Could any ridgeback or similar sized dog owners out there tell me what they drive!  I have a 5 month old ridgie and am tearfully parting with my 2-seater this weekend (!!!) - time to be a bit practical unfortunately!  I'm at a bit of a loss what to get.  My OH has a golf which is what i've been driving pup round in as they have lovely big back seats however it does mean that passengers are out of the question.  I would rather not get an estate car if necessary and had thought maybe a Rav4 but that looks like quite a pricey option.  Are there any hatchbacks out there that can accommodate a full grown ridgeback - Golf's seem to have huge boots - the OH is a musician and fits enormous amounts in his boot but i'm concerned that it wouldn't be a very comfortable option when the dog is full grown?  What does everyone else drive?!  Any suggestions?  Many thanks

Hi Winston3,

I wouldn't recommend buying a RAV4.  I had to part with my beloved RAV last year because there was no way Earl was going to fit in the boot when he was fully grown.  It was hard enough trying to fit in a weeks shopping (and I did have one of the newer RAVs with a bigger boot).

Earl is now 15 months old and fits comfortably in the back of our Peugeot 406 Estate - either sprawled out on his own, or lying comfortably next to my husbands mountain bike when we head off to the forest, and also has no problem lying next to the pushchair when it's needed.  I was worried about driving an estate car, never having owned one before, but within a few days I had no problem with it and now love the space it provides.  I don't think I could ever go back to not having one now.

Good luck with your car hunt,
Helen

Thanks for your response Helen.  I had no idea the boot size of the rav4 was so small.  V relieved i didn't rush into buying one!  For once head ruled heart!!

Not to sure what hatchback to recommend, but if you were considering a Rav4 then have a look at the Nissan XTrail, FIL has one that he uses for work on building sites, very robust, without putting the back seats down can get mt 2 GSD's in there. Have a look on  http://whatcar.com (hope this link works)  there you will find every vehicle going,only problem is i am finding it even harder now to decide on a 3rd vehicle with so many choices

Happy Hunting

Regards
Nicci

Our Golden Retriever has loads of room in the luggage hold of our Citroen Picasso. :)

I don't think that there are many hatchbacks that will be big enough for a Ridgeback - you would also get much better air circulation in the back if you get an estate which I think is a really important consideration.  My Volvo has air vents to the boot, which was a factor in choosing it.   As I've already warned you, there aren't many people with just one Ridgeback so you might as well give in and just buy an estate :)  Estates are just as easy to drive.

My freind who has a West Siberian Laika (about GSD size but taller) has just bought A Mazda hatchback.  It isn't too high for him to jump into at 9 years old, and also he doesn't clip his back doing so.  Not sure if he stays in the hatch or whetehr he has back seat down.

I have Bullmastiffs and one easily fits into the boot of a peugeot 206sw if you wanted a little more room you could go for a larger model in the sw you can also get guards to stop the dog from jumping into the back seat from your local peugeot dealer.

If you don't like estates, MPVs tend to have far more room for dogs and sundries than the little (and sometimes the bigger) 4x4's. Better gas mileage too. The Toyota Corolla Verso 7 seater is pretty small but all the seats fold completely flat leaving you with something like a van if needed. You can get built-in DVD screens in the headrests so your dog can watch nature videos and dream of hunting lions too. ;-) (stick with the manual diesel/petrol and stay away from the MMT transmisison though, it's an engineering nightmare)

My friend Alison has 3 Ridgie males and all fit easily into a Kia Sedona far easier than the Merc estate she had before for them.

I'm with Lori on the MPV front - they should really be called MDV (multi-dog vehicle). IMO they're much better for the bigger dogs than estates with more headroom, and of course they're very flexible. I can fit 2 borzois, 2 border collies and 5 people happily into mine. That said I do tend to take out the middle seats too and just give the dogs the whole back - that way they can stick their heads out the nearside window :)

You can get some very resonably priced ones, the kia sedona is one. I've got the fiat Ulysse, which is the same basically as the peugeot 806 and Citroen Synergie - they're good middle of the road people carriers. At the top end of the scale the renault grand espace and chrysler grand voyager are fabulous.

I think it might be too big a step from a 2 seater to an MPV :)

That's why I mentioned the Verso. I'd be happy driving a monster but the Verso almost looks like a hatchback except with a taller hatch. It's not a very big MPV but more than enough room for a RR with the back seats flat.

Doblo, or Peugeot Partner/Citroen Berlingo or the Renault Kangoo MPV versions.

Thanks Everyone for all your responses - really really appreciated - i'll start researching all the suggestions tonight.

So you ever leave the back row up chaumsong? I've been thinking of swapping my estate for an MPV, leaving the back row up and taking out the middle row so the dogs aren't in the crumple zone. It's usually just me and them in the car; sometimes we let the OH join us on the weekend so I don't need a lot of seating.

Yes I do occasionally, if my neices are travelling with me they like to sit in the very back with the dogs at their feet/on their knees, it works well for journeys to shows etc but for everyday use I like to either have the dogs in the very back or take all the seats out for them. I wouldn't leave them in the middle with the back seats up when we go for our daily race round the muddy field - I'd spend forever shampooing the seats :)  Thats the great thing about the Ulysse, and other mpvs is that they're so versatile.

I would say it depends on what you can afford, we have an escort estate (old thing) and a new mondeo estate, the boots are huge he has so much space but then so are the cars like driving buses and you should see me trying to park them. In the past I had a seat Ibiza - Kez could not fit in the boot and a food focus which was a push  Looked at the free landers in the past Good Luck with your hunt

I have a Doblo and wouldn't go back to driving a normal car you feel as if you're barely sitting off the road...with the Doblo you sit nice & high.

what is nice about these Van types is the ehad room for tall dogs and you don't need to take the seats out unless you want.

Yes, we have a Doblo and can comfortably carry passengers in the back seats and a Newfie and a large Rottie X in the boot space.  I do like the higher driving position too.

We have a Focus ST170.  It keeps my OH happy because its sporty and Jack my large GSD happy aswell as it has a large boot that he can lay down in quite happily.

Jane

We've got a Peugeot 307 which we had before dog.  She's got plenty of room to stand and stretch out to sleep.  Our car has AirCon so I don't have to worry about her getting too hot. 

I have got an old estate but I don't drive that anymore (makes note to self that must get round to selling it) I really couldn't see the estate providing any added benefit to my dog.

I have a new Renault Scenic and the boot is huge and very high (head height) too. Even though its an MPV with loads of interior space its really not much bigger than our previous car which was a VW Golf - think we worked out it was only 3" longer and I hold my hands up to admit that I'm rubbish at parking etc but don't have a problem in the Scenic - the all round visability is fantastic. I would recommend that you take one out on a test drive.

Finally chosen!!  Went for a Seat Altea XL - small MPV but with enormous boot - get delivery next Saturday.  My latest query is now i have big dog sized boot, what is the safest way of transporting him?  should i be looking at putting a crate in the boot and securing it somehow?  I guess letting him have the run of the boot is not a safe option in case of accidents when he could panic and bolt off. What does everyone else do?

I personally use a crate with escape doors.  V. safe

Your other option - and the one I currently use - is to have a dog guard fitted behind the rear passenger seats (not an all vehicle type one, they just fall over!) and a tailgate guard (which fits just inside the rear door).

I second this option - it's much more flexible than a crate and gives Earl more room in the boot.

I'll 3rd this. :) This gives maximum security and maximum space :)  Most of them can be easily removed if you need to (Taking bulky stuff to dump etc)

Fine if you just have one or two dogs.  I carry five dogs in the back of mine   The crate is only held in by a couple of bolts onto the seatbelt mounts, so is v. easily removed.

Sarah.

Sarah, we carry anything upto 5 in Dad's Mondeo, even with a fitted cage we could only get 4 in, the gaurd and tailgate give extra room and if we took the wheel arches away I don't think our oldest girl would forgive us!  She loves using them as a pillow :)

Only problem is Dad has new car now and hasn't yet put in the tail gate!!!!  It's no problem at the moment as dogs will stay whilst you open the boot but there's no-where to clip the leads!!!!!

I had the same as you when I had my estate car.  We ended up having too many dogs so bought a Galaxy instead.  I only have the two front seats in, so there is plenty of room for a big double cage and for the more trustworthy dogs :rolleyes: to go in front of the cage.  I think if I was going back to an estate I would probably go back to the Barjo guards again.

Sarah.

And Barjo are just up the road for Winston3 - very convenient :)

They are indeed - many thanks - i have just emailed them for some quotes but will be able to easily get to them.  Thanks.

When I bought a tailgate guard from them for my VW Golf (now for sale - the guard not the Golf :) :) I took the car to them and they fitted it.  I didn't fancy drilling holes in my car in case I put them in the wrong place.  They were very good.  I've bought 4 from them over the years - I need to sell my old Volvo one as well.  Must get ebaying :) :)

Only downside of course is if you have a dog that chews as they can chew the linngs.

Oh yes we have had that admitidly!!!!  Though abit of wood on the bottom of the boot soon sorted that out :)

Hi, i had a little Clio (little car with big heart!) but to replace it with a larger car when got second ridgeback. I went for a Honda Stream which is not in production any more but still can be found with good deals. Any way it is great and would thoroughly recommend one and it's boot is huge. It is a mpv but looks more like a sporty estate. What I liked about it is it handles like a proper car and totaly rips!!(156bph, not that i endorse speeding!). Oh and the boot has it's own air conditioning and heating etc. The back seats fold flat so the load capasity is great for large items. Being a Honda it will be reliable and holds value well. Hope this helps? Regards Jennifer

Hi Just received my Tail Gate ....was very impressed with the quality and how quick they were with delivery and so easy to fit....the reason I changed from a cage to Tail Gate was that I couldn't get too the spare tyer if I needed it,the Dog has more height room as well has more room in general. I have a peugeot combi and I love it