Can you take a dog in a Sports Car?

[witten]

It's Pistonheads so thought you would all know. I am getting into my midlife crisis mode now so looking at 2 seater sports cars. What are the rules with dogs on that? I have the dog restrained to a seatbelt in the back of the 4 door family wagon but I can't find anything on the net about 2 seat cars. I know the dog has to be restrained so that it does not distract you but not sure how you can do that in a 2 seat car.

Thoughts are welcome.

[Zetec-S]

What breed of dog?

I guess it's a lot easier to restrain something like a Chihuahua in one of those enclosed booster seats compared to something like a St Bernard.

[interstellar]

roof down and goggles for the dog are mandatory.

[bogie]

interstellar said:

roof down and goggles for the dog are mandatory.

I dont see why not so long as the dog is fastened in to the seat so it cant move around too much e.g. onto the car controls.



Our Lilly has had the occasional short trip, in the front seat with roof down. Wearing a harness that's fastened to the seat headrest so she cant really move much. The issue is more about dogs comfort for larger breeds as the front seat does not give them much option for lying down so they are stuck in one position, sat upright.

I guess you could also put them in the footwell, but then securing them to the car might be more tricky.

From what I can find online it says "dogs are allowed to travel in the front seat of the car in the UK, provided that you properly restrain them with a harness. While driving, your pet should not be able to climb on the dashboard or onto your lap."

Edited by bogie on Monday 2nd October 14:00

[Red9zero]

I'd be a bit wary of where the airbag is positioned in relation to the dog. Might be worth turning it off, as it may do more harm than good in the event of an accident.

[bogie]

Red9zero said:

I'd be a bit wary of where the airbag is positioned in relation to the dog. Might be worth turning it off, as it may do more harm than good in the event of an accident.

Agreed, similar to carrying a child seat in the front, need to switch it off.

[Dog Star]

My mate has a 1959 MGA. He too the passenger seat out so he could stick his enormous Akita in it and go from drives

[PositronicRay]

Parcel shelf MG Midget & Sunbeam Alpine, rear seat Merc SL.

Medium size mongrel with harness.

[otolith]

This was a one-off because I had to collect him from the kennels and the sensible car was in the garage being fixed.

[rigga]

Took mine out a few times in the Griff , seemed not to mind the noise to much.

[loquacious]

Both of mine go in the SLK happily. Bella (the Black Labrador) goes on the passenger seat (with a harness) while Chester (the fat Basset) goes in the 'senior' dog spot in the footwell. He has no harness but then he can go nowhere...

|Both are extremely happy passengers in the Merc while in the Jag, neither are as happy, as, although they have more room, Bella never seems to settle and Chester is too short to get his head out of the window, which makes him sad...

[lrdisco]

Zetec-S said:

What breed of dog?

I guess it's a lot easier to restrain something like a Chihuahua in one of those enclosed booster seats compared to something like a St Bernard.

Did someone say St Bernard? Managed to get ours in the back seat of a Mercedes E class convertible. With the roof down obviously.

[Red9zero]

Not quite a sports car, although it is a soft top I suppose Fred the Westie in my Landie. He has a bed/box thing that he sits in and is clipped into. The box is attached to the seat belt and has a strap round the seat to secure it. It also raises him up so he can see out of the window.

[Simpo Two]

witten said:

It's Pistonheads so thought you would all know. I am getting into my midlife crisis mode now so looking at 2 seater sports cars. What are the rules with dogs on that? I have the dog restrained to a seatbelt in the back of the 4 door family wagon but I can't find anything on the net about 2 seat cars. I know the dog has to be restrained so that it does not distract you but not sure how you can do that in a 2 seat car.

Thoughts are welcome.

I drove from Essex to Norfolk with a labrador on the parcel shelf of my TVR. No problems. But that was in 1997, before there were 10,000,000 cameras watching your every move and fining you if you disobeyed. And numpties with dashcams reporting you to Plod.

It didn't distract me; the passenger looked after it.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 2nd October 21:45

[StevieBee]

witten said:

It's Pistonheads so thought you would all know. I am getting into my midlife crisis mode now so looking at 2 seater sports cars. What are the rules with dogs on that?.

Does it look cool?



Joking aside, she only goes in the Lotus for short local trips and rarely. She loves it so give her a little treat every once in a while in the same way your dad might have let you you sit on his lap to steer the wheel when you were a nipper.

Edited by StevieBee on Monday 2nd October 22:14

[Silvanus]

Used to regularly see I guy down in East Cornwall who had his German Shepherd in his side car with goggles on. Dog used to love it, would jump right back in after a blast on the beach.

[NickXX]

Mini-sausage. Has happily done trips to France on the luggage shelf of a V8 Vantage in a Kurgo car basket.

[wraggy]

[threespires]

Enzo

[geeks]

threespires said:

Enzo

God that film made me cry!