Dorsetdog - Transporting your pet

When going out, it is important to ensure that the pet is safe, and in an accident will not be propelled out of the car or end up running around in traffic.

Topic quick jumps

When going out, please ensure that you take your dog’s following items with you

• • poo bags, no responsible dog owner should ever leave home without them as you never know when they might need to go!

  • Fixed lead

  • Water bowl and water

The sides of these soft drinking bowls fold down for small dogs, and fold to fit your pocket. The wide mouthed 330ml drink bottle is ideal for easily pouring water back in to after the dog has finished drinking. The whole lot fits easily in to a jacket pocket and is ideal for taking on hot days.

Sun protection

Transport methods

There are various ways of transporting your pet in the car.

They should not be allowed to roam around the car, sit on the driver's lap, or on the back window shelf.

Should an accident occur the dog could be thrown through the windscreen, or collide with the head of someone sat in the front seat.

It should be remembered that if your dog is in the car boot and someone drives into the back of you, then the dog could be injured when the rear crumples in.

Soft crate

The soft crate is another option, but it is said that as the frame is designed to fold down, the connector that joins the top bars together is not strong enough to withstand an accident with a seatbelt around the crate.

Air crates

Air crates are designed to be used on aircraft, and some makes can apparently withstand substantial impacts without losing shape.

Wire crates

Wire crates are normally placed in the car's boot. In the event of a rear end shunt, it would be the dog's cage that gets crushed first.

Remember that the boot/trunk of a car is outside of the designed passenger safety zone.

With a wire crate in the boot, in the event of a rear shunt there is the possibility of the cage bars breaking and the dog being injured on sharp ends.

In the event of a rollover, there is the possibility of the dog's leg or legs falling through the bars of the crate and being snapped against the car's interior.

Pet tube

Really disappointed with PetEgo's Customer service. I contacted them about my 2 year old Pet Tube, to advise that the wire spiral had worn through the sleeving. It has also cut into the car seat.

I was initially fobbed off with a comment that no one else had reported any problem. I stressed that my dogs rarely travel in the car, and this is clearly a material quality issue. I was advised that my email would be sent to the designer and owner of Petego.

I have had no response to email, Facebook or Twitter communications

Note - If the seat back of your car is high then one might have problems securing the Pet Tube, and you might have to also use the fitted seat belts. In these photos, the front passenger seat helps to hold the tube in place

Official Pet Tube photos follow

The mesh allows the pet to see out whilst restricting the sun's heat.

The tube can be taken out of the car and used to shade the dog during a picnic or event.

The Large Pet tube can be reduced in length to free up passenger seating

The Small Pet Tube fits neatly on to the front passenger seat. Both sizes can be quickly folded away.

The Dog bag

The Dog Bag comes in 4 sizes.

This is the small one 24 inches by 24 inches (600 x 600 mm)

Straps are sewn in to the bag's corners which secure the bag to the hooks in the corner of the car's luggage area.

Three sides of the bag have two loops for the seat securing straps, so the bag can be secured on a seat or in the boot/luggage area.

In the event of a rollover the dog would still be safe in the bag, even if it was hanging upside down. And as the bag is soft then there would be no risk of metal bars protruding in the event of a rear shunt

Do you transport your beloved dog in the boot of the car?

Consider this