These days it is so easy to get your hands on a safety tested dog car harness, so your pup is protected on your next road trip. In this blog post, I’ll tell you WHY you need to safely restrain your dog in the car, and recommend some solutions.
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When I was a child in the early 2000’s, I don’t remember the dog’s safety in the car being a concern. The dog went wherever they fit, normally in someone’s footwell. However today there is a better understanding of how important it is to have your dog safely restrained in the car. A dog car harness is an easy low cost way to keep your dog safe. Your dog is part of the family, so if the worst happens and you crash your car, you want to give them the best chance of survival. If your dog is unrestrained, they could become a projectile in an accident and cause injury to themselves, or other passengers. It only takes one mistake from a driver and your dog could no longer be with you.
Are there any laws on this in the UK?
Rule 57 of the highway code states that dogs must be “suitably restrained” when in the car, and state these appropriate methods: a seat belt harness, pet carrier, crate/cage or dog guard. You could be risking a fine up to £2500 for not complying with this rule! It is estimated that one third of dog owners do not restrain their dog in the car, putting themselves and their pet at risk.
I personally use a harness and seatbelt for my dog. Let me talk you through why a dog car harness and seatbelt is a great option for car travel, and recommend some you can get easy peasy from Amazon.
Here are some specialist Dog Car Harnesses on the market now, from low cost to premium.
Low cost: The RAC Dog Car Harness
The RAC are a British motoring services company. They are best known for roadside assistance, car insurance, and they have a range of car-related products too. One of which is their Dog Car Harness. This is a specialist car harness, it has a loop for the seat belts in your car to thread through without needing a seat belt attachment. This harness comes in 5 sizes, which is perfect to help you find the best fit. They don’t specify weight recommendations for the harness but have size measurements to ensure you get the right one for your dog. This is a fantastic low cost option, making safe travel accessible to all dog owners.
Mid Range: The CarSafe Harness from Company Of Animals
Company of Animals are a British brand, and the makers of the popular Halti pet products like the no-pull harness. Their CarSafe harness is crash test certified up to 32KG or 70lbs, so you can be confident in its safety. This harness has a loop where you can thread your existing car seat belt through this harness, so you won’t need an additional seat belt attachment. Company of Animals are specialists in dog behaviour research and their products are always great quality and reasonably priced. This harness ranges from around £25 – £31 depending on which size you need.
Premium: Ruffwear Load Up™ Dog Car Harness
Ruffwear is an American brand founded in the 90’s, specializing in outdoor gear for dogs. You will see a lot of Ruffwear harnesses on dogs if you adventure up a mountain! They created the Load Up™ Harness as part of their range, to create a car harness with a dog’s comfort as the priority. It is crash tested up to 75LBs (and you can watch the crash tests on youtube, if you’re interested). It also has a seatbelt loop so you don’t need an extra seat belt attachment. The seat belt loop on the Ruffwear harness is situated at the lower part of the dogs back, which they claim to be the safest option as it keeps the dog more upright in a crash. This harness ranges from £144-£123 on Amazon.
Using your normal walking harness
Now you can generally just use a normal walking harness for car travel as well – although they likely won’t have been safety tested in a car like a specialist car harness. You want to make sure the harness has a chest plate covering your dog’s chest well, to spread the pressure incase of an accident. If you use a normal harness, you will need a seatbelt attachment. This will just clip onto the harness where you would usually attach the lead.
This is the seat belt attachment I have. I chose this one for the anti shock bungee feature. It has worked well for us for the past year and half, and even withstood some serious puppy chewing.
A Dog Car Harness will be the right travel solution for you and your dog if…
You have space on your back seats
I don’t have any kids, so my back seats are always free for my dog whenever I need to take her somewhere. If you don’t have backseat space and your dog needs to travel in the boot, a boot crate or boot guard might be better for you.
Your dog is calm in the car
As they will be sitting behind you as you drive, the less distracting they are, the better! Since about 9 months old my dog will just happily lie down on the back seats. A harness and seat belt works best when your dog isn’t trying to climb through to the front seats. If your dog is not a calm traveller, a crate in the boot might be the safest option.
You need the boot for storage
If you are going on holiday and need to get loads of suitcases in the boot, it’s just not practical to have a dog crate taking up all the space. You don’t want all your luggage on show in the back seats when you stop at the service stations on your travels. Having your dog on the passenger seats means you can continue using your boot as normal.
You have a large dog (and a small car!)
Being realistic, you won’t fit a Newfoundland into the boot of a Nissan Micra. Practically for many dogs, the back seats are going to be the most spacious and comfortable place for them to ride!
