Dog setup for long car rides

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
For you guys w/ mid-size/large dos, how to they ride in your car for long trips?

We got a lab/boxer/mutt mix a few months ago, he's still an adolescent around 65 lbs.
Thinking about bringing him down to NC for thanksgiving, which is a pretty long trek.
He loves car rides, normally rides in the very back of our Mazda5 in one of the 3rd row seats w/ a strap that clips his leash into a seat belt. But this is a pretty long ride, and we'll have to pack suitcases around him.
I was thinking of maybe making a half-crate container w/ a pillow or something?
The biggest issue we have is keeping him from wanted to jump up on the kids in the back seat... he just wants to play...
 
We have an 80 pound husky, and surprisingly he'll sleep through about a 4 hour car ride in the back of my tiny corolla, any longer and he'll need a walk. Sometimes he does get antsy and will want to be in the front seat. When that happens we just roll the window down in the back to distract him. Maybe you can fit one of those car carriers on top of the Mazda to give him more room to lay down and sleep. If not, let him sleep on top of the kids.
 
We have 2 young great danes (150lb & 120lb) that travel with us (typically in a mega cab for long trips with back seat flat). Our 1st trip to Michigan was a disaster - we tried a pet barrier to keep them in the back but it didn't stand a chance. Since then, we limit their road trips to about 4hrs.

Now, we use the leash restraints paired with electronic collars they got in obedience training. They're able to move around in the back but aren't able to jump in the front. The collar is just used for backup when they're hell bent on trying to get in the front (I think I had to beep it once on our last trip). I'd definitely look into a cargo carrier for the roof to give him more room.
 
My sister just took her two dogs to Kentucky and back. Lucky for her, they were chill and slept the whole way. She said every time they stopped to pee, she would take them on a short walk. She has a 2016 Escape and threw their bed in the back with one half of the back seat folded down.
 
^^^^ Damn, I thought NCJeyota was saying to put the dog crate on the roof!!

We have an 85 pound BWH. Wears a harness in the car. Friend had a rollover wreck a few years ago, dog was hurt by getting thrown forward to the windshield, then escaped. Was lost for several days. We've harnessed ours ever since.

In the Rubicon (DD), he has the whole back seat to himself. Sometimes we have a 3rd pass, he has to share the seat....settles down after a while. A few times, we've had four in the Jeep, and he has had to move to the back section.

Now have a four-door pickup, but my old truck was a standard cab, and he'd ride between us up front. Usually sat up going, then would try and manage to lay between us on the return trip (since he'd already seen everything).
 
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My two Pits (42lb and 75lb) both wear harnesses on long trips, they give enough room to sit up or lay down, but keep them from falling off the seats in a quick stop. I stop every two hours for a smoke and cup of coffee, so the dogs get breaks more frequently then they need them anyway.
 
all of our dogs typically just sleep or ride in someones lap. They range from 8 lbs to 87 lbs and of course the 87 lb mutt thinks he is a lap dog!!!
 
Two labs, 80 pounds and 120 pounds, that's why I bought a suburban! Now a rescued older pit, no idea of weight, but loves to ride, still plenty of room.
 
My bulldog loves to ride in the bed of my truck. He always wears a harness and connected to a lanyard in the bed with enough slack to stand up on the bed rails and look out over the edge. Have a lanyard in the rear of the jeep so he can do the same as in the truck. When I traveled for work he would travel with me if I drove to jobsites and would ride in the rear of the Tahoe where I put his bed and sometimes in the front seat checking things out. Would walk him when I'd stop for fuel.
 
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