Car suitable for large dog

cazziebo

Until recently, I've had an estate care which was perfect for ferrying around dog and children. As of this year , both DDs will have left home (yay :T) so it will just be me and the dog.

I'm looking for a smaller car, but with enough room to take the dog. I was thinking Honda Civic (5 door hatch) having looked at Audi A3 (bit small in the boot). He's a big dog -Old English - but very well behaved and no problem on car journeys.

I am slightly concerned that if it's not an estate he won't be able to see me so that might upset him?

picklepick

What about a Focus?
I have one and the dogs can see me from the boot and theres plenty of space. I've had a large boxer in there no probs and he had plenty of room. I've also had a gangly irish red setter in there and he had lots of head room when sitting so no probs there either.

lisawood78

I can get 2 Great Danes in my Ford Focus, either one on the back seat and one in the boot, both in the back with the seats down or both on the back seats if it's just a quick nip out say to the vets or somewhere.
They have seatbelt clip harnesses on at all times and they are no trouble at all.

Bunny

not sure whether it'll be big enough for an old english, but I got my Yaris (newer model 06) the back seats fold flat and i can fit 2 german shepherds in there with room to lie down, I used the middle seat belt to attach the dogs car harness

Flearoy

Bit pricey but Audi A3 sportbacks look to have a good boot for a hatch. VW Golfs are also surprisingly roomy. Focus hatch an option too. A bit left field, but have you considered a Vauxhall Signum? They have a very big boot for a hatch, and depreciated like crazy, so should be cheap now.

arlybarly

I have a citroen picasso and my 2 big German Sheps can both lie down in the boot no problem.

hethmar

I have the new Golf Plus. We went for a Golf but once we saw how much more room the Plus has for the mutts, we bought that. Lovely car, higher off the ground and with a lot more head room. The back seats push forward so you could have a huge amount of room for your dog if you dont need the rear seats on a journey. (We looked at the Civic but decided it was too small and cramped for us - ditto the Audi, which hurt my back getting out!).

tobyjug

We have a very large labradoodle and he fits easily into my husbands golf, he is even comfortable in my mini clubman...

nomnomnom

Seat Leon.

eira

I bought a 520 SE BMW (an old one) as I couldn't find a car big enough for my much loved Newfie cross. He lay accross the back seat and loved it. There wasn't room for passengers though. I did look into dog guards but unless they are welded into the vehicle they won't hold 62kg of dog in the event of an accident.

He had a seatbelt harness (not all harness have a weight safety limit on them-there are specialist suppliers on line). I covered the seats with Halfords mega tough seat covers (and they really are tough) and bought old blankets from charity shops. These just peeled off for human passengers

I did find that there isn't much around in the way of fancy stuff for very very large dogs

magpiedawn

My very big German Shepherd can sit stand lie in the back of my Mercedes A class