Pets
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large breed dog and car travel?
I've noticed a lot of people taking about their safety harnesses for the car. Currently my dog just sits wherever there is room in my small SUV for him but we are having another baby and he def will not be able to sit in the middle with two car seats soon. What kind of safety thing does he need for the way back that will fit in my car along with all of our stuff? Or is it unnecessary since there is a separator between the back and the seats?
Re: large breed dog and car travel?
You make a really good point about the harness. I actually never thought about that. We have two small dogs that just sit on their bed in the back seat, or on someone's lap if we have passengers with us.
We also just got a female German Sheperd, who is now almost 4 months old. We are going to try to crate her, since she will be too big to just wander around our single cab truck or small SUV, especially if there are passengers. Right now she isn't fond of crates, but I'm hoping that it's just a puppy fear and that she will grow out of it. Of course if she doesn't, we will work around it. I'm not about to force my dog to do anything that would make her nervous and uncomfortable.
What is your thought on crating? It would be securely strapped down.
If the backseat is full when we go somewhere then the dog usually just goes in the back (trunk?) of the SUV. Ours is a lab mix, about 75 pounds and he loves it back there!
A harness would concern me if there was a crash because then the dog couldn't get out. What if they needed to escape because the back was crushed or the vehicle was on fire? If the driver and passengers are unconscious I wouldn't want my dog trapped, I'd want him to get himself to safety and try to get help. I realize not all dogs are Lassie's but I think most dogs would try to signal a problem somehow. I can understand the argument that the dog could wander away and get hit by a car, but I think keeping them trapped in a crushed/burning vehicle is a bigger risk.
Yeah. That is a pretty scary scenario. I guess I'm just going off the idea that that doesn't happen as often (and I haven't looked at statistics or anything)... I feel like I fairly frequently pass cars that have been in minor/mediumish crashes where the cars are banged up and the doors are hanging off, but I have never once passed a burning vehicle.
Also, I'm not often driving someplace where I would need the dog to go get help. If I'm going to wreck, it's going to be on an urban highway or a sidestreet. I drive across country maybe once a year, but I'm on a highway, so either it's packed and there will be people around, or it's the middle of nothingness, and I don't know what I could hit that it would cause a firey explosion of death.
ETA the harness is also helpful for long drives if I have to open the back at a stop (to get something out, or just to get the dog) because it keeps him from hopping out before I have a leash on him. I mean, I could probably do more training on Stay, but I feel like there are too many possible distractions to always be sure he would obey.
I'm sure a crate would work for this too. I just don't use one because I have a 90lb lab mix, and I don't want to deal with a crate that big. A lot of the time we rent an suv, put all our stuff in the back, lay his bed on the backseat and he lies on his bed with a harness. He likes to be close to us, and when we've harnessed him in the back so that he could have more room, he's climbed over the seat.
(unless you have him contained in the cargo area with a good hardware-mounted divider.)
I have a 70lb GSD, and he has a riding harness. We attach his harness to the car with a short climbing rope and a caribeaner. We do not want him to fly through the windshield if we were in a car accident. It is the same reason why humans should and mostly do wear seat belts in a car. We have a VW golf, so there isn't any room for a hard wired crate.
I become afraid when I see small dogs riding on their owners laps in the front seat. If they were in an accident, either the dog goes through the windshield or straight into air bags. Neither outcome sounds good.
Bottom line: harnesses and hard wired crates are the best for transporting your four legged family members.