# Car ride chillin



## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

.... only for a second. She does love car rides though! Curious to other people?s methods of operation when driving the dog(s) around? Buckled, free to roam, caged? And, are they; Good, bad, crazy or just sleepy!?


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## SitkatheGSD (Aug 24, 2017)

One month after I picked up my pup (he was 4 months), I moved across Canada with him in the back seat. He had half the back seat and the floor as his home for 6 solid days of driving, and at night he slept in the tent with me. He was great in the car, but very hesitant to sit on the seat - he was happy to sleep on the floor and jump out to explore at every fill up / bathroom break.

Now, at 8 months old, he has full range of the back seat. When we're headed out he moves between each side with his head out the window; on the way home from adventuring, he sleeps the drive away on the seat.

I only wish he discovered the joy of having his head out the window when we passed through 5 provinces and one territory!


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## emcale (Jul 9, 2017)

I think many people would say they should be crated or buckled up in the car, not only for behavior but for their own safety. However, we personally just let our two "free to roam" in the car. 

We travel every weekend to a vacation spot 2 hours away, so they have been doing this a while (ours are 6 months old now). We have an SUV and just put down the backseats and they have a bed there and they just lay down and rest. Sometimes their heads are up and looking out the window, sometimes they like to be near the center to see out the front, but most of the time they sleep on the way there. 

So ours are very good on car rides. We had to teach our female that the front is for the humans, though. She tried to get up front many times, but consistency helped keep that at bay. They're great now


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## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

We have one of those awesome back seat car hammocks (I really recommend these so your dog doesn't fall off the chair on a rough turn!) and a doggie seat belt connected to a comfortable padded harness. People are crazy drivers here so I wouldn't go anywhere without one! Our pup Gandalf tolerates car rides, he doesn't complain but when we ask him to hop in he gives us this look like "Really? This again?". We go fun places everyday like adventurous hikes, pet stores, you name it! He is excited about the destination but not the journey. He handled a 10 hour road trip at 4 months old like a champ, slept the entire trip. Our last shepherd loved car rides so much, before he died he wanted to go for one last ride. We took a nice slow drive through the countryside before he passed.


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## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

SitkatheGSD said:


> One month after I picked up my pup (he was 4 months), I moved across Canada with him in the back seat. He had half the back seat and the floor as his home for 6 solid days of driving, and at night he slept in the tent with me. He was great in the car, but very hesitant to sit on the seat - he was happy to sleep on the floor and jump out to explore at every fill up / bathroom break.
> 
> Now, at 8 months old, he has full range of the back seat. When we're headed out he moves between each side with his head out the window; on the way home from adventuring, he sleeps the drive away on the seat.
> 
> I only wish he discovered the joy of having his head out the window when we passed through 5 provinces and one territory!


That is pretty impressive! I can hardly stand our annual drive from Colorado to California, which is only an ~19 hour drive.. I can only imagine 6 days. I bet it sure was a pretty drive though. Canada is on the bucket list, for sure!


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## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

emcale said:


> I think many people would say they should be crated or buckled up in the car, not only for behavior but for their own safety. However, we personally just let our two "free to roam" in the car.
> 
> We travel every weekend to a vacation spot 2 hours away, so they have been doing this a while (ours are 6 months old now). We have an SUV and just put down the backseats and they have a bed there and they just lay down and rest. Sometimes their heads are up and looking out the window, sometimes they like to be near the center to see out the front, but most of the time they sleep on the way there.
> 
> So ours are very good on car rides. We had to teach our female that the front is for the humans, though. She tried to get up front many times, but consistency helped keep that at bay. They're great now


I currently have the ?seatbelt ninja?, but it seems kinda sketchy to use with a collar, so I don?t. If I had a harness to distribute the resulting force from an accident, then I?d probably use it.


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## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

GandalfTheShepherd said:


> We have one of those awesome back seat car hammocks (I really recommend these so your dog doesn't fall off the chair on a rough turn!) and a doggie seat belt connected to a comfortable padded harness. People are crazy drivers here so I wouldn't go anywhere without one! Our pup Gandalf tolerates car rides, he doesn't complain but when we ask him to hop in he gives us this look like "Really? This again?". We go fun places everyday like adventurous hikes, pet stores, you name it! He is excited about the destination but not the journey. He handled a 10 hour road trip at 4 months old like a champ, slept the entire trip. Our last shepherd loved car rides so much, before he died he wanted to go for one last ride. We took a nice slow drive through the countryside before he passed.


First I have ever heard of a back seat hammock! Sheeesh, that sounds like a good incentive for me to sit in the back and throw the dog up front. I bet your dog quite enjoys the hammock.


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## cdwoodcox (Jul 4, 2015)

I used to let mine just free roam in the truck. They all enjoyed it enough. I just got sick of the hair everywhere so I put them in the back.


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## cdwoodcox (Jul 4, 2015)

I built a pull out drawer system so I could also keep all of their crap back there and out of my truck. It works out much better. The last pic is on our trip to GA. this last June. You can see Athena thinks she is the queen and the boys are mere peons.


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## Trix (Jun 22, 2017)

When we picked up our pup at about 8.5 weeks, the first night home we had a 5 hour drive to our aunt and uncles, then the next day a 12 hour drive home. He got very used to the car very quick, and he’s been a total champ. 

A month after bringing him home, we finished the project I was working on and left for a two month, 8000 mile road trip through the US and Canada. We spent 38/41 nights with him in the roof top tent of our off road trailer. The entire time, he stays on the floor of the front passenger seat. He occasionally goes in back but pretty rare. 

Needless to say, he is a total champ in the car now. He’s probably seen more of the US in the last 3 months than most dogs do their whole life. 




























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

cdwoodcox said:


> I built a pull out drawer system so I could also keep all of their crap back there and out of my truck. It works out much better. The last pic is on our trip to GA. this last June. You can see Athena thinks she is the queen and the boys are mere peons.


absolutely hilarious! That is a strikingly similar to what my wife and I experience when our daughter comes to sleep in bed with us. I can relate!


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## Chst4698 (Sep 10, 2017)

Trix said:


> When we picked up our pup at about 8.5 weeks, the first night home we had a 5 hour drive to our aunt and uncles, then the next day a 12 hour drive home. He got very used to the car very quick, and he?s been a total champ.
> 
> A month after bringing him home, we finished the project I was working on and left for a two month, 8000 mile road trip through the US and Canada. We spent 38/41 nights with him in the roof top tent of our off road trailer. The entire time, he stays on the floor of the front passenger seat. He occasionally goes in back but pretty rare.
> 
> ...


Looks like some very pretty country traveled there! Gotta love the unexpected encounters with wild life. I?ll betcha he has traveled more of the US then most humans have. I hope to do a lot of it one day.


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## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

Trix said:


> When we picked up our pup at about 8.5 weeks, the first night home we had a 5 hour drive to our aunt and uncles, then the next day a 12 hour drive home. He got very used to the car very quick, and he’s been a total champ.
> 
> A month after bringing him home, we finished the project I was working on and left for a two month, 8000 mile road trip through the US and Canada. We spent 38/41 nights with him in the roof top tent of our off road trailer. The entire time, he stays on the floor of the front passenger seat. He occasionally goes in back but pretty rare.
> 
> ...


I wish I was your dog lol. Lucky guy those are some beautiful places!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Nothing fancy. Luna usually sits in the back hatch with a blanket and a toy. max in the back seat. The back does not have much room for a crate. I have another truck where I can fit a crate in the back and I will put her in the crate. They are all quite Luna just sits their looks like she is staring out the back window and eventually lays down. I have this for my back seat save the truck from dirt and hair. When max was a pup he would get a little car sick but grew out of it and made trips as pleasant as possible until he grew out of it didhttps://www.treatadog.com/products/pupprotector-car-seat-cover


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

If i have one dog in the car we use a harness and a tether. The seat is covered with a hammock and we have screens in the back windows. I used to tether both dogs in the back seat of the Prius but not anymore. Sometimes they switch sides and the seatbelts get tangled. 

The back seat of our truck folds down and I have a hammock back there and screens in the windows. If the weather is decent they ride in Gunner kennels in the bed of the truck.

here are the type of window screens we use.
http://www.breezeguard.com/


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## KaiserAus (Dec 16, 2016)

I have him buckled in the back - for his safety and mine - a 40kg dog flying and hitting me will kill me... I'd rather keep him strapped in. He wears a harness in the car and has a lead that is attached to a point in the car that is meant for a child car seat restraint. You can just make it out in the last pic. The two of them are sitting in the boot of the car... its an suv


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## Armistice (Oct 12, 2017)

Trix said:


> When we picked up our pup at about 8.5 weeks, the first night home we had a 5 hour drive to our aunt and uncles, then the next day a 12 hour drive home. He got very used to the car very quick, and he’s been a total champ.


Drove to AZ to pick up our 8.5wk pup. 5hr car ride and she slept pretty much the whole time. We try to take her around as much as possible, and she just sleeps

We plan on getting out more to hike and such

Also, I've never seen dogs belted in. Free roam in the back seat or rear of SUV


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