Although at the moment Bruin who is 16 weeks old generally travels in the back of the Navara in his crate and will eventually travel loose in the back of truck when he is big enough there will be occasions when I'd like to use our little toyota aygo and he will come along, he is already a well seasoned traveller and great traveller he comes with me everyday but he is getting quite big for the foot well now he's 17.6 kilos and I was thinking about a harness and strap to secure him on the back seat, never had the need to use anything like that with a great dane, he simply wouldn't fit! If I were to get a standard harness that could also be used for walking with padded chest area would that be ok? If so my next dilemma is sizing, at the moment his girth measures 65cm, the smaller size harness only goes upto 69cm the next size starts at 69cm and goes upto 81cm so I'd be better to go for the bigger size is that likely to still fit him when he's fully grown or am I likely to have to buy bigger yet as he grows? Lastly strap to secure him in car is that just a basic strap that fastens to seat belt?
A regular harness doesn't really cut the mustard, unfortunately, as they are not built to withstand collisions, so are useless at protecting him - and you, if he were to hit you in a crash. There are sadly very few crash-tested harnesses out there. I use the AllSafe harness, which is tested to 50kph and far, far sturdier than a regular harness.
Hello there It depends what you are looking for, really. Just a way to keep your dog on the back seat, or a proper travel harness? In a crash, a dog travelling through a car can cause very serious damage to both the driver/passengers and of course to itself. Walking harnesses are not suitable to use as car harnesses if you want protection against this - the forces generated in a crash mean that the rear end of the dog continues to travel and the harness will be pulled over the dog's head. That's even if it has secured the top part of the dog's body at all. Crash tested car harnesses are big, bulky things and not really suitable for use as walking harnesses. There are several kinds - I have the Klein Metal AllSafe, but the Sleepypod Clickit has better crash test results, I believe. My dog travels in a crash tested crate, and I very rarely use the harness (he hates it, unfortunately). I have a safedog crate: http://www.safedog.co.uk/
Thanks Fiona something to look into, it wasn't a cheap harness I was looking at it was one of the £40 ruffwear ones but something else to consider.
It doesn't matter how good quality the harness is; the stitching and buckles aren't designed to withstand the forces of a crash unless it's specifically designed for that. The AllSafe one is quite bulky and not suitable for using as an everyday harness, so it would be an additional extra, unfortunately.
Looks like the Ruffwear 'Load Up' car harness has been properly crash tested. The link below has the crash testing vids which are rather sobering as they show how much a dog is flung about even in a fairly low speed crash. http://dogblog.ruffwear.net/2015/01/29/ruffwear-load-up-harness-faqs/
I got Dexter's from this company, they have been crash tested and make them for the size you need with growing room. They can be used for walking too. I phoned and spoke to the lady who was very helpful. She explained that Dexter's first harness will not last as long as his next one due to him being a growing puppy. Donna http://www.fleecedogharnesses.co.uk/shop/products/dog-leads/fleece-dog-leads/
I have to say, after looking at the amount the dogs (dummy dogs, anyway) move in those videos, I'm not so sure about that harness....I'd have to look back at the other vids to see if any of the ones on the center for pet safety's site look better though, maybe they aren't any better. It's a very tricky business when you start to think about it....
I think that the other ones (like the Sleepypod Clickit) do a much better job of keeping the dog's bottom on the seat. Basically, to really work, a harness needs to be enormously strong, bulky and restrictive with a very, very short tether. It is really hard to tick all the boxes with a harness.... It's pretty easy to see that, even with a pretty good harness, a dog's chances in a crash are not good... At least with a harness that will not break (ie has passed proper crash testing) the dog will stay inside the car and not go through the windscreen. Sounds shocking, but that is the reality.
I wonder how a dog would do in a crash tested crate. I know how the crate would perform, and it would stay intact so long as the car does - apart from the crumple zones. But I know the space should really be divided to be smaller....Charlie has a double crate to himself.
I agree, it's impossible to get a tight fit unless you restrict your dog from being able to move at all. So many harnesses aren't even tested, which I find alarming. The videos are distressing to watch but does bring it home how our pets are so vulnerable. All we can do is research and go for what is hopefully the best choice available and hope we never have to test them out.
