Safest Way To Transport A Dog?

[silentchild]

In my research to buy a new car that has more room and is safer for transporting my dog, it got me to wondering what are the safest ways to go about transporting dogs?

Some people have puppy bars built into the rear of the car - what happens if the car gets rear-ended or T-boned?

Some people buckle their dog in with a harness in the back seats / front seats of the car - what happens if there is an accident and the air bags deploy and hit the dog, or the car rolls?

Would the force of air bags be enough to kill the dog, much like a small child? Nowadays cars have air bags in the back seats as well as the front.

Some people secure a crate in the car and have the dog in the crate - I am assuming the crate will protect the dog from air bags, but what if the car rolls, or if crate is in boot, gets rear-ended? Does it differ depending on soft crate or wire crate?

Some people tow their dogs in trailers - much like towing a horse float I can imagine it would be quite horrific if it was rear ended or got loose and rolled in an accident. Also not really practical if you just have one dog, like me.

So which part of the car is the safest to have a dog when driving? And is there a safest, most fool-proof method of transporting dogs in cars?

Edited September 1, 2014 by silentchild

[Little Gifts]

I used to work with a man who assessed all the fatal road accidents on state controlled roads (ie the big highways). Some things I learnt are seat belts are designed to keep people safest when they are upright. Children under a certain size cannot safely sit in the front seat because of air bags and projectiles in cars kill and maim.

So with that in mind, whatever option you choose for you could keep those three things in mind. If you seatbelt your dog in use a quality brand that wont snap under pressure, keep it short enough so the dog can't fly too far in the air if there was an accident (could break it's neck and hit you with their legs) and don't clip the dog into the front seat because of the air bags. If you use a cargo barrier then be aware anything loose behind it will go flying in the air. Same with a crate. If the crate is not secured in place (my car has things in the wagon's boot for securing items) both your dog and the crate could become a projectile.

Hopefully a clever DOLer will have a link to a study about this very issue.

[Animal House]

All good points you've raised there. I don't think there is one specific cover for all accidents kind of thing.

I'd just assume that by simply securing your dog you've automatically cut down the odds, to the dog and yourself. Anything that isn't buckled down can become a projectile in an accident I guess. It will be interesting to hear others thoughts on the subject too.

My own dogs are just harnessed and attached to the seatbelt thingo, but they are hardly in the car except for a vets visit.

[Lhok]

I used to tether my dogs to the tie down attachment in the wagon we own. Short enough that they can only sit/stand/liedown but not be able to move around in the boot space i.e walk around. If I had another car I would be looking to secure them to the child safety attachment in all modern cars.

--Lhok

[hankdog]

I have a crate in the car, stretches to secure it. I worried about being rear ended and my dog running around in a road. With Jake I would think he would be so freaked out if something happened that it's best he's crated so that people could just take the crate out the car without trying to handle him.

[RallyValley]

A crash tested crate. There are no retailers in Australia though, so you would need to privately import one.

This is the only brand tested in front impact and rear impact collisions: http://www.mim.se/?p=productgroup&i=1&l=en

[Pjrt]

Gruf has a giant crate wedged in the back seat. The front seats keep it very firmly in place, and as you can see, it has only a tiny space above it. I love it because if I have to brake suddenly he is not thrown about much at all. If we were in a bad accident the crate offers him as best protection as possible from being hit by debris, being thrown from the car or becoming a projectile. If the crate actually held up then at least he is contained at the scene too. When he gets grubby on outing all the mess is contained. His shedding hair is pretty much contained to the crate too. And I can duck into a shop for a few minutes with the back windows right down & the car locked, knowing he has plenty of air flow but safe if anyone is dick enough to try to stick their hand in the window, and cant bounce around the car like a lunatic dog. It also keeps him nice and calm when traveling. Even if I had a bigger car he would still be in a tied down crate to save the car from getting trashed & dirty.

Edited September 1, 2014 by GrufLife

[silentchild]

A crash tested crate. There are no retailers in Australia though, so you would need to privately import one.

This is the only brand tested in front impact and rear impact collisions: http://www.mim.se/?p...tgroup&i=1&l=en

Wow these are amazing!!!! I want one! But holy crap on a cracker the price tag...!