Safely transporting large dogs in the back of a car.

Fortunately (they’re great)/unfortunately (their lovely owner died) we’ve inherited two lurchers to go with our Jack Russell.

At the moment we’re transporting them in the back of our Skoda Fabia Estate with the seats down. This is ok for just nipping them to the vets/kennels etc by pootling down country lanes, but we’re very aware that for longer/higher speed journeys we’ve got two large unsecured loads in the back of the car.

We don’t really want to buy a bigger car, the dogs are old and we’re not sure how much longer they’re going to be around for. However if they are around for a while it would be nice to be able to take them away with us on holidays in the UK rather than putting them in kennels.

Does the STW hive mind have any solutions for safely securing large dogs in the back of estate cars with the seats down please?

Barjo Engineering do a cage for the back of a Fabia estate . It’s nearly £1k though

You could get a harness but I’m assuming the dogs are too big for the Fabia Boot and a dog guard behind the headrests.

@jimw – thanks that’s the sort of thing that I was looking for. The dogs did come with a bequest, so cost isn’t too much of an issue.

@fossy – they are too big for the seats to be up, plus there’s the issue of where to fix the harness’ to as the isofix points aren’t accessible when the seats are down.

Sure they won’t fit in the boot with the seats up? Any luggage on back seats.

If not then on back seats with seats up and seats covered with old carpet or similar.

Either buy soft crates and secure them to the load clips or seat belts or buy harnesses for the dog which are then clipped to either the ISOFIX or the seatbelts.

Ours (spaniel) happily travels in the back of the car, seats down, with a walking harness clipped via a karabiner and 12-15″ lead into the squarish steel bracket that the seats normally attach to, immediately above the wheelarch. Not an Isofix point. He can move around and turn round, sit up, lie down etc, but not ‘wander’ far. If you can’t find a proper short lead like the one we’ve got, lots of longer leads have multiple D rings on them which work just as well.

This has the advantage that I can move the krab to any suitable similar harness point when we stop, usually with a longer lead, and he can eat and drink outside the car with us.

@thelawman – fantastic, that’s what I was looking for, thank you.

our spaniel always travels in a crate. We’ve had a couple, but the current crate is a beast. I’d recommend a double crate rather than harnesses. Not cheap, but this is what you need.

https://transk9.com/select/skoda/skoda-fabia-estate/skoda-fabia-estate-2014-present/

@TiRed thanks, but it’s not big enough for Lurchers.

Woofbox?

Carsafe Crash Tested Dog Harness

Great that you are providing a new home for them!

We had a harness for our greyhound when we had him in our old MPV, I’ll have a look what brand it is when I get home. It’s one that goes down their chest and round their shoulders so mega secure and not liable to injure them.

Basically we used to secure him with a belt running from one side to the other, you could use the load points as well.

The enhanced strength try-fit is the one we have:

Harnesses

The buckles are the same as the rescue harnesses we have at work, they are like concentric clasps that once together can’t be undone unless it’s a deliberate action. Really easy to use once you figure it out.

@anorak depending on size 32kg may not be enough, lurcher can be anything from a terrier crossed with a whippet up to a wolfhound crossed with a greyhound. But yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

@squirrelking

wolfhound crossed with a greyhound.

They’re definitely in that ballpark.

Our lab sized thing chewed through both her lead and the 3rd row seatbelt of the SMax on her way home from Dogs Trust rescue. Now we have an all metal chain lead shackled onto the load tie down points for attaching her collar or harness. A bed in there encourages them to lie down for longer trips.

Yeah I’d be looking at a harness then, a Fabia won’t have room for cages for that sort of size. Secure it off the load eyes (upgrade them to something more substantial if that makes it easier) and you should be fine.

How do they get on with the wee ones? Mine is rather bemused by small dogs but likes them.

Why not just a barrier behind drivers seat ?

https://www.barjo.co.uk/car-cages/skoda/fabia/2007-2014-hatchback/front-dog-guard-skoda-fabia-2007-2014-hatchback

We used a Kurgo car harness and a kurgo cover for the back seat. Dogs were a german shepherd and his 1/2 brother who was very slightly smaller. They clipped into the middle seatbelts and seemed happy enough.

The Kurgo car harness is well put together, easy to put on and walk him in

How do they get on with the wee ones? Mine is rather bemused by small dogs but likes them.

They knew each other before the Lurchers moved in. We were a bit anxious about them possibly chasing the Jack Russell but they’ve settled in well. There’s been a little bit of discussion about long Lurcher snouts being shoved into Jack Russell dinner bowls and exactly which sofas are for Lurchers and which are for Jack Russells and humans.

It’s actually done our Jack Russell good, she was a bit entitled before, now she knows what FOMO is and so pays us a bit more attention.

Come on Kramer. You have been given some helpful advice/ideas.

Pay

Up

My ex MIL used to just sit in the passenger seat…. ??

DrP