New Testing for Pet Seatbelt Safety- Results to be Announced This Fall

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/keeping-pet-safe-car-19942280

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wow, the video is really a reality check! I'll be looking for the test results. 

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Finally - I am glad the testing is being done (sponsored by) a company(Subaru) that has no economic stake in the outcome.  Hopefully unbiased results.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I agree Andy. Many many are happy someone cares enough to test.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Wow - thank you for posting this.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I am so curious about this... THank you for posting..

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Until this becomes perfected it is no excuse not to use one.  I am linked to Pet Auto Safety Website and almost monthly people are looking for their dog that was ejected from a car. 

My thoughts are use what you have now. No excuse not to try.  Something is better than nothing.  Just be careful of the types of seat belts you purchase.  As always, do your homework and find what is the highest rated that we can get right now.   Some companies just manufacture JUNK.  Others are trying and testing.   I'll go with them

[Kyle, Maggie & Jack]

Thanks for posting. Very interested is hearing the results!

[Dawn Ross]

They gave some great advice at the end of this video. Contact the manufacturer, ask to see their testing results, and make sure the dog stays on the seat in the video.

To help dogs stay on the seat, use a shorter connecting tether. The Bergan tethers can be easily shortened. This helps dogs stay on the seat. The Kurgo loop tethers are short, but because they are attached to the seat belt of the car, they might stretch out to cause the dog to come off the seat. Kurgo has a new direct connect tether which can be shortened, but it is sold separately. Ruff Rider's tether has two sections it can used to connect to the car - one that makes it short and one that makes it long.

My dog Maya will not hold still in her dog car harness so I have to use a longer tether. I help give her additional safety by using the Kurgo Backseat Bridge which covers the floor of the car. She can still hit the back of the seat, but she doesn't get thrown on the floor. And I still feel that she is safer with a dog seat belt than she is without.

Last month, Maya and I were in a minor car accident. I was rear ended. It was bad enough to send stuff flying about in my car, but Maya was wearing her Kurgo dog car harness, with the Bergan tether, and she did not go flying.

[Breanna]

I hope I don't get attacked for this, but I've honestly never thought about using a seat belt, I've always just had my dogs in the back seat of the car. I don't think I've even ever seen someone use one. Maybe I should wait until after this testing to purchase one. My dog is still young and can't really go anywhere yet because of vaccines. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Breanna -- I would hope that no one would attack over an issue like this.  This is what Doodle Kisses is all about.  Try to educate and help new doodle owners.   I never really thought about it before I got the doodles because mostly my dog always stayed at home.  She wasn't in the car with me that much.  I realize there is a lot of info out there right now about how seatbelts don't really help all that much when in an accident.  However, they do help with a dog not bolting out of the car when you open the door in the middle of a busy town or by a busy roadway.   This way they get out when you are ready for them to get out.   They do stop the dog if you just have to stop really quickly.  We had one doodle here on DK end up with a broken leg when Dad was just running down the street to Home Depot and had to stop real quick and the dog flew onto the floor.  It also keeps them where you put them when you are driving.  You don't need to worry about them being all over the place in the car.  Right now we have a puppy as well and she is prone to zoomies at any given moment.  I can't imagine having her in the car and her getting a case of the zoomies and my trying to drive.  She would be hopping from the back to the front over and over again.  I think all of this attention lately is going to lead to lots more testing and some more high quality seatbelt systems and for that I'm grateful.  I have no idea if the system we have will survive a high impact accident, but I know for certain that the girls wouldn't have much of a chance at all without the system we have.  So, I opt to at least hope it will help until such time that they get more testing and new systems available.

[Dawn Ross]

I wanted to update you all and let you know the report from the nonprofit organization study was released in October. The results were much more favorable than their initial study in 2011. In the October 2013 report, 11 brands were tested. Five brands completely failed. Three brands partially failed in that some sizes held up while other sizes did not. Two brands did well. One brand did very well, the ClickIt Utility.

One thing to keep in mind about the ClickIt, though, is that it is very restrictive. Your dog will be able to sit or lie down with it on, but he will not be able to stand up. This is a good thing in a crash, but it is not so good for dogs who will not tolerate such confinement. Dogs who don't like the restriction can chew out of it or may try to wiggle out of it and could hurt themselves. So while the ClickIt is the best (and the most expensive) other brands are still good choices. Namely, the AllSafe and Ruff Rider Roadie (2nd after the ClickIt in safety). The RC Pet, Bergan, and Kurgo brands are also good choices at certain weights. The full report is on the website of the nonprofit organization that conducted the study, the Center for Pet Safety.

[Sally S Miles]

Thank you for the update, much appreciated!

I just checked and Amazon will have the Clickit available in a few weeks - good to see they now carry the Ruff Rider Roadie as well. 

So far nobody makes one for dogs with skinny necks and barrel chests, nothing fits our girl - sigh.