Hi all, my dog travels in a car crate. Always has. I believe she’s safest in there for both of us.
I was surprised that a sit applicant disagreed with me in this during an application video call and said her camper van wouldn’t hold a crate either. For that reason I turned down a very experienced and responsible sitter.
Is it more unusual than I thought for dogs to travel in crates in the car?
The applicant suggested it was.
Your thoughts?
I wouldn’t be able to fit a crate in my small car and always clip a dog from its harness to the seatbelt. Maybe offer use of your vehicle and crate.
@Laurmurf
We travelled with the dogs on the back seat, as safety for them. If someone crashed into the back of the car with the dogs in the boot, there’s a very high chance of severe injury to them.
I know this solution isn’t for everyone but our way of making sure the dogs are more protected.
We have them in the boot of our car.
We tend to follow the HOs methods i.e. if they use a crate fine or if they use a seatbelt strap that’s fine too. I always carry a spare seatbelt strap with me just in case.
Friends have their dogs in a crate in the boot of their car because they were advised by emergency services that in the case of an accident the boot can pop open and the pups run off in the panic. Of course, if they are tethered this isn’t such an issue.
In all the sits I’ve done I haven’t yet come across a dog travelling in a crate in the car. However, whatever the owner does I would do. Unfortunately the majority of dog owners have so far put their dogs in the boot, the occasional dog has had a car harness/basket. It does concern me as dogs in the UK must, by law, be restrained in a car. Travelling on the back seat of a car without a harness doesn’t count.
So every time an owner or I put a dog, unrestrained/uncrated, in the boot of the car we’rebreaking the law. This would probably only come to light should there be an accident but it is something that should be discussed and, if there is no restraint, not travel with a dog by car.
Have just finished a sit in England with 2 smaller dogs whose owners usually take them in the car to their favourite walks and are not restrained as usually on laps! We asked did they have a crate or seat belt attachments otherwise we would not be taking them out. A crate was produced as were seat belt attachments and a bed for back seat! Owners were very interested to know how their dogs had behaved travelling restrained - they were very good. We left optimistic that there would be a change made by the owners.
@Laurmurf we are experienced dog sitters . We don’t accept sits where we are expected to take the dogs in our vehicle for their daily exercise . We will walk the dogs directly from the home or expect the owner to offer their vehicle if it is necessary to drive to the location where the dogs are walked . If the owner provides car / crate etc we will use whatever they usually use to restrain the dogs .
Hello @Laurmurf
We had two pups for 14 years and we did not crate them in the car, (US).
If we had a vehicle that was conducive to keeping crates in the vehicle then we would have crated the pups.
If I was applying for a sit and that was the home host preference, if I could work it out, great, if not, then not a good match.
That would be a good note to make in your listing, if it’s not already, and note it’s non-negotiable.
I think it is reasonable that a home host may want to consider offering a vehicle for a trusted house sitter to use if that is going to be a requirement.
I have used safety harnesses that buckles directly into the seat belt buckle which secures the dogs in the back seat. And I have also used carriers—but have not experienced using a crate.
If the dog is able to move around, stand up, sit and lie down comfortably, I would be ok using a crate.
Whatever type of restraint used, a dog’s safety and comfort should be considered.
A lot of sitters using their own or a hire car may not have room for a crate, we use a rear seat cover that protects the upholstery and theres a clip that goes into the seatbelt and the other end clips onto the dogs collar, it works really well, and is a good alternative.
For our own dog, we use a harness and a seatbelt attachment. We keep ones in all of our vehicles. We have room for crates in our cars, but don’t use such.
When sitting and driving dogs to parks and sightseeing, I’ve aways done similarly. Have never been asked to put them in crates.
Well done @temba, hopefully they’ll change their ways. I guess it’s either ignorance or laziness of the owners who don’t restrain their dogs. In this case obviously laziness as they had the equipment!
Dogs are rarely allowed in hire cars, otherwise there’s a huge cleaning fee
We do the harness and seat belt clip. Crates are cumbersome to fit in most cars for most medium to large dogs.
I usually provide a car (SUV) but if I didn’t I certainly wouldn’t expect a sitter to shovel a crate in theirs. I think sometimes as HO we need to flexible a bit for well qualified sitters.
Thanks all for your comments, it’s been illuminating!
We have a hatchback and the crate we use fits in. Our dog can stand up, move around and lie down in it and enjoys travelling in it.
I do understand that it wouldn’t it in every car, so we do offer ours as necessary.
We’ve not yet tried a harness and seatbelt clip but will try that out before our next sit.
I’ve never had her travel in a footwell or loose in the boot/back of car, and wouldn’t ever want to do so.
Thanks again for all comments.
