Hi all,

I am soon getting my new mondeo estate and want to know if I should get a dog guard or a crate? I have a 45 kilo Briard and I have found out that if I get the appropriate dog guard fitted into the car I won't be able to remove it easily   The reason I would want to remove it, is for when we go shopping to France and need to use the luggage cover for security purposes, and you can't use the luggage cover with a fitted dog guard.
I have seen and heard about crates for the back of cars and wondered if they were more easily removeable than the dog guard and also safer. Has anybody else on here had the same dilemma or do any of you know the best answer to this? I have done a search on here but it did'nt answer my question. If I go with a dog crate, what size would I buy, how big do they go up to and how is it secured into the car, also I like the idea, in the summer, of being able to leave the tailgate up without having to worry about him jumping out when we are in an area that isn't practical for him to be free in. Any other ideas will be gratefully received,
thanks everyone

If you have a dog guard it will need to be specially fitted to prevent a dog of this size crashing through the off the shelf ones that are kept on place by tension.

If you have a dog guard and a tail gate fitted you can leave the tail gate open however this does leave the car open to potential destruction at worst or snotty windows at best :D

A custom made cage can be taken out and folded up when not in use, it can also be fitted with escape doors in the event of a rear end shunt disabling your tailgate.  A number of companies make them eg Barjo, Guardsman, Barnesbrook, most of the popular makes of car they have off the shelf.  They come with or without a divider and you can padlock them for security if you wish to leave the tailgate up.

However, to make best use of your space you will probably have to remove the security cover, most people including me have done that with their estates.  Mondeos are not have particularly high roof space so your dog will appreciate as much floor space as possible :D

Cheers Tohme,

This has given me several options to think about Thank you.

one other question, although very stupid, the inside is a camel colour, am I right in thinking that I can get a boot liner that covers it all? Just thinking about when he has a hell of a time on the beach and in the muddy fields :D  His coat is soo long,hairy and smelly :-( And also on the odd occasion that I take my little female GSD out as well :-) Or do I just decide that this car isn't for me, see above interior colour :D

http://www.carbox.co.uk/

Look at this link that will give you somewhere to get started.

You can get boot liners, hatchbags, bags that contain your cage or lintran do polycarbonate cages that have wire fronts and backs which contain a lot of "yuk".

If I had only one or two dogs I would have a large crate in the back. No crate will fit four medium-sized dogs, so I have a guard instead. Crates are definitely safer.
:)

I agree that crates are safer but with an Escort estate the largest I could fit in was a 36" which just wasnt big enough for two fully grown Border Collies.  I have therefore had to have a custom made dog guard (behind the seats) by MMG Guards which does also allow me to put in the luggage cover for security if the dogs arent there.  I was going to get a tailgate guard but tried one and found that if I ever broke down with a flat tyre I would have to take the dogs out and then remove the tailgate before actually fitting the tyre - too much hassle being female on my own, so a sole dog guard it was. 

Dog cage every time in my opinion & as I've said on here many times Guardsman is a clear winner for me.
the strength of them is second-to-none. Downside ~ they are heavy to lift in & out of the car, but they fit snugg & in my opinion are the safest way to travel your pooch!

My vectra has a genuine guard that fits inbetween the rear seat and load cover so i can use the load cover without anything being seen and is also easily removed. Do ford have anything like this for the mondeo?

That's what I thought until a friend was rear ended on the A1 by a van

She was pushed off the road & knocked out when she came in hospital she found out the police had gone to get the dogs out after she had been freed only to find the tail gate had sprung open & the dogs had got out & were found dead on the A1 a couple of miles away

They were dogs she had brought back from Africa & had been on their way home from quarentine, she's never had another dog she was totally devastated.

Since then all my cars have had fitted crates with front escape hatches & if I have had a puncture I call out Britannia Rescue who arrange a typefitting firm to come & fit a new tyre. It's touch wood has happened only once, but my dogs are worth the expense

My current crates are two separate pnes  so I can have the whole of the back crated or just the boot area

They cost £550 in total but are custom made & have been altered as when I got my new car I found that Subaru had changed the internal dimensions on the new model by 2 cms

I have a Lintran cage custom fitted in the back of my Punto. It wasn't cheap, but was well worth the money. It cost an extra £50 to have an emergency exit on the front of it.
I absolutely love it. It's light and easy to remove if i need to, but better still, the dogs can just go in mucky and it will just hose out, when needed.