ok,

We are going to Scotland at the end of May about a 6 hour drive from here, obviously we plan to stop at service stations, feed and water all of us and stop for an hour or so in the Lake District for an early lunch.
Now the problem is that there will be 4 of us and leo and luggage in the car, its a big car so there is plenty of room BUT there isnt room for leo's cage to be up in the car with the luggage, so we want to use a car harness but hes not totally dry when we take him in the car which doesnt matter in his cage but would on the seat.
What i was thinking is either his basket or a low sided cardboard box on the seat padded with newspaper and his cage blanket and maybe a puppy pad because they are absorbent and then obviously strap him in, he wont be on his own, my parents will be in the back with him and hopefully will be stopping every 2 hours or so, so he wont be in it for 6 hours straight

Does that sound ok? obviously it would be big enough for him to lie down in and still allow the harness to be attatched

Also if anyone knows of any dog friendly pubs in the lake district not too far from the motorway id be interested in some info

Cheers

Hi Greatbritgirl

It sounds like you've really thought it through :)  If I were you, I wouldn't put him in anything at all, but put a waterproof layer on the car seat and the puppy pad and blanket on top of that.  My fear (and I'm the world's greatest worrier and soothsayer of worst case scenarios ;) ) would be that if he was in his basket or a box and the car had to stop suddenly, then he would be held still by his harness, but the container would shoot out from under him and perhaps hurt him?  I think though if you stop often enough you should have no trouble with dryness - our two were both bought in England, so their first journeys were to Scotland and we had no mishaps either time, even with 8 week old puppies :)

I'm afraid I can't help with a dog friendly pub in the Lake District, but make sure you stop at Annandale Water Service Station (Junction 16, A74M) as there is a lovely area to walk your pup in, with a little lake you can stroll round, and ducks to introduce your pup to :) 

Have a lovely time up here in Scotland :)

Lesley

Thanks for the info on the service station... i know he will enjoy scotland, we are staying with my gran who has a 6 month old retriever pup, an Old nglish Sheepdog, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds and probably some more so there will be lots of things for him to investigate when we get there.

Will see what we can do with the car seat and get some puppy pads for him, we only have the one we got free from the vets since we didnt train him with them but may use them in his cage when hes up there anyway.

Hope you have a good journey and if you are stopping every few hours it should be fine.
Tebay Services have a good dog walk area- not too long but far enough for a puppy where he can do all is necessary - as for the food well it is service station stuff but I am thinking of the dog.  Once over the border the services at Hamilton have a good grassy area.

You can get a waterproof seat cover with velcro bits to attach it with from Pets at Home but it's not very compatible with a harness as covers the seat belt, I have cut holes in mine to customise it!! I put a blanket over the top.