What's the right way for a dog to ride in a car?

[Elena]

I know you can't keep your dog in the back of the pickup truck while driving, but that's where my knowledge ends. Do I have to use a crate? Can I keep the dog in the passenger's seat? Do they ride standing, sitting or lying down?

I have a full-size sedan with a rear-facing Marathon in the middle. If I get a middle-size dog like a golden retriever, can it ride in one of the window seats in the back? Will it even fit?

Also, if I ever get a dog the size of a newfoundland, does it mean I absolutely have to get a minivan? If I move the carseat to the window and thus make 2/3 of the back row available, what size dog will be fine there? A spaniel?

Thanks in advance,

[Marisa6826]

Well, if you ask a vet or a trainer, they will likely say the dog should be crated while in a car. The reason for this is that the dog can be hit by a projectile - or can BE the projectile in an accident.

I also know of a vet whose patient was killed by an airbag from riding in the front seat.

I've had dogs ride up front, back seat and in a crate. Really, the crate has been the best alternative. The times that I've had the dog in the front seat, I'm admittedly more distracted. The one in the backseat tended to slide off the seat if I stopped short and/or was harrassed by the kids.

Unfortunately, our newest puppy gets carsick (BLECH!), so I have her in a soft sided collapsible crate from Target. I like that is secure enough to keep her contained, yet I can fold it up (like one of those kid tents with the flexible wires inside). I have it secured with bungee cords in the back of my SUV. I know you mentioned a regular sedan, and this particular crate actually comes with instructions for securing it with a three point seatbelt. I think I paid about $30 in Target's dog section.

As far as what position the dog stays in during the ride, it will depend on how long the trip is and how freaked out the dog is about riding in a car. I've had dogs that go right to sleep, and others that are antsy the entire time.

Oh, and just so you know, it's really dangerous to allow a dog to ride with its head out the window. They run a very high risk of foreign material puncturing their eyes. Owies!

Hope that answers some of your questions.

-m

[jayali]

I think, just like with children, the safest way for your doggie to ride is secured in the back seat. You can get a crate OR they have some great harnesses and even doggie seats that sit up high that you can then use a harness with.

That said we have had two cocker spaniels. Our first one we had from a puppy and was very comfortable in the car. She would hop up and curl up in the back seat behind me and sleep. We were bad parents and never secured her in. Our current cocker we got when she was ten and is now 13. She HATES the car. Doesn't get sick but shakes like a leaf. Add a toddler boy in a car seat and she really shakes. We don't secure her either (I told you we are bad parents!), but I know we should and it would probably make her feel better. She is only in the car for vet and grooming trips. Much less often then our first cocker so I am really just being lazy.

If I were to get a puppy again then I would either use a soft sided crate or harness from an early age so they got used to it. I would also recommend being very careful with a puppy and baby together someplace confined (like the car) and you not being able to get to them. My biggest fear now that Matthew is a toddler is that he will pull on Cinnie's ears or fur while I am driving (not to be mean because he knows better) and she will snap at him. My fears are somewhat mitigated by the fact that she has very few teeth (she is 13), but if I were to do another puppy at some point I would try to separate them if I could. Puppies teeth are VERY sharp and they mouth things (like little fingers and hands) when they play.

I say get a spaniel, but then again I am prejudiced.

Good luck.

[mskitty]

It depends a lot on the size and personality of your dog. My pup is an older Golden Retriever mix who will stop and sit next to the car door when we leave for walks hoping to go for a ride. If you have a smaller dog or cat, I would definitely crate them. The crate allows them the freedom to wiggle but yet does not have projectile potential in an accident.

Generally we put her in the back of the Saturn wagon or she rides shotgun in our old truck. We tried the harness that you put a seatbelt through. That is a good option if you train them with it from the beginning. She hated it after being allowed to sit free(she basically chewed her way out of it). We have trained her to sit or lay down on car rides so it is less likely she will go flying if something happens. She usually sits for the first 5 minutes then lays down. I drive a lot easier ie slowing way down going around corners, etc when she's in the vehicle with us.

If I had a child seat in the middle of the backseat, I would NOT put a dog on the seat next to it. Animals should not be unsupervised with small children. When you are driving, your attention is elsewhere. I would either put the crate on the floor for a small dog/cat or put the restrained larger dog in the front seat away from the child.

We generally take her for a ride every Sunday afternoon when we go to a trail for a long walk. I take her for lots of rides in the late summer. I plan on taking her with me to places where I'll be inside for less than a minute so the a/c will still keep the truck cool. Generally we go to the post office, bakery, bank drive-thru(local bank gives large milkbones while the national bank gives two small biscuits) and grab a drive-thru lunch so she gets some excitement when I'm unable to walk her due to the high heat and ozone levels.

I wouldn't get a huge dog. I had a hard enough time carrying my nearly 60lb mutt around when she messed up her knee/hip and couldn't walk. We had to do this for several days before and after surgery. Just something to think about if you are the primary caregiver to the dog...

Best of luck in your future dog adventures :)

MsKitty

PS You asked if a golden would fit. My dog will take up the half the back seat of the Saturn sitting, the whole back seat if she lays down across it. In our small truck, she sits or curls up like a fox on the passenger bucket seat. They can make themselves fit.

[smilequeen]

Now, ours are small dogs (pugs) but they ride in the back seat with Simon wearing these

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 9741&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032883&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1139086948302

[wendmatt]

Riley (our 60lb lab) wears a dog seatbelt/harness and rides in the back. SHe doesn't prefer it but gets over it after a while and I dont' want her to be a projectile and squash DD, as well as wanting to keep her safe. It's not as fancy as Simons, just a basic harness and you put a seatbelt through it.

[bostonsmama]

Somehow I just can't imagine a dog not getting hurt while in a crate in a car during an accident. In my mind slamming up against metal bars and or rigid platic under high G forces sounds like a recipe for broken bones. So, similar to smilequeen, we have the Easy Rider Pet harness. We got it after reading excellent reviews from Vets and owners online. The manufacturer has been making it the same way for years b/c it works well and is safest for your pets as long as (like a PP mentioned) your dog has a temperament that suits it....i.e., s/he can get used to having to sit in one place during the car ride. We used to let Boston (our beagle) ride wherever he wanted-in our laps, in the backseat, with his head out the window, but I just kept thinking about how in an accident he'd go right through the windshield...just like unrestrained humans do...and that's not a risk we wanted to take. He was also quite the distraction for my Dh, who often had to put up w/ Boston laying on his lap, wanting to be scratched/pet while we're driving, etc. I also feared him falling out an opened window while we're moving (since all dogs like to sniff the breeze outside...which he can do safely now that he's harnassed in). It was a great investment b/c we take Boston everywhere...on vacation, to the store with us, to the dogpark in the car, to my mother's house twice a week, to the vet, just out and about...he's in the car easily 5 times a week (for the past 4 years). He has enough room to move a little/turn around, and he has greater freedom if we use the center lapbelt. Usually he fights being belted down for about 5 seconds and then gives up and lays down for the remainder of the trip...but he's a very compliant/easy going dog. He's just about 30lbs and fits into a medium. We can't recommend it enough.

here's a link:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 8123&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032887&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1139119040797

Anyways, no judgment on anyone else, but just lots of positive experience with the Easy Rider.
Larissa
***Cheers! Here's to better luck in 2006!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
-James Baldwin

[caheinz]

Well, our dog is probably half-Newfoundland (technically "Chow mix" when adopted, but he is 90+ lbs, and DS calls the Newfie in the dog book we have by our dog's name).... we just put him in the back of our Saturn wagon. He tends to lie down when the car is moving (doesn't like being jostled, I guess), and there's no way we could fit a crate that would hold him anymore. (The one we have would barely hold him and only fits sideways, and there's no way either DH or I could lift the crate + dog up to the car...) And with a car seat in the car, the back seat isn't an option. (A minivan is on the wish list, though...) Though, we had the dog before DS, and the back seat never really worked for him anyways. We tried it once while pet-sitting another largish dog, and taking both to play at a dog park (with owner's consent!). We ended up having to put the seat down to make room for the both of them.

I can't think of a way to put our dog + a child's seat into a standard car...

As far as crates go, it's MUCH safer for a pet to be in a crate than loose in the car. We also have cats, and though I'm guilty of having let them go free in the past, I have come to the conclusion that it's safer for all involved if they're crated. I do try to "fix" the crate in the seat or on the floor, so it wouldn't fly if there were an accident. And, if the crate is the right size (just big enough for the animal to turn around -- these are travel crates, not crates for the house) -- the pet wouldn't really have far enough to fly to break anything even in a major accident. Plus, the crate is protecting the pet from anything else that may fly loose in this case.

If we had a smaller dog, we would definitely use a crate!

[Elena]

Thank you everybody who responded. I haven't thought that it wasn't safe to transport a dog and a baby next to each other in the backseat of the car. If the front passenger seat isn't the right place for a dog either because it's destracting for a driver, where can a dog go in a sedan? So many people have dogs; I can't believe they all switch to driving a minivan, SUV or a wagon because of it.
ETA: spelling

[wendmatt]

My lab is 6olbs and like I said rides on the back seat next to the car seat with a seat belt/harness. I have a Toyota Echo, so no I didn't go out ang get a minivan! It's a bit of a squash so if you got a bigger dog I don't know if they'd fit. If the only place they'd fit is the front seat, that'd be OK if you had the seat belt/harness on the dog.

[maestramommy]

Totally agree with the harness that works with a seatbelt, esp. for a dog as big as a golden. They really will feel more secure, and settle down for the ride. I see so many dogs in the beds of pickups, hanging out the window.. It looks cool, but what happens in accident? The one that makes me shudder is the dog tied down in the pickup bed.

If the dog rides on the side it will either have to sit up the whole trip, or it will do what my dog did, kind of perch with his butt in the seat and the front legs on the car floor.