Almost a disaster in the car this morning...

[April S.]

I took Luna to the vet this morning, we were on the interstate going about 60 or so and came around a corner to an accident - the person in front of us slammed their brakes - I slammed mine and Luna came flying into my shoulder from the back seat.  She yelped and got back up on the backseat and was just whimpering a little bit.   She really hit hard because my shoulder and arm were throbbing in pain from it.   We got to the vet and I had them check her out for that they said she is fine.....   While we were there (Banfield inside Petsmart) - I bought a hammock for the backseat so this never happens again.  I guess I never thought about it - until now -about Luna's safety in the car.   It could have been way worse!!  Very thankful it wasn't!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I've seen the hammocks and I have no idea how those would prevent a dog from coming forward, propelling out of the windshield, slamming into humans, or worse yet ejected.

Car safety harnesses are improving yearly.  Best bet is to get your dog into a harness and seat the dog just as you would child.

The dogs get used to it very fast.

I used Pet Auto Safety to advise me on the newest and safest methods and I swear by their service! 

https://www.facebook.com/PetAutoTravelSafety

Ask Dawn to help you. 

[KLN]

This is SOOO scary! I'm so glad everyone was ok! I didn't realize until I did some research a couple years back how important it is to have our pups restrained in the car. Accidents are much more common than we think with our dogs in the car. Mine love to look out all the windows so I did a ton of research to find a product that was super safe but didn't restrict them from enjoying their "ride". I found kurgo products and LOVE them! They have a harness/tether option that is actually crash tested (there are multiple options so you have to look for the crash tested one). It's a harness with metal buckles/hardware with a leash that attaches to a tether that you can put across the top of the backseat (it attaches easily to the two backseat handles). The dogs have free reign to go back and forth in the backseat and can look out the window or lay down. You can adjust the length that they have very easily (there are little loops in the leash). I HIGHLY recommend this product. It was very cost effective, works with both my pups, looks great, and works fantastically! You can purchase them through amazon or site direct at the kurgo website.

It's a pain to have to harness the pups up when we go places but so worth it of something were to happen. Plus, I'm not the best driver and am often slamming on my breaks because I'm not paying attention. ;0)