Even a man’s best friend needs to travel! These SUVs are some of the best for dogs and dog owners who may require additional space. The third row of seats in many of these sport utility vehicles may be folded down to make room for cages, pets, or even luggage. Without further ado, here are the top dog-friendly SUVs for 2022.
Which car is the best for dogs?
These are the top 12 possibilities on the market if you’re seeking for a car that will be cozy for your pet.
- Toyota Sienna 2021.
- Jeep Wrangler 2021.
- Honda Fit 2020.
- Kia Soul 2021.
- Tesla Model 3 2021
- Subaru Crosstrek in 2021.
- Honda Odyssey in 2021.
- Toyota 4Runner, 2021. $36,340 | NBC News Score overall: 7.1/10.
Are dogs secure in the SUV’s back?
The safest method of restraint is typically thought to be a harness or cage system. The automobile barrier prevents the dog from entering the passenger area of the car, limiting it to the cargo area, yet it is still preferable than no restriction at all.
Never place your dog in the front seat of your car, regardless of the system you choose for them. Your SUV’s cargo area or the back seat of your car are the safest places for your dog to be. Having said that, keep in mind that the crumple zone for many different types of automobiles is the cargo area.
Let’s examine the main categories of dog vehicle restraint devices in more detail now:
Dog Harness And Seat Belts
The dog harness restraint system is made to operate in conjunction with your car’s seat belt to bind your dog to the seat similarly to how seat belts do for people. In the case of an accident, the harness secures the dog inside the car seat and stops it from flying into the front passenger area.
Basically, dog harness systems consist of two components:
- the strap
- the chain
Any harness method you decide on for your pet should be securely fastened to the seat belt and keep your dog from moving around in the seat.
Here are some crucial factors to think about if you choose a harness:
Comfort
During your car trips with your dog, you want him to feel comfortable. Find a harness that has wide, well-padded safety straps. You should specifically look for a harness with a broad, bib-shaped strap that runs the entire length of your dog’s chest. Since the strap absorbs the majority of the force from an impact, you want a strap that disperses that force as far as possible.
Tether Length
The tether fastens to the harness before connecting to the seat belt in the car. The tether prevents the dog from lunging forward in the case of a crash.
If the dog wriggles around in the seat, the tether must be short and fixed to the back of the harness to prevent tangling. Use a harness without a tether attachment at the neck.
Convenience And Versatility
A lot of dog vehicle harnesses can also be used as a regular day harness for leash walking your dog. This type of design makes it simple to remove your dog from the car, attach his leash, and you’re ready to go when traveling with your pet.
What Dog Breeds Can Use Dog Car Harnesses?
For small to medium-sized breeds like Mini Goldendoodles and Bichon Frise, seat belt harnesses work best. However, if a larger breed of dog is well-behaved and willing to sit quietly on the seat, you can also use a car harness.
For loud, hyperactive dogs who can’t sit still or for highly aggressive chewers, a harness is not advised.
Dog Crates
The safest method for transporting your dog in your SUV is in dog crates or carriers. Reduced driving distractions and safe canine containment in the case of an accident are benefits of crating your dog. Additionally, while confined in a box, a dog or puppy who likes to chew cannot ruin the interior of your car or rip through the rear seat belts.
When selecting a dog crate for travel, there are a few important considerations to keep in mind, such as:
- Strong, durable structure
- the ideal size. In the case of an accident, a properly fitted travel crate is snug enough to keep your pet from being flung around.
- Make sure the SUV’s cargo area is not also the vehicle’s crumple zone before purchasing a dog travel crate for it. That might not be the best location for your dog’s box or carrier!
- Use a car barrier that is firmly placed between the cargo area and the back seats if you opt to use the cargo space for your dog’s box.
- Some dog crates and carriers can be fastened with straps that fasten to the flatbed of a pickup truck or the back seat belts of your automobile. To find out if you need to use straps to fasten the container, carefully read the manufacturer’s instructions.
This link will take you to a detailed article on how to measure your dog for a crate.
Printing out your dog’s medical history and emergency contacts is a smart idea, and you should attach them to the crate.
Types Of Dog Travel Crates
Three primary types of dog cages are available for use when traveling:
- Cable cages
- In plastic crates
- Textile crates
It actually depends on your particular preferences; each of these crates has advantages and disadvantages.
Wire Crates
The dog’s primary crate for usage at home and as a travel crate can both be made of wire.
Because wire dog crates can be collapsed for simple portability, you can simply take them apart and load them into your SUV. Excellent ventilation is provided by a wire crate, which is necessary for moving your dog on warm days. Most wire cage crates feature a detachable plastic tray, which makes cleanup if your dog has an accident quick and simple.
Inexpensive to purchase and durable are wire crates. You might wish to get a crash-tested, impact-safe travel crate if you just want to use your metal crate for traveling with your dog.
Plastic Crates
For quick trips to the veterinarian or a grooming salon, plastic dog carriers are perfect. Furthermore, lots of plastic crates have airline approval.
A plastic kennel is sturdy and resilient, protecting your pet in the event of an accident. Most models also have carrying handles for convenient portability. The box is simple to clean; just rinse it off or use a moist towel and dish soap.
Plastic crates for automobile travel have a major drawback in that they don’t have particularly good ventilation, which might be an issue on a warm day.
Collapsible Or Soft-Sided Crate
Small dogs can be transported in a car or SUV using soft-sided fabric crates.
A fabric crate’s biggest drawback is that the soft material won’t cushion your pet in a collision and is easily chewed.
Dog Car Barriers
Your dog won’t be protected or contained in the event of a mishap by a dog cargo area barrier or guard. A car barrier won’t stop your dog from becoming a deadly projectile in an accident; it will only prevent the dog from travelling from the SUV’s cargo area to the back seats.
A barrier, however, can be an effective method of reducing driver distraction when used in conjunction with a dog harness or crate.
Here are some characteristics of a top-notch dog car barrier:
Sturdy Build
It’s accurate to say that you get what you pay for when it comes to dog car barriers. Cheap goods frequently have fasteners that are not totally secure and won’t be sturdy enough to support the weight of your dog in an accident.
Therefore, search for a canine car barrier that is built of highly strong materials and fastens firmly to your car.
Correct Size
If a canine vehicle barrier is the wrong size and installed improperly, it won’t serve the purpose you want it to.
Make sure the product you purchase fits your automobile by consulting the manufacturer’s instructions, and then take the time to fix it properly.
How to Get Your Dog Into a Car by Yourself
Most dog owners will choose to pick up their dog and give them a boost if they can’t get them into the car on their own. In the aforementioned video, I show how to load small, medium, or large breeds into a car, truck, or SUV.
The process of picking up and loading a tiny dog into the car is simple. Lifting medium and large breeds, however, isn’t usually a choice because of their greater weight.
With large dogs, it’s ideal to pull them up and assist them into the car while placing their front feet on the vehicle’s floor and cradling their back ends.
When loading your dog into the car, make sure you always support the dog’s hind end and avoid putting stress on the dog’s stomach or back legs. The easiest approach to lift a medium or large breed dog securely is to use the cradle technique, which I show in my video.
Is it effective to lift your dog into the car? True, but it may also be very taxing on your body. You’re putting a lot of pressure on your back, knees, shoulders, and arms while sparing your pet’s joints the load.
In the end, employing pet ramps or dog steps that are made expressly to help lift dogs into tall automobiles, trucks, and SUVs is the ideal option to assist a dog into a car. In my video up top, I show how to utilize a pet ramp, but pet stairs also work nicely.
Although there are some distinctions between these two solutions, I personally prefer to utilize a dog ramp over dog stairs because the ascent is considerably easier for elderly pets and dogs who have hip or arthritic problems. For these dogs, lifting the legs to ascend pet stairs might occasionally be challenging.
Get the Dog Into a Car Using Pet Ramp or Stairs
Make sure to choose a device that is made for the make and model of your vehicle, whether you decide on a dog ramp or pet steps. You might need to take measurements because they don’t usually say which automobiles the stairs or ramps are designed for.
When measuring stairs or ramps for your car, be careful to include a slope-appropriate measurement from the point at which the ramp or stairs will attach to your car to the ground.
Your dog’s body will experience greater stress if the pet ramp slope is excessively steep than it would from simply getting into the car.
To avoid it becoming a continual headache, you should also search for a set of pet stairs or a ramp that will be simple to store in your car and bring out as needed.
Look for dog ramps or steps that:
- Condenses for simple storage
- Is it compact?
- able to support the weight of your dog
It’s simple to teach a dog to utilize stairs or a ramp, as I show in the video up top. The simplest method to achieve this is to coax your dog up and down using dog treats until they become accustomed to the procedure.
The dog may initially require a lot of goodies to be motivated, but eventually he’ll realize that using the ramp or stairs is quicker and easier than repeatedly jumping up and down. The dog can then just receive a reward for climbing up or down.
It’s not difficult to learn how to assist a dog into a vehicle, but it’s critical knowledge that every dog owner should possess. Your dog’s entire health will benefit, and keeping his joints in better condition and away from leaps is a smart preventative strategy.
Best Dog Ramps and Stairs for Cars
However, some pet ramps or steps may not be appropriate for vehicles, especially if the car is too high (sports car) or too low (furniture) (SUVs and trucks). The five dog ramps and dog steps for automobiles I like best are listed below. I suggest giving them a try while assisting dogs into your car.
What car has a setting for dogs?
The automaker’s Dog Mode is a special function that makes its electric cars more appealing to pet owners who own Teslas. Tesla is the sole automaker with the functionality as of 2019, when it was implemented via an over-the-air software upgrade.
Do canines damage leather chairs?
One of the simplest ways to make your car filthy or even completely unusable is through your dog. The interior of your car can suffer damage from your good companion. Their nails have the potential to leave leather seats covered in unattractive scratches. Even inside the leather, they have the ability to create tears and punctures.
In addition, you need to be concerned about mud, wetness, and even fur. If your dog sheds, the fur they leave behind could contain sharp bristles that could snag on the seat material.
So how can you protect your car’s seats the best? Throwing a towel over your seats is the economical but ineffectual course of action. Sadly, it’s possible that your dog will simply shift, shuffle, and rearrange the towel into a cozy little mound for sitting.
Although regularly brushing your dog can assist, this is not a guaranteed way to protect your leather seats. It’s possible that no amount of nail trimming, brushing, or cleaning will be sufficient to properly shield your seats.
Can dogs ride in the Toyota RAV4?
With a minimum size of 547 liters, the Toyota RAV4’s cargo can comfortably accommodate even the biggest dogs. Additionally, the vehicle’s side-opening rear door makes it as easy as possible to reach the vehicle from the pavement (when parked on the nearside). The vehicle’s low load lip and flat floor further improve access, making it simple for most dogs to enter and exit. Additionally, the boot has under-floor storage, which is great for organizing leashes, toys, and dog waste bags. Last but not least, cleaning is made simple by a removable, carpeted boot floor.
In an SUV, where should a dog sit?
It can be risky to let your dog roam free in the automobile. They can firstly distract the driver, which is dangerous for everyone. If you let them stick their heads out the window or even jump out and fly away, they might get hurt as well. Even worse, in the event of an accident or unexpected movement, they may transform into a hazardous projectile.
Pets should always be securely fastened when riding in a car in order to practice canine car safety and avoid serious accidents that could harm both animals and human passengers. Crates or harnesses with seat belts for dogs are the two safest ways to transport pets in automobiles. Whatever way you use, your dog should never be secured in the front seat; it is safer to place them in the rear seat or cargo area behind the front seat.
