(Part 2) Best dog car harnesses according to redditors

I got this for the back seat of my Si and these to keep them safe

I don’t let them in the front. :)

My girl loves car rides but she loves to move around A LOT. My car isn’t big enough to fit her crate but I do have a steel rope that I have tethered to the anchors under my back seat (idk what they’re called but the thing you would lock a car seat onto.)

It doesn’t restrict her mobility 100%, she can enjoy the window breeze without being able to jump out and she can’t jump in the front seat while I’m driving (which was an issue when she was little.)

this is the one I got when she was about 6 months old and she’s tried to chew through it when she was younger but it’s held up well. (sorry if the link is wonky, I’m on mobile.)

Stay safe! I know he wants to hang out with you but the earlier you teach him that he can’t be on your lap when you’re driving, the better! 💓

Looks like you have a good list going, remember to update your pups microchip with your address and get him/her a tag with your details.

We got a 36 inch crate and it's plenty big for our boy (he's around 30 pounds).

Puppia harness is a great starter harness, it's soft and doesn't have a bunch of metal jingling pieces which our puppy HATED on his harness our breeder gave us.

Kibble, check out dog food advisor for reviews and ratings of foods content, we were using grain free salmon and sweet potato from chicken soup for the soul, it's decently priced and well rated I can't find it anywhere atm so we're switching him back to their normal kibble.

Salmon Oil is a lifesaver in the winter, our pup gets terribly dry skin and extremely itchy without it.

Start out with a puppy kong, they sell kong fillers that are cheese and peanut butter flavored, our puppy was pretty picky at first and only ate the cheese one, didn't like frozen kongs either.

I'd start with a Basic Collar here's a Dog Tag Silencer and a Break-away collar for outdoors or dog park. A dog was choked unconscious at our park so I typically just keep our guys ID tags on his harness and don't use a collar, but if you do I definitely recommend a break-away if you are primarily using a harness with it.

Items we found useful: Bed Liner, Crate Fence, Kong, Stainless Steel Bowls (highly reccomend US made do not buy any made in China for health reasons), Zippy Paws Hide and Seek toys, Potty/accident cleaner, Potty Bells, Anti-chew Bitter Apple spray, 50 ft Leash, Retractable Leash, Soft stop Leash extender, Car Seat Belt, Car Booster Seat, Gentle Shampoo, Comb, Travel Water Bottle, Flirt Pole, Special Treats, Chew Stick, Greenies

Sorry for the HUGE list lol, feel free to ask any questions!

Here you go, you click it into the seatbelt. it’s crash tested:

Sleepypod ClickIt Sport Crash-Tested Car Safety Dog Harness (XLarge, Jet Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01824N7DC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ln1lDb7NER93J

Like this thing?

I'm so sorry for you OP, I hope that you and your pup are reunited soon. I also take my dogs every where and like you I tend to leave the windows down to let them enjoy the drive. I was always paranoid that one of them would jump out, so I did some looking and found that they sell set belts and restraints. I linked one below to give you a better idea of what I mean. Its long enough to let them move around, but short enough to keep them from trying to make a break for it. I wish you the best of luck!

Doggy car restraint

Kurgo Dog Harness | Car Harness for Dogs | Pet Safety Seat Belt | Certified Crash Tested Harness | Car Seatbelt | Tru-Fit Enhanced Strength Style | Red | Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LNJ92D8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8GDVCbYN2VDTC

90 pound GSD mix. I have a hammock, and I also have a harness and seatbelt thingy that attaches to the child seat anchor between the seat back and bottom. He hates it, but safety first.

Yeah, you can put a chest harness on your dog and use a cable or strap like this to attach him to the Latch system attachment points (what baby car seats attach to), or some people put a crate in the backseat or cargo area. The goals are to:
a. Prevent the dog from distracting you while driving;
b. Keep your furry friend from flying through the windshield in case of a crash;
c. Dogs sometimes run off if they get hurt. If you crash and don’t have your pup strapped in, he could scamper off and be very very hard to find with who knows what injuries.

The one I linked was just the first that popped up when I searched for one. That being said, in an accident it will stop the dog from flying through a window or into the humans in front.

I haven't seen any solution which secures dogs in way similar to how humans are secured, but I guess a shorter leash on a model similar to that one would get quite close.

In the case of using a crate, the dog will slam into the side of the crate, which isn't optimal, but better than through a window or human skull. My dog always sits with his back leaned against the front facing side of the crate, which gives me some sense of security regarding frontal crashes.

Edit: This solution seems quite neat

Try the backseat.

Get a tether so the dog can’t get up front and distract you from driving.

*Find the size that is right for your dog, don’t get the kind that clip into the seatbelt since dogs can sit on those and unbuckle their tether.

I have a ruffwear web harness; and while my greyhound is averse to it (and all outwear), it's a well-made, quality product that fit him well. I don't have experience with their vehicle harness - but it appears to be safety tested.

Otherwise - I keep a dog hammock in the back seat of my CX-5, usually with a large fleece blanket. It by no means takes the place of a seatbelt, but provides a comfortable surface for him to lie down on, and he can't go far or tangled up in the seat gaps when stopping short.

Sure! This is similar to the one we have: https://www.amazon.com/Petmate-11480-Tether-Small-Medium/dp/B00DJRAVX2

I really don't feel like its making a difference for her - and its the first suggestion people make to me as well. It doesn't cross body like human's do, it more secures them TO the seat belt, so she's still really feeling the motion of the car. I haven't done more research recently about if there's a better style or not.

We don't live in Colorado (yet, we actually just started to apply for jobs out there and hope to move to the Denver-area later this year. We've already mapped out the drive and done some brainstorming about where we'll stay on the road since from where we live (Pittsburgh), it's about a 24 hour drive, so let me know if you need any help on the research we've done on that), but do camp (in OH, PA, and MD), hike, and road trip with our 1.5 year old Golden Retriever pretty frequently when the weather is warm. I'll discuss what we have for our dog's set ups.

Road Trips

• Car Harness (we use the Ruffwear Loadup) to help keep him safe in the car and to keep him in the backseat
  
• Car Seat Cover to protect your car
  
• Cleanup Supplies just in case your dog gets sick (my policy if that if you have them, you probably won't need them. But that one time you don't have them is when you'll probably need them). We keep a bottle of Nature's Miracle and paper towels in the trunk.
  
• Something to carry your dog's kibble in. We use the Ruffwear Kibble Kaddie
  
• Travel Dog Bowls. We really like these Doggie Bento Bowls for travel, since they're sturdy and the top one is keeps water in without leaking.
  
• Treats
  
• Crate for the hotel room/wherever you'll be staying on the road if your dog is crate trained.
  
• Leash and poop bags for when you take your dog out to potty at various rest stops, etc.
  
• Toys for when you get to your destination/your nightly lodging
  
• A bag to put everything in. We just use a folding duffle we've had lying around the house for a while.
  
• Collar with vaccination tags, as well as a tag with your home address (if it's a short trip) or the address of where you will be staying (if it's a longer trip)
  
• Doggie First Aid Kit (include items such as disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide (can be used to clean wounds or induce vomiting), vet wrap, gauze pads, activated charcoal, tick key, thermometer, ace wrap, scissors, tweezers, styptic powder, etc.)
  
  Camping
  
  
• Tie-out stake and tie-out line for the campsite. It's extremely useful not having to hold your dog's leash constantly while you're setting up camp, starting fires, collecting wood, etc.
  
• Something for your dog to sleep on (optional). We use the Ruffwear Highlands Sleeping Bag and the Ruffwear Highlands Sleeping Pad (we got both for over half off at L.L. Bean). Summit usually ends up ditching the sleeping bag and trying to climb into ours and cuddle though. The sleeping pad is really nice to have since we can easily move it to near the fire so he has a nice place to lay.
  
• Toys you don't mind getting dirty. We especially like light up and glow in the dark toys for at night around the campsite since we can actually find them once it starts to get dark.
  
• Food and some way to store it (we generally use the Ruffwear Kibble Kaddie for this too and store it in either the car or a bear box when it's not being used).
  
• Travel Bowls. For camping we tend to use the Ruffwear Quencher Cinch for food.
  
• Water and bowl (we use a Nalgene Bottle with a [Pupwerks PupCup](http://www.pupwerks.com/shop/the-original-pupcup, which when not in use, fits snugly on the bottom of the water bottle)).
  
• Treats
  
• Leash and poop bags
  
• Doggie First Aid Kit
  
• Light-up Dog Necklace to make your dog easier to see at night
  
  Hiking
  
  
• Harness/backpack. Summit has the Ruffwear Palisades Pack for hiking, but so far has only used the removable harness from it and not the pack (we didn't want him carrying the pack last summer while he was still growing and can't wait to try this summer).
  
  
• Leash and poop bags. We really like the Chaco Dog Leash since it has a buckle to allow us to clip him to different places, and you can adjust the leash to clip it around yourself to walk hands-free if needed.
  
  
• Longline or Flexi-leash (controversial, we personally hate flexi-leashes EXCEPT if we're hiking in an area where there are not many people/dogs nearby. I would not recommend it unless your dog has excellent recall in addition to the flexi). This allows your dog to wander a little farther away from you and sniff and explore on his own a little bit.
  
• Water and bowl (we use the Nalgene with the Pupwerks PupCup again for hiking)
  
• Treats
  
• Doggie First Aid Kit, especially if it's a longer or overnight hike
  
  Additionally, for camping, I'd strongly recommend doing some camping training in your home before taking your dog camping for real. We set our tent up in our living room and slept in it at home a couple of times with our dog just to let him get a feel for what things would be like before we went outside camping for the first time. Lots of treats were involved to show him that being calm in the tent was a good thing. Also start small. The first time we took our dog camping was at a campsite in Ohio about 20 minutes from our parents' house. We made sure it was just one night and that we had an easy-out in case Summit wasn't ready and started to freak out or disrupt the other people camping. Everything went perfectly but if Summit hadn't been having a good time, we could have quickly packed up and left and slept at either of our parents' houses where he would have felt more comfortable.
  
  In terms of hiking, also start small. Start with shorter, easier hikes that take maybe 30-60 minutes. Then work up to longer, steeper, more challenging hikes.
  
  Finally, for road tripping, especially in places that you don't know as well, I strongly recommend taking a look at bringfido.com and dogfriendly.com. These websites will allow you to easily look up different dog-friendly establishments (such as restaurants, hotels, parks, activities, etc.) in the areas that you are traveling.
  

See this post about restraining devices. The OPs situation was slightly different than yours but the information/discussion on the restraint systems is the same. Devices that have been tested and passed to earn a safety-certification to withstand the G-forces of a crash at 30mph range from $90 to Very Expensive.

If you're looking for something to specifically restrain the dog from a police officer standing next to the driver's side window, rather than to prevent the dog from becoming a projectile in the car, you may look at the Kurgo Tru-Fit Safety Harness. Note that while both the regular ($15) and "enhanced" model ($30) of this harness catastrophically failed safety testing as seen in this video the "enhanced" model has all metal hardware and would more reliably restrain a large muscular dog from the officer.

If I were in your situation and assuming you already have a harness, I would simply purchase this $25 Kurgo swivel tether for seatbelts and affix it to whatever harness you already have. None of these options will protect either you or the dog in a crash! but will accomplish your stated goal. Consider getting the Sleepypod Clickit harness despite its expense ($90) as it is the only harness system tested that passed the safety testing done by the Center for Pet Safety.

I suppose a crate, cage, or other barrier system could work but the only models that are effective at 30mph testing are >$400 which is why I always recommend a harness (and training).

Super cool! Also please make sure your dogs have harnesses and are buckled in while driving. In the event of a crash it could save their life.

https://www.amazon.ca/Solvit-Products-62405-Harness-20-55Lbs/dp/B00JZHRXJU/ref=asc_df_B00JZHRXJU/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292866882123&hvpos=1o8&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15262172415306491471&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001627&hvtargid=pla-353604007613&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/PETNINJA-Adjustable-Durable-Vehicle-Seatbelt/dp/B073F924JV/ref=asc_df_B073F924JV/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292866882123&hvpos=1o10&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15262172415306491471&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001627&hvtargid=pla-380491159644&psc=1

Yeah but as I said I do worry about that, and I mentioned that I use a harness that attached to the seatbelt clip would keep him secure to the seat before the airbag deployed. I think that would work well, I just need to get better about hooking all it up each trip.

Like this thing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J8GJL8O/

I have a Prius and take my dog hiking with me. She wears the Ruffwear Load-Up Harness, which is one of very few crash-tested harnesses for dogs. It's pricey, but a one-time purchase that could save your dog's life. If you decide to order, make sure you take your dog's measurements first so that you get the right size. My dog is not usually a small but she was for this product.

Amazon link