How do your dogs ride? - Page 1

Hello everybody.

My husband and I have very different views about dogs and where they should be.  I am the dog person here obviously, he likes them well enough but, he is more distant with them than I am.

My question is, where do your dogs ride when you take them out?  I.E. in the front seat buckled in, back seat buckled in, crated inside the vehicle, crated outside (as in truck bed), loose in vehicle or lastly, latched with the truck safety leash/latch system for truck beds (not sure the proper name)?

Reason I ask is that I have a F-150 4dr p/u truck and I like my dogs inside buckled in (special seat belt harnesses).  My husband does not like this.  He wants me to purchase a truck topper for the truck bed but, they would still need to be restrained in some way to keep them from being thrown in the event of an accident or even, quick hit to the brakes. I'm just wondering how others transport their precious cargo.

Thanks in advance.

My older GSD, Libby rides in the back of my mountaineer.  She has a blanket and never crosses into the back seat etc.  Even if I run in the store she just waits in the back.  Reno was the same.  I never had to worry about her moving around, etc.  She would lie down in the back of my convertible mustang with the top down and then pop up at every stop.  Falon on the other hand hops around way to much, so she is crated.  After reading some posts on here about dogs being ejected during an accident, I started crating Falon as well as Molly in the back of the truck.  I have done this with Molly since she was a pup and she actually is more comfortable in her crate.  Too much so that sometimes when training, she will run off the field and jump in anyones crate if they leave the door open.  Unfortunately when I take all three, I cannot fit 3 crates, so libby has a spot in between two of the crates.  Not the best solution, but the crates create an L shape which I hope would limit her from flying thru the truck in the event of an accident.  Still, I think putting them in a crate would provide them with the best protection. 

My dogs used to ride freely in the back of my truck (trailblazer) or in the passenger front seat.  Since I started SchH and it was required to have your dogs crated I'll never go back.  I love having the dogs crated, it feels much safer in the event we ever get into an accident, they can't get up and move around restlessly, they don't get thrown around if you turn too fast or stop short.   They also seem to be much more comfortable in their crate and are happier travelers.  My male is SOOO quiet I am always worried about forgetting he's back there.  Most important, when my female is not crated and she senses we are somewhere fun (training field, dog pool, etc.) which she can smell a couple miles away, she goes bonkers and will try jumping in my lap if she's not crated.  It's not easy driving with 80 lbs of GSD in your lap not to mention very dangerous, now she just spins and screams in her crate which is much safer for the both of us.

Several people at my SchH Club have pick up Trucks with a cap where they have their dogs crates strapped down.  That works well too. 

Take care,

Melanie

I have a crew cab Ford and my dog owns the back seat, buckled in.  I've had an accident with him not buckled in and learned my lesson.

Cowboys out here drive the countryside with their dogs in the  truck bed unsecured, and we see alot of dead dogs along the road.

I'm presently looking for a  GOOD aluminum crate to secure in the pick up bed so that I can take more than one dog with me when I travel. Anyone have recommendations on manufacturers of the dog crates?

Mine almost always ride in crates.  Several years ago we were coming back from a SchH trial out of state and got into an accident.  Rolled our van 6 times and it was totalled.  My old girl Libby had just gotten her BH.  She was crated and as we were rolling, the crate flew out of the back of the van.  The crated door popped open and she took off down the expressway.  Her crate landed several feet and over a little hill from the van so she probably didnt even see us and was shaken up from the experience.  Long story short, some nice man stopped to see if we were ok and heard me asking about my dog, he remembered seeing her before he pulled up so went down and got her for me.  Thankfully she came to him as he asked my mom her name.  Anyways, I cannot imagine what would have happened if she flew out of the van WITHOUT a crate!  I strongly feel the crate saved her life or at least saved her from serious injury.  She didnt have a scratch on her!  We were very lucky she didnt get hit by a car or something like that. 

 Sometimes, if I will allow a dog to ride loose in the BACK seat, if we are not going far and not on the expressway.  The only time I would ever allow one to ride in the front seat is if I go to my parents house which is like a block away on side streets LOL

 Valerie

My current dog rides either in the back seats, or in the hatchback part of our Chevy Blazer, we don't have a dog crate or a doggie seat belt so she rides loose in the car. She hates going for rides and gets nervous in the car so she stays put.