My partner and I have recently made the decision to get a dog and have chosen a Golden Retriever.  The puppy that we have picked is only 4 weeks old, so we have a few weeks to go yet before she comes home, but are finding that these weeks are going very quickly trying to organise and get everything she will need.  One of the things that we do want to do is take her with us in the car when we go anywhere (visiting family, long walks etc) but have read many conflicting comments about what would be the best way to make her safe and secure in the car.  I currently have a Peugeot 206 Hatchback which I agree is not the biggest car for her to travel in, but I am hoping to sell it in the near future and purchase a more dog-friendly car.  However, until this time, she would have use of the boot and/or the back seat.  I was wondering if because the car is not big, the best thing would be to fold the back seats down and use this space and the boot and try and just get the biggest crate I can fit in the back of the car, or to try and get her to just sit on the back seat with a harness or possibly something I haven't considered!!!

Also, any advice on introducing the puppy to a much loved and very spoilt cat would be great!

Any thoughts/comments would be much appreciated as although both mine and my partner parent's have always had dogs, this is our first dog together. 

Hi Noodle,  Personally I would go for a car cage every time - I think they are the all round safest method of securing the dog and protecting human occupants too.  *Anything* loose in a car becomes a missile in a collision - whether that be luggage, shopping bags or dogs :(  and all are likely to cause serious injury or perhaps death to the driver or passenger if a collision is severe enough.  Since you are about to change cars, unless you know exactly when and what the car's measurements are going to be, I'd settle for a regular crate at present which you could use in the back of your existing hatchback with the seats folded forward just now (& securely anchored) and which would double as a useful indoor safety /comfort zone for your new puppy indoors too.
Custom made car cages can be quite expensive but are more secure and will be an exact fit for the model of your car so are the eventual ideal purchase but not a wise one until you'be got the car it will be used in ;) PLUS they tend to be heavy to cart in and out if you do want to use them indoors.  Invest in one with escape doors back & front - vital in a rear end bump!
HTH, Teri :)
ps. you may well be able to get a suitable one on bring & buy here or on e-bay!

Hi noodle,

I had a 206 when I first got Fagan (Irish Setter) I put him on the back seat with a car harness on for the first 6 months then we got Alfie (another Irish) so I had to go for an estate car with tail gate guard etc.  I think the back seat is fine as long as they have a seat belt on, also I would get one of those car hammocks which attach to the front and rear head rests so if you have to break it stops the dog falling into the footwell :)

Claire

Personally would recommend a regular crate until you get a bigger car as you could use this indoors as well for toilet training etc and the dog then sees it as his bed and would feel quite settled in the car as well.  It certainly worked this way for us.

Also welcome to the boring car owning brigade, am now proud owner of Ford Escort Estate complete with, as of today, Barjo dog guard, divider and tailgate guard home to two mad BCs. 

If the crates seem expensive in the shops try Ebay, they are much cheaper.

Claire

You can get shaped crates too which make it easier to fir and use use in the car.  They are just ordiary cages but one side slopes so that the top is smaller than the base allowing for the slope in the car.

If you search for shaped cages yo7 shoudl find the ones I mean.

Thanks for all your help.  We are on the lookout for a crate and having visited the puppy yesterday, extremly excited about her coming home.

Noodle enjoy every moment of it because it goes so quickly.  Make sure you take loads of photos and video as well and then you can look back on it later on and go all gooey over it. 

Hello! I too have a Golden Retriever, he is now 15 months old. As I drive a Fiesta space is very limited so he has the back seat with a harness on which seems to be quite effective. I think if my car was big enough for a crate I would go for that though.

With regard to the cat...we have 2 of them and had to be very careful when we brought Leon home, they were absolutely petrified and he was very bouncy!! (Still is of course!!) We got a baby gate for the stairs so the cats had upstairs to themselves and just gave them loads of fuss and nice treats til they got used to it. Was quite stressful, one of them stopped eating for a while but she will now happily walk around the room with the dog and kiss him on the nose. So its worth perservering! I know this might sound cruel but after the 1st month or so I actually stopped giving the cats drinking water upstairs so that when they were thirsty they had to come downstairs for it. They now drink from the dogs bowl and he waits in turn :) Good luck! Bet you cant wait!

The expense of a custom car cage or GOOD dog guard and tailgate pale into insignificance with the possible loss of your dog either going through the windscreen (perhaps injuring someone on the way), and if not killed outright, run over by passing traffic or running away in panic.

A cage will protect your dog in case of a rear shunt and the boot popping open, again with the risk of your dog escaping.

It will also be useful if you have to park your car for a few minutes as you can open all the windows/tailgate for air etc whilst your dogs can remain safe and secure padlocked into their cage.

They are also a boon as travelling kennels if you stay at hotels where they do not allow dogs in.

Many thanks to all of you.  I have purchased an estate car today, so that along with a crate should hopefully make comfortable and safe travelling conditions for her. 

Congrats Noodle on the car, the crate & the puppy LOL I have just collected custom Lintran transit box complete with locking doors escape hatch at the back of the box. & removeable divider Test drove the box to a show today & the boys decided travel one in one side of the box & the other two in the other side & then on the way back we had a different pairing !(there is just room for three each side) After a friend of mine many years ago was involved in an RTA(she was rearended at a roundabout on the A1 & the police opened the tailgate & both her dogs escaped & were killed) I went for a car crate then a custom cage & now I have the state of the art box ! Last year I think a lady was in an accident & was side swiped & her poodle who was on the back seat with a harness on & she was crushed to death The dogs in the crates escaped with bruising only

I think I'm going to  bite the bullet while we still have some cash, and get a good custome made crate or box.

I've been putting it off because i really want a Discovery, (but can't afford to run one, as OH is now a mature student, and i hopefully start in September) and even if we dont get that, am not sure our current Astra estate  is the car we want to stick with (although it's pretty good, just feel we may need something taller).

Have tried to fit our crate into our car and it just didn't work :(
Banya is on a harness and in a hammock just now, but i am far from happy with it.

Common sense tells me that in the event of an accident, she would still be thrown against the back of the front seats, although she would not be thrown from the car.

I can't have a crate in the back though because i have been rear ended several times, no fault of my own or of my driving, so have a "thing" about it. I want our dog in the middle bit of the car, will have to find out what can be done!!

I have friends who go on long journeys with their dogs free in the back, and no secure guard - ignorance can be bliss I guess...

Lindsay
X

http://www.dogcages.net/features.htm

I can thoroughly recommend the above made by Dave Barnes, non rattle and he will make bespoke cages much cheaper than some of the "well known" companies, they do not rattle and you can unfold them in the car to make maximum use of the space available ie do not lose headroom if you have a narrow tail gate aperture.