My Canela which is a year and a half goes crazy when I put her in the car. In the past I was able to sit in the back with her while my husband drove but she is now 70 pounds and I can't take the physical beating I get from her when I sit with her in the back. What can I do???
Re: Riding in the Car.... Is she in a crate or on a crash-approved harness attached to a seatbelt? If not, you should probably look into these options, or having her in the boot with a crash guard if the car is suitable. She should be restrained like that in case of a crash - just like you would any passenger, to reduce risk of injury to her and other people in the car. That would have the added bonus of her not battering you when you're in the back!
Re: Riding in the Car.... What do you mean she is going crazy? Through fear of the car, or excitement? A solution that involves her being quiet in the car might be brought about by either conditioning her to like the car, or by training her to be calmer in the car. Bit difficult to know what to suggest without more information though.
Re: Riding in the Car.... Aside from the 'over active behaviour' which may be a training issue as Julie has said, I agree with Snowbunny about exploring crate/barrier/crash tested harness options. Then you can sit in the front seat with your dog safely restrained behind
Re: Riding in the Car.... By crazy I mean she jumps over everyone and won't sit still for a second. If I'm in the back seat with her and my husband is driving and I have her on a leash she will literally be all over me. She will walk over me, jump on my back, bark at me, etc. I have a Ford Escape and the crate won't fit in the car (it's too big) if anyone could give me names of harnesses, crates for a 70 pound puppy, etc. would be helpful. Thank you all for the responses. Happy New Year from Canela and I.
Re: Riding in the Car.... There was a thread with a discussion about crash tested harnesses here: http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=6596.msg88549#msg88549 I'm going to go down this route once the pups are too big for their current car crate.
Re: Riding in the Car.... I wouldn't try to drive with Elsie or Betty loose in the car, one would be too excited the other could get under the brake pedal, so Betty is always in a fabric collapsible crate, and Elsie is in the boot behind a dog guard. They can do their own thing then and we are all safe. I did try seat belt harnesses but they got all wrapped up together and TBH I didn't enjoy Elsie popping up in the rear view mirror to much.
Re: Riding in the Car.... In Canada ( and probably all of North America) there is no regulating body for dog harnesses as there is in child car seats. About a month ago our consumer watchdog show aired a program about them where they actually crash tested harnesses at 30 mph. It's an interesting episode http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2014-2015/pet-safety-paws-for-concern They didn't do too well. Marketplace is pretty thorough with their investigations and contacts the manufacturers about the results. Some of the manufacturers supply major pet outlets, so you can be sure there will be a lot of improvements. Hopefully the packaging will indicate that " this model has actually been tested"
