Car Crates, one more time?

[Stacy]

I know, I've been procrastinating on this for over a year, but I just couldn't decide what to put in the back of the car for the girls. But I've been using a wire crate for the last few months and I'm ready to upgrade. The wire crate rattles when I drive (it's not that safe either) and it's about to drive me batty. I'm narrowing down on sizes though, so... help? 

Currently I have a 36" long X 22" wide X 24" tall wire crate. And Maggie curls up in it and is happy to ride. She loves to go. I look back and she's curled up in half the crate.

They say that dogs should have less space in the car crate because in an accident there's not as much room for them to bounce around. She also wouldn't be in there for excessively long periods at a time. 

Katie has a crate about the size of the Roughland intermediate, and I tried Maggie in it. She fits, but she was looking at me like, why are you stuffing me in this crate? But, if we were about to ride in the car, she would probably be happier about it. 

So my decision is between the RL large and intermediate crates. I think I can get 2 intermediates side by side in the back, and that would be nice because I think there will be times I want to take 2 at the same time. 

RL Large dimensions: 34"x22"x25"H

Intermediate: 30"x19.5"x22"H (those are all interior dimensions) 

Maggie is 24" at the shoulder, so she would pretty much have to lay down in the intermediate. But she can't really stand comfortably in the large either. And she does lay down when we ride. I'm not sure if I should worry about the height or not.

I'm just struggling with if it's cruel to stuff her in the intermediate or if we need to stick with the large. 

I already have significantly more crates than dogs. I would love to get this right on the first try.

Thanks!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have the Kurgo harnesses also.  We have two that we got when we had our jeep.  The problem for us is that we have a Volvo SUV and the dogs don't ride in seats but in the back.  I worry that we aren't keeping them safe but I also can't figure out how we could safely tether three dogs without them tangling.

[Stacy]

I totally agree that anything is better than nothing. Even my rattley wire crate. I like to let them ride loose in the back when we just go to the bank or the car wash. It’s only the highway where I get nervous. Some of the more expensive setups would take up the entire back and I wouldn’t easily be able to remove it so we couldn’t do that anymore. And you two must have more laid back dogs than I do. I’ve done the harness thing attached to the seat belt connector and I look back and they’ve either stepped in the belt release and freed themselves or they’re completely wrapped around it and I almost crash trying to untangle them. They weigh enough to trigger the airbag in the front seat and that would probably be worse than them being loose in back. I’m trying to find a happy medium, but it’s not that easy. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Jasper is very laid back. He is so still and quiet in the car I get nervous that something's happened to him, and he's too small to be visible in my rearview mirror.
But he's also riding solo. It might be different if he had company back there.

[Stacy]

He's such a good boy. I bet he would have a harder time stomping on the belt release too. 

I like the transk9 crate. But when it's installed the rear seats are supposed to be up. The good part of that is that I could let the girls ride on the back seat when we just went for short trips in town. The bad part is that they would be all the way in the back and I couldn't see them at all. But the shipping on that one is $250. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to spend that on shipping and then decide that it's not the right fit for us. Not to mention that the crate itself is $930. What I really want is to find someone local who has one and check it out, but I haven't found anyone with one yet.

I've been reading a little more on the ruff tough website and they say smaller is better for car travel. I've been looking at the size crates that people say they put their dogs in and I think the intermediate is right. Cabelas has them in stock. I just need to go out there and try it. They have a good return policy. Everyone enjoys Maggie's XL Ruff Tough in the house. I missed out. They had a limited run of their crates in purple. That would have been the one I wanted. Now I have to settle for boring old white. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Riley finds DH's trunk far more comfortable than the front seat of my car since in my car she is clipped to the seat belt and has to sit down.  There's just really nowhere else for her to sit in my car due to the kids.  It's very rare though that she rides in my car (just go to swim at grandma's while DH is at work) and it's likely being replaced before next Summer.

When she's in DH's trunk she just settles down and watches the world go by, she has the kids for "company" since they are in the seats just in front of her, maybe that helps I don't know.  

[Stella]

If she pretty much always lies down then you should be fine with the intermediate. My boy is taller than my Variocage, but he always lies down in the car so it's not an issue. Fitting two crates in side by side is so much easier than having to stagger them or have one turned sideways, especially when it comes to tying them down. If you have them side by side try to get the two door model if your budget can stretch to it. That way you have a way of getting the dog out if one of your car doors gets stuck shut because of an accident. 

[Wendy Perkins]

We have two ALD doodles (ages 13 and 10) that we use soft sided crates for a 2 hour trip twice a week. They have always travelled this way. I do like the idea of a two door crate - in case of an accident- makes great sense. Both crates have a fluffy sherpa fleece pad to help "cushion" the trip and fill the space a bit. Seamus sleeps the whole time and Katie  likes to sit up and see where she is going. Both crates are a size smaller than their "house" wire crates that we refer to as their condos. We leave the doors open in the house and they pop in when they want some down time. I tried a car harness on Seamus but he was much more comfortable in the crate.

[Stacy]

 

 

This is what they will travel in when I win the lottery!  Actually that's not true. When I win the lottery I'm going to buy the girls an RV and we're just going to spend our lives traveling from one national park to the next and hiking.

I also have a soft sided crate that I bought to take to the dog show. Somehow I've ended up with 9 crates for 3 dogs. I think I have a problem. Or I could have one heck of a slumber party over here! I'm reluctant to part with any of them though. Some of them don't fit the dogs I have now, but maybe someday... 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, you might be the first crate hoarder I know!

[Stacy]

I know, right? I also have a couple failed baby gates that I should sell instead of storing. The irony is that I try to live the life of a minimalist. And I'm mostly successful, except for dog stuff.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, IF I get another puppy, maybe I'll borrow some of your hoard. LOL

[Stacy]

I have a really cute end table crate that would be just the right size for a mini poodle. It was Olivia's and it's too small for either of my big girls. My brother is supposed to be designing and building a crate for Willow that will double as a TV stand. I like double duty furniture. And I don't see this naughty little one being free in the house for a long time. She's still naughty when I'm here!