Did We Ever Resolve the Faulty Seat Belt Issue? Let's work on this again

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

A few months ago, there was a discussion which voiced concerns about most canine seat belts were not meant to be used / were not made for, dogs over 40lbs. 

Dog Car Seat Failure

Twice I have had to stop suddenly and Spud came forward.  He was completely free and roaming around the van.  So, WTD?  How did that happen?   

Here is what happened to the buckle that snaps into the actual seat belt attachment.

 

This bothers me so much, I was thinking of going to a junk yard, cutting off the attachment with about 3 feet of strap and taking it to a seamstress to reinforce a new setup for me.   What do you think of this idea?

Any other ideas that have come up since then?   Any other products?  With the manufacturing of today, I think making my own would work better.  Nothing but Junk to be purchased out there that would cost more money only to have this happen again.  Or worse, my dog becomes injured or even ejected from the car. This is also a simple safety feature we rely on so he does not bolt for that squirrel in the parking lot or the jogger...etc. Really, he needs to be strapped into the seat for many reasons.

 

**P.S. Thank you, BruceGirl. It was the best thing anyone has urged me to do~ strap my dog in for safety**  Now, I just have to rethink this idea

In photo number two, it's difficult to show you the metal is warped.  But it just broke right out of the car seat.

UPDATE

UGH!

I have screwed up so badly.

I went to a Facebook page to 'report' a faulty product/ my seat belt that did not work.   Am I that dingy that I thought there was an agency to report faulty dog safety products?  * I suppose I am.

I posted my complaint and concerns on a business page.  An owner or manufacturer of dog safety products and seat belts.  But, I did not buy my product from them.  As a matter of fact, my product did not have a name on it at all. So, I have no idea where it came from... but certainly, it was not this company.

Someone contacted me.  I will update this blog and probably rewrite this as a separate discussion after I speak with them some more.

Possibly, we may have a new product to recommend for the future.  A good product that keeps our dogs safe.

 

 

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

Hi Joanne.....Here is something similar to what I use.

You can buy seatbelt extenders too.  If you would like one made let me know.  One of our friends has a machine shop and makes parts for us all the time.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Wow. Interesting! 

[Jennifer and Jack]

That would take Jack right to the e d of the seat and hang him...at least that is how it looks.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Tina,
How kind of you for offering to help. Thank you.
I sure have missed you and Tu Tu girl :)
Glad to see you here

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Here is where I think the fault lies....and as Nicky mentioned, " I still think even if you reinforce it, it's only as strong as the weakest point which seems to be the metal coupling or am I missing something?"

The metals are soft, bendable, pliable. Not good materials at all. We need something that can hold humans. After all, we are talking about heavy dogs.

Look at the difference in my car safety belt attachment and my broken dog safety belt attachment.  ( and I am going to write the Dog Auto Safety Administration)

What I did not capture in this photo is the thickness of the metals but that seems to be an issue also.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

What about buying a human seatbelt buckle (I'm sure you could find one somewhere.. maybe a replacement buckle?).  Then you could attach that to a strong dog harness.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

That's what I 'm going to do.

[BG and Gavin]

Hi Joanne- I really want to help here.  I dragged Gavin from his nap to go out to shoot some pictures of my set up.  It came out of my head, but is has worked really well for us and as you know we had a very close call and Gavin barely shifted.  If you have a good harness all you need to buy is a coupler for $15 or so.  The coupler is adjusted to its shortest and goes around the seat belt in the back seat.  The seat belt is not plugged in the the receiver.  It does not have to be because it tightens on any quick pressure (as you will know if you pull your own seatbelt quickly over your shoulder and it locks in place before you get it to the receiver). It also alows him to move around a bit (like your seatbelt does when you lean forward to change radio stations for example. 

The weak point of the harness is at the back where it clips together, but that is where the two metal rings are.  I clip through both to lessen the stress on either one and if one fails, you are still clipped into the other.  I have a split fold rear seat which is nice as Gavin can lay right down while facing forward on long trips to the cottage.  I also took pictures with the seat in regular position as it works that way too.

laying down:

sitting up:

hooked through both rings

coupler is around the seatbelt  and the seatbelt is not hooked into the receiver

Please note that this is my own "invention" and I provide anecdotal evidence only, based on my private experience.  I cannot guarentee it.  No lawsuits please.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Gavin, thank you so much for helping me and getting up from your nap.   This is great idea. No Lawsuits from me. Ever.

LIKE LIKE LIKE!

I'll show F.J. and certainly we can work something similar out with our situation. 

Right now, we have a leash wrapped around the back of the seat and are belting him in. It works for now, but we really were looking for something more reliable.  Maybe I can just close this discussion :)

Thanks, once again, BruceGirl

I'll also have to think about the Harness as ours hooks in the front, but I think this can be done

[Star and Goldie]

Wow I'm super impressed with how reasonably priced those are. I read the descriptions before scrolling to the prices and was expecting to see a huge dollar sign! I think I may actually purchase the Champion Restraint Strap. Thanks for posting this. I've been trying to figure out what to get and I think I'll give this one a try :)

[BG and Gavin]

That looks pretty sturdy Sandy.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Thank you, Sandy! Like this setup a lot.