

Thank you! I'm looking at their site right now. It looks like they have some good stuff there!

[Stacy]

I'm going to resurrect this post because I'm still looking at crates for the car. I've narrowed it down to the variocage and the transk9 crate. Here's a video review of the transk9, it also has the bonus of being about 400 dollars cheaper than the variocage, though I'm waiting for them to email me about how much shipping will set me back. https://youtu.be/86j2Gr8c0Kk. 

Here's where I get stuck. When we travel, if we're staying at a hotel, the girls get crated if they have to be left alone. Most places require it, and I think it's safer anyway. For people who travel like this, how do you deal with that? This car crate will take up the entirety of the cargo area. There isn't room for travel crates in addition. Do you take this thing out and take it into your hotel room? I'm not sure it will even fit through a standard door. And I bet it's heavy. 

Would it make more sense just to put standard crates in the car? The problem with that is that you lose a lot of space due to the angle of the door. The dogs would have to have smaller crates to fit. Then again, we don't really travel that much. They're mostly riding around locally. Maybe I'm overthinking the "when we go on trips" aspect.

And actually, now that I'm looking Ruff Tough makes a SUV version of their large crate. I would lose a few inches length-wise on what she has at home, but that might be the answer. Plus it would be light enough to take out to go into a hotel. 

So many decisions. Any thoughts? 

[Stacy]

Ok, maybe the ruff tough won't work. It looks like the cutout for the window is on the back and the door is on the flat side on the front. That means I would have to turn the crate around every time she went to get in and out. That won't work. It would be so convenient if someone actually had these things that I could see in person. Sometimes internet shopping is challenging! I just want to test it out in my car!

[Stella]

I have a Variocage and I love it!!  A couple of times a year they do a sale and you can get some $$ off. In the US, you could contact Mighty Mite or Summit Agility, they are both retailers of the Variocage. They will be able to advise you on the best size for your vehicle, and both companies are run by lovely people. I have the double XXL and it weighs about 80lb, there is no way I can get it out of my car by myself. When I travel with my dog, I take a collapsible crate with me and keep it in the foot well behind the front seats. I'm single so rarely have human passengers in my car!!!

[Stella]

Are you in the Dog Sport Vehicles Group on FB??  It might be worth asking in that group to see if anyone is near you with the kind of crate you are looking for, that wouldn't mind letting you have s look. Or, go to a larger dog event - obedience, agility, burn hunt etc near you and have a walk around looking at people's set ups. Most dog sport people are happy to chat :)

[Stacy]

I am in that group, and you're right, it might be worth asking if someone has the setup I'm looking at, though if there is I would be pleasantly surprised. According to what I can see of the membership there are 3 other people in the group from my area. It's a big group, but people don't seem to have things like that for their dogs around here.

I talked to the variocage people, and a double xl is what would fit in my car. I also spoke with the transk9 people and the B38 is the one that fits. 

I have to tell you, I love the way it looks in there. I love that they have a picture of the actual correct vehicle with the crate in it! It looks like a custom fit. The other thing that has me leaning that direction is that it comes fully assembled. The variocage I have to put together myself. And it's 930.00 instead of 1300. Though I lose most of that savings after adding shipping. Because it comes fully assembled it is 325.00 to get it here from California. It has to be delivered on a pallet with a special delivery truck. 

A collapsible crate might have to be the way to go when traveling. Like you, I'm not usually hauling passengers. I just wish somehow it could do double duty. I know people use vari kennels strapped in, and that's an option too. It's just that the floor on the forester isn't flat when you put the 2nd row seats down, so I would have to have a platform built. The top of the vari kennel that fits in just the cargo area sticks out too far for the door to close, and anything that will fit with the back seats up would be too small. The vehicle is big enough, it's just getting all the puzzle pieces to fit in there correctly that's challenging. And I'm not very articulate when talking about car parts. It would be so much easier if I could just see it.

Regardless, I'm still in the planning stage. I might have to ask for part of a kennel for Christmas! I just worry when we're in rush hour traffic that someone is going to rear end me and the girls will get hurt. I look around and everyone is texting driving 70 mph down the interstate. It makes me crazy.

[Stella]

These crates are a huge investment. But I travel a lot with my dogs, often in bad weather, so for me it was worth it. I put together the Variocage by myself and it was a bitch!!!  But I did have a huge sense of achievement when it was done!  Sometimes the retailers have fully assembled ones that have been returned for whatever reason, but that would mean you going to get it or expensive shipping. Also worth checking Dog Sport buy and sell groups on FB, sometimes good crates come up for sale in those!

[Stella]

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Our CRV is not level when the seats are down. I found that two of our  pillowy dog beds (one on top of the other fit perfectly in the lower space leveling it. Cheaper than a platform and also removable!