Haulin' Hounds: How Do You Haul Yours?

[H2oWerker]

I'm bringing a beautiful Boxer puppy home tomorrow and have strapped her kennel to the floor of my Honda Element (if you've ever checked out their interior thoroughly you know how easy this was ). This will probably be the arrangement for the short term. I'd like to let her roam freely in the back on trips, but don't feel it's safe... I know that's obviously the most common way people load their dogs and go for a ride.

So I guess what I'm getting at is this:
Does anyone have any experience w/ these? Kurgo TruFit Smart Harness

[dunhamjr]

we let them roam in the cargo area of our wagons.
we have a cargo barrier so that they stay in back.

i guess technically it may be safer for them to be buckled into a doggie seatbelt/harness, but its been fine for a little over 4 yrs (and one accident) so far.

[TylerO28]

I had an element as well. I got a large metal kennel and strapped that down while my pup was little. Once she grew a little I just buckled her leash up through the loop onto the seat and she rolled in back no problem. My current hounds have harnesses that I attach their flexi leash to. They have a little loop that's on the flat area of the lead.that's where I put the buckle through... Its simple and effective. my dogs are however combined probably a quarter the weight of your new pup
Congrats btw on your new family member.post pics

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[STOICH]

Having a cross-over/SUV makes things much easier as you have more space, especially for a medium-large dog. I would suggest either creating a barrier between the driver and back area or tying them back somehow.

For me the main goal is to keep the driver from being distracted. Secondly, it's keeping the dog safe. Just a couple rules that I have when the pup is riding along:

-Rear windows cracked, but not enough for his head to go through.
-Contained to the back seat/rear of vehicle so that he cannot make his way to the front seats.
-Tie down on long hauls (interstate travel). I usually don't tie the dog down, but at interstate speeds over long distances I will.

[BrianC]

For long road trips, we use something like this:



It works great and our 50lb lab/boxer mix loves it. It fits perfectly in the back of our Taurus X wagon, and still leaves plenty of room for luggage. It also folds almost flat, and I just hang it up on the garage wall when we aren't using it.

[OrdinaryGirl]

I have a doggie divider in the back of the wagon. Camber is the head out the window, bark at all the dogs and roam around all crazy if she's not confined kind of dog. Diesel lies down and actually becomes impossible to move once he's in his chosen spot for the car ride. He especially hates riding in the back, I have to physically put him in the trunk. Often it's easier to just have him up front.

I'm sure that he would tolerate a harness with no difficulty - he just sits wherever he is once the car starts moving. Camber, however, would likely eat the harness to get out, vehicle in motion and all. She has an affinity for hard plastic and she'll chew even when we're under way. She's never eaten any part of the trunk in the wagon, but she has torn their plastic water bowl a couple times while we're rolling in the jeep (everything is loose in the backseat). Everything gets stashed in the cubby in the wagon now.

[speedbump2]

...So I guess what I'm getting at is this:
Does anyone have any experience w/ these?

We have a dog barrier in the back of our Rav4, but on long trips (NY to FL) or if we're in a different vehicle, we use a similar style of seatbelt harness for our Old English Sheepdog. As long as he has enough slack to change positions once in a while, he's very happy in it.

--Chuck--