It depends on the dog and your situation. I have never and will never allow my dogs to be outside when no one is home. A concrete fence would probably solve most of my issues (snakes, tree limb breaking fence, neighbor kids harassing or even poisoning). I'm almost 60, have had exactly zero dogs who loved being in their crate (except my first rottie who wanted it for sleeping in, gate open.. she didn't NEED a crate from the time she was about 6 mos old). But if you give them good quality toys and chews, dogs generally chill out. They sleep up to 18 hrs a day so I consider a crate a good safe haven. My basenji is fine left in my bedroom now that she's grown. My 2nd basenji didn't destroy things, she'd pee on my bed.. so she got crated. My first was incredibly dog aggressive, so the rotties and chow ran free, she was crated when I was out, slept with me at night (as did/do the other 2).
Car rides, loose, crate or doggie seatbelt?
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I have to admit, I don't crate or seat belt Dash. He sits in between the seats, in the back but with his front two feet on the console. Our Beagle usually hides on the floor. She hates the car.
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Yes, many of us remember Wanda accident on the way to the Nationals and there were others like it… had the dogs not been crated, chance are they would not have been around... Of course also anyone remember the case of road rage against the Bishon here in California?.... Had that dog been in a crate or at least a doggy seat belt it might still be alive...
I have always used crates.... I know for sure mine would eat the seatbelts... ggg -
So next question…what type of crate? The solid ones, made of plastic (or whatever they are actually made of) or is a wire crate ok? and do you attach the crate or just sit it in the car? Curious what other people do....
Zuri doesn't get car sick at this point...but I sure hope she grows up to be smart like Jazzy and throw up outside if she needs to...that's one mess I wouldn't mind not having to clean up!! -
Depending on how much time I have and who I am transporting could be either wire or plastic. I bungee cord mine down.
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I use wire crates, but that is because they are easy to fold down flat to store if need be… and I think mine like the wire since they can see 360.... also easier to strap down or bunge to something so that they don't "roll" or "fall" over with a quick stop
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And another good reason to NEVER have you dog and/or any pet ride loose in your car…. "you" wear a seat belt?... right... and in an accident, like the one that the Gov from NJ was just in... you prevent lots of injury with restraints... he was not wearing his seat belt.... so if you use a seat belt or a crate (secured)... you can reduce injury.... cause you never know....
And I am just as guilty sometimes of not crating mine ever time... but I do know better -
Jazzy tends to get car sick, so I don't crate her when we travel.
She does have a harness/seatbelt that I use, which keeps her safe and allows me to be able to hold up the trash can for her when she gets sick.
She knows to put her head in the can and to vomit into the trash, LOL, so it is a system that works well for us.When I used to crate her, she vomit in the crate and wind up covered in it by the time we reached our destination.
It's funny how they get that basenji "sardonic grin" right before they puke!
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Thanks for the replies…I guess I will look into it a bit more but at least I have a crate I can bring along for now.
Brenda
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If you want Zuri to ride in crate as an adult, you should be crating her on car trips now. I know many people who did not want to crate their puppy on those short car rides as puppies who then had to deal with adult dogs that screamed in the crate because they were not used to it. I crate all of my dogs when they are in the car. I use plastic vari-kennels because those are what fit in my vehicle. I start them as puppies and they all know that if they are going for a ride in the car then they need to hop in their crate. Rally got car sick as a puppy and Sophie has a couple of times but I think she will grow out of it. We give her a round cuddle bed and she seems happy puking onto the bare plastic and staying curled up in her nice puke free cuddle bed.
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I agree, starting young is best. Zuri sleeps in her crate overnight and when we go out she is in her crate so it shouldnt' be too difficult to convince her in the car. I want to invest in a better crate for her in the house anyway so I will keep the other in the car all the time. She starts puppy kindergarten soon so there will be weekly car rides for her….a great opportunity to practice.
Brenda
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I have to admit, I don't crate or seat belt Dash. He sits in between the seats, in the back but with his front two feet on the console. Our Beagle usually hides on the floor. She hates the car.
Squiggy surfs also with his feet in the back seat. I know I should at least get a harness. He cant do any kind of crate. He freaks out and explodes out the back end. We have worked on this and I have given up
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…whether a crate or a harness. Just a small to medium sized plastic type works great and they're so cheap. We use budgie straps to secure ours whether in the back seat (strap it around the rear seat head rests or chid seat latches) or in the back of the SUV. For years we never did, but once we had a baby we started to. Last year I signed one of our Bs up for training. Our first class was without the dogs. We were told we MUST transport the dogs to/from class with a crate or harness. I suppose you could have shown up without one, but after hearing facts like "in just a 30mph crash, a 30lb "loose object" will become a projectile with 900lbs of force," everyone had a crate in their car. Like I said, we do crate ours. Our kids don't like to be in their car seats but we want them to be safe. Same is true for our critters.
I found this story from someone online:
_Posted*-04/03/2007
So Sunday afternoon my friend and I were on our way to Charlotte and we happened to watch a car accident. A car hit the cement divider head first then spun and hit tail first then started to spin into traffic. My friend pulled over and I ran back to the car to check on the driver. She was ok and when the other person who stopped opened the back door, there was a tiny dog, in a carrier freaking out. We were on a major highway and the dog was probably a minature pincher. The lady was, ironically enough, on her way home from bringing her BRAND NEW puppy to get its shots. We put the dog in my friends car to keep it safe, then moved it to the drivers friends car when she showed up.When we got back into my friends car, we both realized how lucky that woman and her dog were. Both were alive and not hurt (although the woman was clearly in shock). Had that little dog not been in its carrier, it would have jumped out of the car as soon as the womans door opened and been killed by oncoming traffic.
We also realized that neither of us uses a carrier anymore because they are such a hassle. It was a very sobering moment.
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How scary would it be to see your B running across the interstate (or worse)? I hate to think of it. These stories are usually hard to read, fortunately this one had a happy ending. -
Scary lets talk about trying to put my B in the darn car seat/harness…What a mess. Anyone have experience with this thing. He ended up pulling it down off himself. He won and he ended up riding in the front with me.
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I concur with CMD…you gotta do something. IMHO I would neve carry a baby in the front seat with me. It's just like human kids...do they like the car seat? No will they cry? Yes So you just let them deal. They will get over it & get used to it. It may be annoying & heartbreaking but it's for their own good.
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How can u keep them down. I really could not keep him strapped in, he wiggled right out of it.
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It's funny how they get that basenji "sardonic grin" right before they puke!
I love it; not only is it amusing to look at, but it gives me time to get the bucket ready! LOL
LuzMery, maybe you're not using the correct size harness? Or not tightening it properly.
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could be. it also took me a long time to figure out the harness. I'll try again, this time with my hubbies assistance. We want him safe.
This weekend my B was doing that sound right before they puke (gave him some rawhide bones) and I carried him to the bathroom and put his head in the toilet thanks to someone else's experience on this forum-sorry forgot who)and my daughter was laughing at me, but hey he threw up in the toilet and hopefully will in the future. I love how human they can be at times….really just like children!
