how a dog should travel in car?

[VickyG]

Hi all,
Henry is 4 months old now and when we've been travelling in the car he either goes on the passengers knee or if I'm alone I've been putting him in our old cat carrier with the lid off so he can still stand up as he likes to look out of the window and I've been putting this on the passenger seat next to me 

Now he's getting bigger he can't fit in the cat carrier and soon will be too big for a knee and I'm thinking what is the best way for taking him in the car.  If we go in my car it's a new style honda civic hatchback so my options are-

- on the back seat with a seat belt harness on (where do I get these and are they any good?)
- in the boot with the parcel shelf off obviously but will I need a dog guard?
- in the boot in a new soft crate?

When were in OH's car it'll be on the back seat as it's a saloon car, any other ways to transport a doglet?
Please don't tell me I need to get an estate car I've already had to succumb and buy a wax jacket and wellies   

[silly milly]

i bought a soft crate - size medium for my 2.

it is brilliant cos i can just fold it down when dogs are not travelling with us.

they are very happy in it. 

when little daughter dog-sat a couple of weeks ago, she borrowed it and it fitted on the back seat of her fiesta.
i have a scenic and it goes in the hatch - parcel shelf off.

its great cos no more doggie licked windows! 

[Mundyboy]

Start as you mean to go on.  Dogs sitting on seats without any restarint can be lethal.  Safety straps are good (P@H, Halfords) but IMO not comfortable on a very long journey.  Soft crate in the back is good and you could transfer this to OH car and secure it with safety straps.  You will know where you dog is and what he is up to.  Having said all this I allowed Mundy to sit up front on a couple occasions for short journeys and now have one heck a problem to get him to sit in the back of the bus.

[dorrit]

Mine travel in the back, harnessed.

[supergirl]

When Misha was little, I got a car crate from Doggie Solutions which has sloped sides so that it fits the slope of the back seats when in the boot.  However now both my dogs travel in the boot.  Haven't needed a dog guard, as neither of them has shown any sign of wanting to climb over the back seats.  Might just depend on your dog as to whether you need a dog guard.

[Crazy Cocker Gang]

We have a dog guard and Jack travelles behind it in the boot.
We still put Brie in the boot so she gets used to going in there but shes got through the dog guard and is on the front seat before we hav even got into the car. 
We are saving for a dog box 

[louis mum]

Alfie sits on the front seat in a harness. He appears comfortable enough in it TBH, but in my car we only do shortish journeys (only got two seats so cant fit the OH in too)  Longer trips or if the 3 of us are going out together we go in OH 's car, and Alfie sits on me on the back seat  I wouldnt leave him unharnessed alone in the back, and I know I shouldnt really when he is with me in the back. 

[sunningwell]

We use a harness in the back seat. Clix Car Safe medium size. Seems fine even for long journeys. I prefer it to a crate as I found it difficult to get crate in and out easily.

[Coco]

- in the boot with the parcel shelf off obviously

   

I think the dog makes the difference. How well behaved they are in the car and how much that like it. May be worth testing boot travel before investing in a the crate/guard.

My girls are up front for short journeys (we only use my car for maybe 15 minute max rides) and in OH's it's usually in the back.
ETA: Halfords harness but most pet shops do them too

[Sheryl]

Please don't tell me I need to get an estate car

    That is exactly what I did.  Kali is fine but Lyla didn't like a harness so when we bought the 2nd car I got an older Avensis estate.  I get the 2 solid crates in side by side.  Kali is well behaved enough to sit still if we had nothing but Lyla is always trying to climb in, around and over your head, so crate it was

[Claire83]

On the backseat in a harness, purchased from P@H. She tends to sleep and if we're on a long journey we have regular stop off so she can stretch her legs.  She's been in a harness from 5/6 months old now.

[MuffinsMum]

Muffin travels in the back with a harness, she happily lies down and we have taken her on long journeys with my two kids/teenagers in the back aswell.  We have a saloon car so securing a crate and 2 kids in the back was not an option.  If she was loose in the car I would worry about her clambering around onto my knees or under my feet whilst I was driving or her weight being flung forward in the event of an accident.

[Cob-Web]

A dog that travels in a car unrestrained (even in the boot of a hatchback without a guard) can not only be killed in an accident, but can also kill a passenger in the car by being propelled into them at speed 

The Animals Welfare Act 2006 places a duty of care/responsibility on dog owners to protect their animals from injury; there have been some instances where this has been interpreted to include safe transportation of dogs in cars.

[JaspersMum]

A good compromise is a soft crate like the Dog Bag http://www.dog-bag.co.uk/

You could put it in the boot in the hatchback plus there are seat belt type attachments that you could use in OH's saloon.

They often have cheaper ex-demo models on the website but I picked up a bargain, lightly used one on ebay.  Ours will double up as Heidi's crate on holidays and I've used it at shows too, so multi use.  It also folds like a pop-up tent into a rucksack so easy to store and transport when wanted.

Personally I am a great believer in crates of some sort in the car, for the dogs safety and for passengers.  I do not like to have the dog sitting on anyones knee unrestrained.  A friends dog travelled this way and when they had a crash, the dog was flung from the car and died instantly, it could easily of killed one of them too 

We have estate cars so have metal crates having tried a dog guard and found that the universal ones didn't fit securely in my car anyway!

[sabrino]

Milo tavels in all manner of ways- he has leant to be adaptable depending on whose car...

in the boot with a dog guard (I would NEVER put him in without as if you break too hard/crash that would be him straight through the windscreen... in the boot in a metal crate (Although I want to change to a plastic ferplast one as the noise is sooo annoying)(I only use this for flyball)... or on the back seat with a harness (most of the time).