Crate For New SUV

[Jess041]

Can you secure them while using the hammock?

I would never travel in a vehicle without the dog in a tied down crate, or seatbelted. I have seen to many injuries when this is neglected. And most of them were within 1/4 mile of the house.

Yes, some of them have slots for the seatbelt, so you can use a seatbelt harness. The one I bought said it does, but it does NOT. It had the highest reviews, but it was also the cheapest. I'm going to get a different one soon, especially because the one I have is black, which is a bad idea for Houston in the summertime.

 

[Lightplum]

I have a Honda odyssey so I have plenty of crate roomAll mine ride in crates with the exception of going to the beach..which is literally on my road which is traveled by 1 car every 5 min

I prefer crate travel because it keeps them safest, as far as keeping my car clean...ahhh thats a thing of the past!!! Especially since I'll crate at outdoor shows like this past weekend and opps the crates sat in mud which I didnt realize until I got home and went to unload the dogs and viola mess o'dirt in the car..thank god for leather seats!!!!!!!!

 

[mcemily]

I agree that the crate is definitely going to keep Stella safest. As for hard or soft, I guess that depends on Stella. We have a wire crate for Lerwick. We only have the one, so it has to go from house to car whenever we are going on a trip. It collapses and folds up for us to carry it to the car, and then we set it up in the backseat. We have toyed with the notion of getting a second wire crate that will just stay in the car, but haven't done so yet.

I like the wire crate, because it is sturdy and safe, but unlike the soft crates and the molded plastic crates I've seen, the dog can still see everything going on around him. I don't think he'd like being in a crate that blocked him from seeing what's going on, and blocked his view of his people. I'm also pretty sure he'd chew right through a soft crate.

As for keeping the car clean... even if Stella is confined to a crate, dog hair will still manage to get everywhere. We really wanted to get a seat liner, like was linked above, to put over the back seat, but our car is older and doesn't have the right kind of head rests in the back seat, so there isn't a good way to secure the liner back there. So, instead we have covered the back seat with some old bath towels. Looks REAL classy, I can tell you... but it does keep the hair off the seats, and you just pull the towels off and wash them when they get muddy foot prints on them or whatever.

 

[1stSheltie]

I'll chime in on the hammock part! LOVE ours!!!!!!! Its beige & does have the holes for the seat belt. The straps going around all 4 headrests are adjustable.

It keeps the car clean (but actually we don't care much about that, its 9 years old )

It was really nice to have while at the Drive-In this past weekend, she was all nice & comfy back there & couldn't fall in-between the back & front seat.

I know a crate big enough to fit her, won't fit set up in our back seat - I don't think? (Just have a Toyota Echo = small). Have been looking at those zip lines to attach her on a harness to. At least that would hold her in, incase of a sudden stop? She's definitely been enjoying the freedom currently in the back seat!

But I know all to well about accidents happening close to home, was in one 2 minutes from our place, broke my arm! So I know even close to home trips, she should be secured!

 

[BarbV]

I drive a Corolla, and even though it's not brand new or anything, I don't like getting hair/dirt on the backseat. Missy's crate doesn't fit in my car, so I got this thing:

http://www.amazon.com/Outward-Hound...58MA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337792628&sr=8-1

It says it has slots for the seatbelt.. but it doesn't. But it keeps Missy from going on the floor and getting into whatever. It's waterproof, so when she's all wet from the park, it doesn't get all over my car. It also kinda kept her from getting to the front seat.. but she's figured out how to jump over it. I'm going to have to re-adjust it a bit so it's higher up. I'm not sure if it would fit in your SUV, but there are things out there that are similar.

I have a similar product for my dogs. We travel 1 1/2 hours every weekend to the cottage. This stops the dogs from falling between the seats if you have have to brake suddenly.

I found the fabric a little slippery though. So I bought a cheap mat and got self-adhesive velcro to apply to both the hammock and the mat. The mat stays in place and the dogs fur stays in the matt and not flying around the car. I can easily remove the matt and wash it when necessary.

Alot of people use car harnesses. Those are great as well.

The other alternative is a soft-side crate. Very transportable, won't bang up your car and can be affixed to seat belts.

Hope this helps!