How do you restrain your dog in your vehicle?

Hey - I have a Town & Country, too! Just recently looked at trading it in for an SUV (something a little more "sporty", but still large), but nothing was big enough. I guess I like my minivan more than I thought! LOL!

Anyway, Kodee wears a harness, and this is a great one, although frankly, it was a pain in the backside to get it from the company - took about 6 or 8 weeks before it came. Lousy customer service, but awesome product:

http://www.champk-9.com/SVSS.htm

I bought the Puppy Package, to save money, and Kodee now wears the Big Dog Survivor harness in yellow moonglow. I love it - excellent quality, and worth the wait, although I shouldn't have had to wait, if you know what I mean. Looks good, too.

Meant to add: the quality is much better safety-wise than the ones from Petsmart, just FYI. Most of the harnesses I've seen were meant to keep the dog from roaming in the car while you're driving, but were not sturdy enough to restrain them in an accident.

The fleeces look nice, but a girl i talked to at Petsmart who had one said her dog gets super-hot in it in the summertime, just FYI.

My kids NEVER go anywhere without wearing their seatbelt harnesses -- not even a quick ride around the block. Most car accident occur within the 5 miles closest to your home after all.

The brand I use is Champion K9, which are GREAT harnesses. But their customer service is spotty. (They're always backlogged, so you have to be willing to bug them by phone and email if your product isn't received quickly.) So based on all the glowing reports here, when people ask me, I usually recommend Ruff Rider. These two brands really are far superior to the pet store versions. But even those are better than nothing.

http://www.champk-9.com/CCSS.htm
http://www.ruffrider.com/

Crates are good; but IMO, they need to be attached to the frame of the car. My puppy, who is too small for a harness right now, rides in a teeny crate, that I cross-belt to the car. In a serious accident, you want the crate to stay with the car. And in a serious accident, you definitely don't want your dog loose. We were in a major accident with our 6 mo old GSD in the back seat. We were rear-ended by a guy going about 50 mph, and we were stopped. The passenger compartment of our car was compromised. But our GSD pup was belted in and remained securely on the seat. Had he not been secured, he would have, at least, flown into the lower back of the front seats and been seriously injured. He could have flown forward and hit us and injured us and been killed. He could have run into the freeway when the doors of the car were opened.

But he didn't. He looked at me like "what was THAT?" but remained secure on the seat. He stayed there til we were able to safely move the car to the side of the freeway. He hopped out and began to sniff all the gross things on the side of the interstate. I went to the hospital. Dh took the puppy to the vet. Other than bruising from the seatbelt, the vet said he was perfectly fine. There's no doubt in my mind that the seatbelt saved his life.

You're very wise to look at the various ways to restain your dog in your car. You'll never regret it.

When I use a crate, I have it attached to the three "anchors" behind the back seat. I figure if they work for a baby seat or child booster seat, they hopefully work for the crate. I also attach it to the head rests on the front seats just to stabilize it in both directions. If I had a truck, van, or SUV I would have crates mounted (as in, permanently afixed to the frame of the car), but at this point I can't really afford getting another vehicle for dogs.

One time I was driving with Kenya in the back, there were five lanes - 2 each way and a left in the middle. I was in the inside lane and the guy in front of me moved into the left turn lane, then changed his mind but he swerved back into my lane from a dead stop and didn't wait for me to pass or accelerate at all. I SLAMMED on the brakes and Kenya pitched forward. I avoided an accident and neither of us were hurt but lord help Kenya if she had been in the front seat or standing on the back seat when that happened.

For those of us who say we love our dogs, but do NOT crate or somehow restrain them in the middle/rear of the car, I say really look at what your 'love' is doing.

If you would let your human children ride loose in the car in the same manner, then that's clearly a choice you've already made for your 'family' members.

And unrestrained 'whatever' can kill you as well as die themselves in an accident. If your vehicle spins, or flips, or suddenly stops, ALL loose items will be flung everywhere (on top of us?) and thru/out of the vehicle. I know an 80 pound dog could break my neck if flung into the front from the back seat, for into me from beside me in the front seat. Not a situation I want to be in.

Crates AND Dog belt/harness restraints both keep the dog in the part of the car we want them in (out of the front) and keep the dog in the car (not out onto the road if windows/windshielf break or doors pop open).

Great site to compare dog belts and what to look for in the better systems is on http://www.agilepooch.com/dogstuff/dogbelts/dogbelts.html

I also have the Champion system, and it works best for my dogs. Here's how my car was set up and I could fit THREE big dogs in the back seat. (had to get rid of the floor).