Travelling with dogs

con1888

This is a bit of two birds with one stone thread.

First of all I will ask if anyone can recommend me a car with a HUGE boot that would be big enough for two GSDs.

Secondly I want to ask what method you all use for when you have dogs in the car ?

zaksmum

con1888 wrote: »

This is a bit of two birds with one stone thread.

First of all I will ask if anyone can recommend me a car with a HUGE boot that would be big enough for two GSDs.

Secondly I want to ask what method you all use for when you have dogs in the car ?

Do you mean like an estate car? I'm sure you're not really considering putting them in the boot!

We have a Peugeot and just have both dogs on the back seat where they snooze throughout the journey. They are quite happy with that.

My old dog used to come onto my lap after about 5 minutes for a cuddle which was a pain from both safety and comfort points of view. I could only ever see where we were going by looking between the dog's ears - I was the passenger, in case anybody's wondering...!

lionheartedgirl

I have a big estate car (10yo Audi A6 Avant), my 2 greyhounds are very comfy in the boot. It's colossal, they look completely lost in there, there is so much space. I put one of their beds (single duvet folded over) in the boot, and in they go. They can stretch out very comfortably and I don't get a peep out of them. I stop every 2 hours at the very least on a long journey, just to stretch their legs/water the grass etc

The car came with a dog guard which rolls down if they're not in the car, but if it hadn't come with it I would have bought one. This would help stop them going through the windscreen if I had a crash.

I don't secure them via doggy seatbelts or anything like that, but I do leave their leads on. I had a long chat with the rescue centre they came from as to whether there was a bigger risk of them strangling themselves by standing on the lead, or running off if the boot came open or the car caught fire in an accident. (I am a bit neurotic about them, I do worry about things like that!) At least if they ran off you would have slightly more of a chance of catching hold of their leads

con1888

Yes an estate lol, hatchback bit. I am clueless with cars, so to me the bit where the shopping goes is the boot lol...

con1888

at the moment in my wee Punto he sits/lies on the backseat in a RAC harness but it's not ideal as he is going to get bigger and bigger and when I have passengers will be too big !

skivenov

Do you need 4 seats plus the hounds or can you do with the rear seats dropped down when they're in?

con1888

skivenov wrote: »

Do you need 4 seats plus the hounds or can you do with the rear seats dropped down when they're in?

4 plus hound, there is only me and boyfriend but we go caravan trips in the summer and take my two neices

con1888

At the moment only have one GSD but would like another at some point so no point getting car that only fits one.

krlyr

I went to the local Carcraft and looked around. No intention of buying at their crazy prices, but you could really look around each car - they're all unlocked so you can open them up, climb in, check the boot etc. When I mentioned that I was after something for two large dogs, they recommended a Skoda estate car - might have been the Octavia? I checked it out and the boot was absolutely huge! Plenty of room for the dogs. I did decide against an estate for the time being though as I felt it was too much of a leap from a Micra! I ended up going for a hatchback Focus, though think now I would be happy to drive a slightly bigger. It would be nice to be able to have back seats I could use at times, as to fit my two I have to put the back seats flat.
I've had guards custommade for my car/setup and find them fab for keeping the dogs secure. Not only are they safely behind a guard so they can't bother the driver, but when I open the boot, the tailgate guard keeps them in until it's safe to take them out, no jumping out as soon as it pops open. Also, it has a (key) lockable door so if I was out and about and wanted the dogs to have some fresh air, I could leave the boot open but have the dogs remain secure. I aso bought a Hatchbag liner to keep it all clean inside.




The estate version, you would have the interior guard sitting behind the rear seats, so the dogs were contained to the boot area.

Faith177

We use to take our two huge huskys to dog training on the back seat of a KA :eek:

They loved it !

Molly is naturally nosy so she just use to look out the window. End result doggy nose prints ALL over the window. OH was not pleased and made me clean it! :mad:

Codey on the other hand use to lay down and crash out I think the noise of the car and the vibrations work for him like they do on some babies

izzydogsam

I have a Honda Accord Sports Tourer (estate) for my GSD & reckon you could get two in there ok, as long as they got on with one another well. I also have the Barjo dog guard & tail gate guard and absolutely love them. Not the cheapest but they have more than earned their keep for us!