Dog car travel advice

[Pieman68]

Hi guys

In short, have bought a new car today as having the puppy in the cabin when all the family are in is pretty poor solution tbh (I wanted a new car anyway, i've not just bought it for the dog)

I've got a Megane Sports Tourer coming and was wondering if anyone could advise on a decent dog guard and boot liner (maybe with bumper protector option)

He's only a 9 month old Cocker so would you crate him in the boot rather than letting him roam free in there?

Help - i'm still pretty new to this dog owning role!!!

[pikeyboy]

Crate in the boot is the best soloution, and I think is the best way to keep legal now. I used a couple of lintran crates and now have a trans k9 which I think is probably better. Both kept the dogs secure when I leave the boot open in summer if they have to stay in the car for a short while. Also keeps all the mud contained of which there is quite a lot with 4 of them.

[babelfish]

I have this: https://www.travall.co.uk/dog-guard with the divider ( https://www.travall.co.uk/jaguar-xf-sportbrake-201...) and this: https://www.boot-buddy.com/all-products/versaliner


Very happy with both.

Edited by babelfish on Sunday 27th January 20:14

[Rosscow]

Good timing, I'm just having to make this decision as well!

Like the poster above, I was going to get a Boot Buddy liner with dog mat and bumper protector combined with the Travall dog guard and divider.

However, that little lot comes to £360.

Which is 75% of the cost of TransK9 cage. WHich I think I'd prefer. But I'm not sure!

[LotusMartin]

Our ESS is 11 months now and I seriously looked at a TRANSK9 box but settled for a large create. The more I've used it the more I'm glad that it's light and easy to put in and out. Now he just happily goes in the boot with a liner and dog mat/cusion.

I think I would have got annoyed with a heavy box of I had to take it in and out more than a few time Mrs LotusMartin certainly wouldn't have entertained that!

Top tip though, just got a Muddi 15 dog washer - OMG it's great!! So much better that the cheap garden sprayers I'd been using and breaking!

[garythesign]

From day one my cocker went in a crate in the back of my van.

My wife had a hatchback and he was fine in the boot area of her car.

The van has since gone and now my dogs both happily lie in the boot of our cars

[Pieman68]

thanks for the advice guys

Thinking the Travall system is the way I'm going to go as above with the boot buddy and the boot sill protector

[P700DEE]

Do you want to dedicate the boot for useage by the dog? What other use do you intend for the car? Built in dog crates are perfect if you have a dog car and are going to use it lots. Note from our professional experience (Barking Mad) it is very handy to have a cut out on top of the crate to allow you to easily attach the lead to the dog whilst crated otherwise once you open the boot and the crate you still have to catch the dog! Fully installed systems are not cheap but will protect your car and keep even a determined Cocker contained. Occasional use and a crate trained dog; just put their crate in the boot. Happy dog , cheap solution and you get use of the car for any other jobs. Note you still have to be careful attaching lead when you let them out. No dog crate, find them too heavy? It is still fine to buy a boot liner , approx £30, dog guard or use the one supplied in the car (??) Buy a cheap £10 canvas liner to keep everything clean and you have the low cost solution. For an excitable dog who might jump out you can easily buy a tether (to the correct length) to attach to a dog harness so they can't get anywhere when they jump out and can't strangle themselves if they try and don't reach the floor!! Canvas liner is easy clean , easy remove so you can use the car for all those other jobs. No added weight or rattles from heavy crates. If your dog is well trained you can get a simple guard for between the seats, a special cover for the rear seats etc. and a dog seat belt attachment so you can use the boot and just loose rear seat access. Even if you go for the "best" solutions I would advise the purchase of a cheap seat belt restraint so if necessary you can seat four adults , put their luggage in the boot and still have the dog securely restrained with the seat belt strap. Its so sad when you have to take two cars to take the dog to the beach when for occasional use a belt restraint is fine.

[louiebaby]

We have one of these in the back of our 5 Series estate, the biggest one for out Munsterlander.

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_cages_carr...

She's happy with a memory foam pad to sleep on, and it's secured to the luggage hooks with a strap and some hooks I screwed into the frame part. It took about an hour to build and secure from the flat pack it came in.

Discounts are available through the voucher code places too.

[anonymous-user]

Cant remember what brand mine is but it uses velcro and it sucks.

[Rosscow]

I’ve gone ahead and ordered the Travall dog guard and divider.

Once the puppy is older and getting muddy I’ll invest in one of the Boot Buddy liners.

[carinatauk]

I have used one of these for many years [without the wheels], strapped down of course.

https://www.doghealth.co.uk/collections/airline-ca...

Cheap and effective with a non slip carpet.

Very useful when you have a sick / nervous traveler!

[babelfish]

Rosscow said:

I’ve gone ahead and ordered the Travall dog guard and divider.

Once the puppy is older and getting muddy I’ll invest in one of the Boot Buddy liners.

Don't leave the boot liner too long if the dog is a chewer. A friends lab made a right mess of the rear of their 3 series estate. Luckily our lab is not a chewer.

[Rosscow]

babelfish said:

Rosscow said:

I’ve gone ahead and ordered the Travall dog guard and divider.

Once the puppy is older and getting muddy I’ll invest in one of the Boot Buddy liners.

Don't leave the boot liner too long if the dog is a chewer. A friends lab made a right mess of the rear of their 3 series estate. Luckily our lab is not a chewer.

Good point! We'll see how she goes..... collect on Saturday!

[Howitzer]

Do lots of training so they don’t go mad as soon as the boot is open. Ours is very relaxed even after a long drive when we open the boot and it makes life a lot easier.

I see so many dogs wanting to explode out the gates in dog walking areas and it must be a real pain.

We have a boot liner with a flap, it’s excellent and our bumper is scratch free after 4 years. It goes up the sides and up to the headrests and just gets a hand wash and hung out in the sun once a year. We also use the luggage tie down and a long lead when he is in there.

We looked at fitted cages and portable ones but he is a large dog and had no space to turn around in the one we tried at the show, it also used up a lot of boot space.

Dave!