Our GSP is now 14 months old and hasn't done much in the way of car travel - a few journeys but what with CV19 etc most of the walking has been from home. For travel so far he's quite enjoyed himself flopped across the kids in the back of the car (harness attached to seatbelt) but he's too much of a lump for that to carry on.
What do others do with larger dogs? We have a mondeo estate so plan is for him to be in the boot but do we just use a guard to stop him climbing over the back seats or do people use crates etc? I'm talking more about longer journeys that a quick 10 minutes.
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Bought a van, he lives in the back with small fan and water bowl when travelling. Plenty air for him and room to make self comfortable even when we loaded for family trip.
Prior to that large dog in boot of estate with guard behind seats.
Dog guard above rear seat to stop dog climbing over. If you still need to put stuff in the boot then you can get dividers to split the boot into 2 so you have a safe area for the dog where stuff won't fall onto them. Check out Guardsman dog guards and Travall. With a popular car like a Mondeo you may get lucky 2nd hand.
GSP here too (3 years old tomorrow). We use a universal fit guard that loops round the rear headrest supports. When he was a pup he could squeeze round the edges of it but soon grew too large. I don't bother with the extra clip on bits as they look clunky as hell.
We've used that model with our previous GSP too, so it's getting on for 15 years old and has been used in Audi A3, Nissan Quashqai, Mini Countryman, Seat Leon, and currently Suzuki S-Cross.
We've no kids though, so non-dog content can get stashed on rear seat. With an estate, a divider or half width crate sounds like a good idea.
Boot, dog guard, splitter if needed or get a cage/crate.
If you're precious about your boot/seat backs looking like Chewbacca's back after the dog gets out then some kind of liner for floor and seat backs will be useful.
Dog hair is for some reason a weapons grade pita to hoover off car carpets.
We use a dog guard and a boot splitter.
I think I like the look of the guard and splitter over a crate but do you still tie the mutt to anything or give him free rein to move around? Ours is more likely to stare through the bars whining for hours rather than settle and sleep!
No need to tie them to anything. What would that achieve?
Ours didn't travel well initially (rubber boot liner makes cleaning half digested dog food up much easier). However got better with age and usually stares out of the back window giving puppy eyes to whoever is behind us and occasionally lies down or looks at us through the grill.
We've had cages and dog guards in the past. This time round we have gone the travel harness route. In the boot secured to the load tie down points with an all chain lead. The little pooches have chewed through cloth and leather leads before we settled on steel chain.
Wasn't sure whether it was safer for the mutt if tied - probably no difference, just wanted to know what others are doing. The TransK9 cages look pretty nice actually although they seem solid sided which might get hot
We have a boot guard separating the cabin from the back. our GSP just goes in and has a sleep.
Labrador and a Lintran box here. They aren’t cheap - even secondhand they can be a hefty price, but well made, reasonably cool and mine travels perfectly happily on a comfy vet-bed lining.
Volvo V70 with built in retractable dog guard. Bert has happily travelled to Spain and back dozing on his donut bed.
Years ago, my bosses dog (Cavalier King Charles) died when clipped into alead type restraint on its collar in the boot of his Octavia estate without a guard. Jumped over the seat, lead was too short and it basically hanged itself. 😕. So make sure you use a harness if you use a restraint, not just a collar. We use a dog guard with divider (Travall one like the pic above) in our Discovery.
Berlingo just has a ‘universal’ tube type dog guard as it’s quick to take out when we want to drop seats for bikes.
That’s for a Springer x Lab and a Pomeranian. The Pom is harder to keep restrained without the guards as she’s small enough to wriggle through gaps and the thick fur/hair makes it hard to get a harness cinched down tight enough to stop her wriggling out of it.
The SxL is far better behaved although I think he misses the days of sitting on the passenger seat of my 90 with his head out of the sliding window! Just a seatbelt clip in lead type restraint in those days.
That boot splitter looks just the job to stop the kids invading each others space during long journeys
We dont bother with a guard - just train the dog to stay in the back (we never leave him alone in the car though). On the odd occasion when he has travelled on the back seat, use a harness and seat belt clip - never fix this to the collar as a sudden deceleration can break their necks.
Being a dog owner and having been behind a car whose boot popped open on a roundabout with 2 greyhounds falling out and then scarpering I'd say use a harness just in case.
Having said that I also got rear-ended in traffic with the 3 dogs in the boot last week (they're all fine, just shaken) which means I'm a bit hesitant about putting them in the boot again. I'm sure I'll get over that as I reckon they'd have been worse off in the cabin of the car.
Previous two estate cars have had a built in cargo net to create a vertical wall and separate the boot (5 series and E class). Dog or dogs went in the back just fine
Now have a T6 Kombi and due to the layout the dog just comes in the front with us. Usually lying between the captains chairs up front but sometimes lying across the floor in the back with the kids (who are on the chairs!)
GSP here, 9 years old, he's always just been in the boot (estate cars). Always been happy just there - journey's over two hours. Doesn't try to climb over seats, doesn't have a bed or anything. Just sleep in the room he has got. Which is sometimes very little.
@mattbee Has it for tethering in the car, clip to harness not collar. Sudden deceleration with a collar tether will break a neck or damage the nerves.
Ford Kuga, Labrador and a Travall boot guard and splitter, which works really well. The space is big enough for him to turn around, but small enough to be snug, and he just lays down and goes to sleep. Really good system for us…
Our lurcher goes in boot and falls asleep, no dog guard needed.
My 2 GSPs just sit in the boot of my estate car. Don’t over complicate it.
I think I like the look of the guard and splitter over a crate but do you still tie the mutt to anything or give him free rein to move around?
We dont, couple of old cushions/towels/rugs in the boot and the dog just goes in her side. She can turn round, but not enough space to rattle around. She lies down most of the time, will sit up and look some times.
Its handy to be able to fill the other side of the boot to the roof if needed.
We dont bother with a guard – just train the dog to stay in the back
Dog guard is also to stop the dog hitting you in the event of a crash.
Not a dog but a cat, when travelling he either goes in a rucksack on the passenger seat or the passenger's lap. He is not allowed to roam free as he inevitably makes a beeline for the foot well and is likely to get squashed under a pedal.
I do see a lot of dogs on the driver's laps, not sure how safe that is...
Question for the trav all users - how long to fit/remove with the centre splitter?
I regularly drop the middle row of seats in the SMax for bikes and sailing stuff so I'm wondering how much hassle it will be to fit/remove that style of guard? Headrest mounted ones are a bit of a pain ime.
Not sure how the Travall splitter works but I've got the Guardsman version and can remove the splitter and guard in less than 2mins. Takes a couple of minutes longer to fit.
^ thank you. 👍
Small Muensterlander and a Mondeo here.
Rubber boot liner and a guard on the back seat. I strap the luggage in place so it won't fall on her and she sleeps in the space available.
She's good for 2-3 hour stints with walks and water in between. That's for the 20hr journey home from South Germany to North Yorkshire.
Large dog here in a golf estate. We have the guardsman set with the divider and a rubber floor mat. He is also clipped into the isofix top teacher mounts on the back of the seats. This is as much as it means no chance of him bundling his way out when the bit is opened. On collar at the moment as the is stupidly reactive to harnesses. Will no harness once we get him over the harness aversion. Tether is set with lots of slack.
Question for the trav all users – how long to fit/remove with the centre splitter?
Literally 30 secs - unscrew a retaining bolt and lift it off the two little pegs in the top...
Edit: If you meant just the centre splitter - the whole thing is a bit more of a faff, but not horrendous - 5 mins max.
Thanks all for the advice! The guard and centre splitter (is this 'just' a centre splitter or can it be position where you like on the guard?) seem best for us. No way our guy is staying in the boot without guards!! Hopefully he will get more used to it given time...
The Guardsman splitter can go where ever you want. I think the Travall only splits 50:50 but you'd need to confirm that with someone who has one.
The travall can be out wherever you want (on my Discovery, anyway.)
What does the hive mind think about with regards crashing with a dog? I'm wary of dog being injured and dog injuring those in the vehicle, but haven't a solution for either.
Having been hit by the contents of a car in an accident the thought of 40kg of dog being loose scares the crap out of me (was not my car, had all sorts of crap inside).
I’m wary of dog being injured and dog injuring those in the vehicle
My next car will be an estate and will have a secure guard for this exact reason, she's about 26kgs and would make quite a dent in the windscreen in the worst case scenario.
@boombang this is exactly why we travel with a guard in the Mondeo or tethered to a 3rd row belt via harness in the C8. 36kg of greyhound flying about isn't going to end well, nothing to do with whether he stays in his space or not.
Good call guys thanks - we are looking at Schnauzers (so way less mass to injure us but plenty to hurt them) and it's there in my mind as we search for a new car. Probably should be considering the safety of my son above all else but it hasn't really been part of the thought process so far.
The guard and centre splitter (is this ‘just’ a centre splitter or can it be position where you like on the guard?) seem best for us.
Travall depends on the model, it says on the website if its fixed 50:50 or not. You can make it adjustable if you drill another 2 holes and weld on another nut (on mine)
