Where to put the dog while on the road?

[Boso]

Put the dog only where humans would ride safely not in a tag along or 5er. My girl is a chocolate lab she rides between the seats now,use to be in back floor board. Ford F-150 has huge floor board that could accomadate people with dog in floor board.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by oldsmasma

When we had a pick up it was a 4 door and the dogs wore harnesses that tethered into the seat belts. If guests didn't want to ride with the dogs they wouldn't be guests.

Our dog(s) have always been part of the family and family always comes before guests. They are most often less bother than a guest as well. Usually, they behave better as well.

[Curlydoc]

Do NOT even think about putting the dog in an open truck bed. Illegal in many states.

[Jeff from Burlington Ont]

we have a 30lb puggle and he sits in the back seat of our crew cab with a harness attached to the baby seat clip in the rear of the seats Most of the time between our 2 kids . He has traveled 25,000km with us over the past 4 years and has gotten very proficient at doing his business while I fill the gas tank.. the 5 of us can be watered, have new food and snacks and the truck gassed up in 12 to 15 minutes.

[swbouton]

We camp in our 5th wheeler with our Scotty and our Boxer. We went with a large truck and we keep the dogs in the back seat using sort of a hammock for the kids.

One of us stays with the dogs almost all the time and, so far, it's worked out well.

[OscarsMom2]

Our dachshund rides in a crate in the trailer. We try to travel early in the morning before it gets hot. The temperature in the RV seems to stay cool enough for him. Our 2 cats are in the truck cab with us.

[Briorick]

We have a 16 panel collapsible kennel enclosure that we take along camping for her and it goes into the bed of the truck when traveling. When we go visting family / friends we have a foldable dog kennel she hangs out in, when needed. Our pooch is spoiled so she gets the entire back seat of the Sierra to herself.

[CampingGator]

Our Ford 150 has the ability to fold up the seats individually in the back. I would either opt to harness the dog in the back seat or put their crate on the floor, if worried that the back seat would fall on the dog laying on the floor. The crate would protect them from a falling seat. We live near Gainesville too and I would never put a dog in a crate in the bed of the truck. I also would not leave them in the vehicle on a warm or hot day.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

That was my conclusion, hence the question. But, if traveling with guests who don't want a dog in their lap, what to do? We love our dog (usually) but people are more important than pets.

Most of the time we won't have guests. Most of the time we have guests they'll be our kids, who regard the dog as family. Perhaps by the time we have non-family guests the dog will be smaller.

Thanks

To answer your question, it sounds like you simply have to sacrifice something. It just depends on what is more important to you. Either don't bring the dog with, don't bring guests with or don't get a p/u.

How big a need is getting a p/u? Can you get by with getting another SUV instead? How often do you travel with guests? When you figure those things out, you'll have your answer.

[CNYCamper]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

A Boston is probably our replacement of choice, when the time comes. They seem to behave like miniature Boxers. (Very friendly, minimal barking.)

With seats flipped up, are the seats secure? I know the seats in the Durango are heavy. If it fell in a crash, it could amputate a foot.

Well, Chris, you gave me something to look at. Ours is a club cab with smaller split seats. I went out and gave them a good yank from the flipped up position and it takes some effort, but they can come forward into their standard position. I've had to do a few panic stops and they have never come forward. There is no latch. If they fell there would be the normal space underneath and the bottom of the seats is soft so I feel pretty good about it.

Our mailman would disagree about the minimal barking. They sit on the bay window sill and the 2 of them get each other going and basically go nuts when he walks up to the porch. Very friendly, but their owners have spoiled them rotten.

[dj3spots]

We have a Denali 3500 HD Sierra crew cab. She is our crew. We flip up the seats and it makes an amazingly nice place for our dog. We put down pup rugs for her to be comfy. No crate. We do out a hand towel on the console between the front seats to control the slobber, but hey, We don't care. Could put a crate back there but don't see the need. She's a 90lb. American bulldog. Dog goes every where we go. She goes to sleep or stares out the windows but settles after the first half hour of the trip. Guess she figures if it's over a half hour drive were in for a long ride.


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[pdqparalegal1]

Sorry for your loss

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by pdqparalegal1

Sorry for your loss

Thank you. Buster left us last Wednesday. He was with us every day of his 17 1/2 year life,,,, never a kennel for even a day. He was spoiled but we were really close. You never know how much they will be missed until they are gone.

[Life Without Whine]

Glad this discussion came up ...many states do not allow pets in the open truck bed (I get to care for their burnt paw pads or jumping from the bed injuries regularly) but will allow if crated (IMO a bad idea due to over exertion & heat stroke secondary to anxiety).

This thread also opened the other can of worms ... pets in laps are dead or severely injured when air bags deploy in crashes, eyeballs like to catch bugs when their heads hang out windows & more than one crash has occurred because the driver's ability to react was hindered by a small animal getting underfoot or a larger animal preventing the driver from quickly hitting a brake.

If anyone is too big to sit in between my seat belted pups then they are old enough to drive themselves to the CG!!!

[satdog01]

We carried our Pomerian mix in DWs lap until the accident, pup flew around in cab. We purchased a dog car seat which she loves. Attached over the seat back and is secured with seatbelt. It has a strap that secures the harness. She sits up to look out window or curls up and naps. Got it at Pet Smart. Seen then on INEt as well.

[asquared]

life w/o whine- have you seen much difference in pet accident injuries between harnessed, not harnessed, sitting on a seat or on the floor? I ask because I know a forum member who was in an accident with a dog strapped in the harness. The dog was still thrown from the seat. Granted it was a truck/tt vs semi collision that totaled the tv/tt combo.

[Oaklevel]

Usually we have our 2 dogs in the back seat of our Dodge 3500, other times 3 dogs. Not sure any protection or no protection system is better it just depends on the accident.

Did have an accident in a Dodge 1500 a few years back, the dogs were along they hunkered down in their place in the back seat, and were fine the younger son (25 years at the time) in a seat belt banged his knee up a little.

If friends want to come along they can drive

[txbuffalokid]

We have a 14 lb. rat terrier who sits in a car seat. It has a clip that connects to her harness so she is very snug. She likes it because she can see out but is secure if we have to brake suddenly.

[jftrombley]

Our dog likes to be able to see both me and my wife while driving. She sits in the middle of the back seat on a blanket while wearing a safety harness. We have a quick connect tether we attach to her existing harness.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This tether works great and clips into the child seat ring. Our dog is part of our family and she needs to wear a seatbelt too, even if she is in my lap.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

How big a need is getting a p/u? Can you get by with getting another SUV instead? How often do you travel with guests? When you figure those things out, you'll have your answer.

Frankly, I'd rather keep the Durango but due to a continuing series of nagging maintenance problems I conclude that it's time for a new(er) tow vehicle.

I'm not a zealot about being within capacity but the Durango is at the margin for RAWR and, by extension, tongue weight. Thinking that we might upgrade trailers by 1000-2000#, I concluded that a truck would be suitable. But there are compromises, as you point out.

Another respondent mentioned an Armada. I'll check it out but suspect the cost exceeds my budget and the RAWR won't meet my future needs.