seat belt

[Coco Chow]

For car rides, I was wondering do you use a safety belt for your chow?
And if yes, what kind?
Thanks.

[Sirchow]

The only place that Bamble will travel happily is in the front footwell and If I have to break suddenly she is so well protected that I have never bothered with any restraint except to tie her to the seat runner in case she needed a cuddle on the motorway The main reason she prefers this position is so that I can blast her with the air con and heavy metal if she gets hot or bored. Where does Coco prefer to travel?

[Coco Chow]

Coco prefers to travel on my lap... but it's been quite a few months that it is NOT possible anymore (she still tries tough ).

She usually sits on the passenger seat one minute, then the next she goes down in the front footwell, then up in the passenger seat, then she jumps at the back of the car, stay there a minute, then she jumps back to the front, etc.
Everytime I use reverse to park, she puts her nose on my nose and her paw on my lap and, and she smiles saying "I can come on your lap now that we're nearly stopped , right?".

It would be ok if it was just annoying, but it's dangerous too because I have a small Smart car and the key to turn it on/off is in between our seats and I don't count how many times she turned the car off during her jumps while we are in the middle of traffic !

[bellabear27]

We have been looking into getting seatbelts for Bruin and Bella as well! We were looking at one type (I can't remember the brandname now..) that works as a harness for walking and a seatbelt for the car. We haven't purchased it yet but we are definitely thinking about it. I'm not sure how the pups will like being stuck in the back seat though.. the both try to sit in my (Jenna's) laps while Tyler drives. With a combined weight of over 80lbs.. it is starting to get very difficult and painful!! As well.. it probably isn't the safest!

Has anyone sucessfully used seatbelts?? Do they work?? The ones we were looking at were fairly expensive.. but if they work, I think it'll definitely be worth the money!

[Loha'sDad]

There is no way in the world that Loha would put up with wearing a seatbelt. Ever since he was a very young puppy he has loved his vehicle rides and has never made the slightest peep when rolling off the seat onto the floor during sudden stops. I think he actually enjoys it! Our Chow Chows are rough, tough characters. Just get down on the floor and butt heads or hit jaw to jaw with yours if you don't believe me. What is mild play to them would have all of us hauled off to the hospital in the back of an ambulance.

Loha's Dad

[Zhuyos mom]

I use this model for my chows:


This one cost around $15-18 U.S. There are more expensive models with more padding in the chest area. I also add a luggage strap onto my car's seat belt once it is buckled and attach the luggage strap onto the chow's seat belt harness so it gives them a little more leg room to lie down. If I don't use the luggage strap, they get restless and do figure 8's in the back seat and tangle themselves with the harness and car's seat belt which is locked in place. So the luggage strap allows them the ability to lie down but still be restrained in the car. It works really well for me.

[LEO's mum]

We've got a doggie seatbelt/harness for LEO. Used to use it on long jouneys of an hour or more, especially if I was on my own driving. She sits at the rear passenger seat on our SUV. It worked, and I'd say it is definitely safer if I'm on my own w/ her(w/o DH or anyone else to restrain her, in rare cases like spotting a bear ). But nowadays, we know she'll sit on the seat while scenery is interesting, and plop down of the floor on motorways, we haven't used it for a long time. It was/is a padded(w/ fleece) harness basically that you slide through the seatbelt at the back. Come to think of it, chows have enough natural padding, fleece padding just adds to the heat in hot weather..... We also have a metal gage thing if she is at the luggage space. This hasn't been used for a while now as the rear passenger area is designated LEO area. One thing I do make sure is never open the window wide enough for her face to go through, and always, ALWAYS keep the windows child proof locked. On excitement of seeing a dog on the sidewalk, she has once stepped on the lever and the window fully opened. Well almost, luckily my brother was sitting next to her and managed to put a stop to that. That was a close call, tho...

They both belong to "used and new" items of LEO.....like, the dog bed, gentle leader harness(great for pullers not so for ploppers) & head harness(does work but difficult to make her stand when she's not in the mood), or even "never used still in the box" items......such as puppy gate, furminator, etc...

[Juniper]

It’s a great idea and it works great! I use harnesses with Sheena and Troy...however I can put the back seats down so they have a flat surface to stand or lie down on and then I hook it unto the seat belt attachments...it works great once they were trained! Sometimes they have some disagreements between the two of ‘em since they don’t particularly care for being prevented from moving around.

I have used it on a seat alone...it takes a while for the chows to get used to not jumping around in the car...so I wore my earplugs as Sheena began to yelp continuously. If she continued barking I would close the window on her side as punishment. That always did the trick. I found it worked best when they were in the back seats, never the front. When Sheena was loose she almost caused me to lose control of the car with her jumping from back to front seat. She would also paw at me when harnessed in the front seat. Make sure the harness is a good fit. I just bought the straps with seat belt attachments separately for about $15.00 each and used my own harnesses. Sorry I don’t remember the name but it had 2 varying seat belt attachments to accommodate different makes of vehicles.

Restraining in the car is always a good idea in order to have safety for all. Imagine what would happen in a car accident to your poor chows...seat belt restraints are a good thing. It always better to prevent a possible injury from occurring by training them as soon as possible. Sheena and Troy now wait for me to attach their harnesses and are very happy being restrained.

[Grab]

Aesop wears one similar to the one shown. It fits like a regular harness, then there's a separate piece that clips to the seatbelt, and then clips to his harness as a leash would. It doesn't force him to sit in one spot, as a human seatbelt does to people, he can stand up and switch positions. But on more than one instance, it's kept him from sliding off the seat when we've had to stop suddenly.

He also rides in the back, where he's safer in case of an accident. (no airbags or front ends to crunch in)

[summer_rose03]

I use this type for Carter and Cash. I don't use it much on Carter anymore since we have now gotten him trained to not jump out of the car until we tell him too. It's a harness with an adjustable clip on attachment that buckles right into the seat belt clip. I use it alot more on Cash because he has a hard time staying on the seat. Carter also knows "get back" when he jumps into the front seat if we get out for a minute.


http://www.petedge.com/Guardian-Gear-Pa ... goryId=402

[NanouetJon]

I use a harness for Maddoxx which attaches to the seat belt system.

Please use a seatbelt for your dogs and loved ones. I work in the insurance industry and too many stories get told about the last memory of their treasured dog is it flying past their head through the windshield. One horrifying story I hear was an owner who's dog went through the windshield and she then ran over her own dog. You don't want this to happen. Also the dog in the bed of a pickup truck, death trap for a dog.

Seatbelts save lives, ours and our chows. Any dog that wouldn't tolerate one can be trained to wear one.

Accidents are never planned and never happen when with good timing. PLEASE wear a seatbelt and buckle your dog too.

[chewfozz]

I have a seat belt harness for Chewie and had one for Fozzie as well. Although some may disagree I do not believe in my dogs roaming in the car. A friend of mine lost his dog in an fender bender. His pooch hit the back of his seat and snapped his neck. This was only a fender bender. My next pooch will also have a seat belt harness.

[Boogie and Linda]

Mine have harnesses and I just loop the leash through the seat belt although I did just buy shorter seatbelt leashes that are only three feet long but I haven't tried them yet. I hadn't been using seatbelts for them before but I worry about them in an accident. I have had all three in the backseat and had to stop short and they all landed on the floor so I decided they needed something.

[kingalls]

I use to let Nahkohe go from front to back seat in the truck. I would have to put a piece of cork under the window button to keep him from stepping on it and rolling down the window. Now I have him in the back seat with a short nylon loop that is snapped onto his harness. It is enough to allow him to move around in the back seat but not come up front. It's safer for us now that his big head isn't blocking my view to the right when I'm driving.
I just recently had a camper shell and carpet kit set installed on my truck. I haven't tried to put Nahkohe & Shiloh in the back yet. I bought a ramp and hope they will use it instead of us having to lift them up. I'll be securing them to a nylon loop just long enough to allow them to lie down and not bolt out of the back when I put the tailgate down. We'll do our first try at it this coming Friday.
I really dislike seeing dogs in the back of an open pickup truck - it's cruel - even if they are tethered - too many bad things can happen

[Coco Chow]

Thank you all for your input. I had no idea so many of you used a seat bealt for their chow, I thought it was a weird idea of mine to use one with Coco!
Anyway, I bought this:

53950897-300x300-0-0_Animalerie+Ceinture+de+securite+largeur+de+ceintur.jpg (9.21 KiB) Viewed 7374 times

I hope it will make our daily trips more safe for the both of us !

[chow fancier]

I have to admit I've never tried seatbelts for my furkids. They ride in the back cargo area of my station wagon. Teddy lies down and falls asleep, almost before we are out of the driveway. Cinder goes from side to side and front to back (within the cargo area) always looking out the windows and often exhaling loudly about what she sees. She has always been a busy girl and doesn't stay still nearly as much as the other chows I've known.

Although they are quite content with the current situation, I am concerned about their safety in case of an accident. I have a cargo fence that I used to use for Cinder when she was still skinny enough to jump over the back seat and wander around at will. (She was significantly underweight at the time she came to me). But I bought it to keep her from distracting me. I wonder if I should put it back in the car to keep them from being thrown forward? Or is there some kind of restraint I could use in the cargo area that would both keep them safe during the ride and assure that they don't conveniently forget what stay means when I open the hatch. But I would like Teddy to be able to lie down and Cinder be able to look out the windows. Any ideas out there? I have hardware eyes in cargo area to attach restraints.

[Juniper]

I now have cargo hooks in the back in my Subaru Baja where I fold down my rear seats. I hook a two hook strap about two feet long or less (never measured it) one to the harness and one to the cargo hook for both Troy and Sheena separately. They can still walk a bit, lie down, etc. Sheena gets tee'd that she can't go to the other car window where Troy is and periodically gets frustrated with Troy and I need to keep Sheena in check w/her temper. When I need to brake, stop short - it holds them just fine and I know they're as safe as can be. It works great and they haven't had any injuries as of yet. Sheena is most active in the car. It won't stop them from hitting the side window but at least they are somewhat protected in case of an accident.

I also need to make sure that the rear windows are locked so Sheena can't step on the button to open it. One time I had a longer lead hooked up to her and she jumped out the rear window while I was coming to a stop in the middle of traffic! That was when I first got her! Learned my lesson very well...stopped in the middle of traffic, cars beeping and Sheena hangin' out the side of the window...thank goodness it was a harness she was attached to or I would have had a hangin' dead Sheena!

[chow fancier]

Juniper,

I can't quite picture what you are using. The only thing I can envision is a short bungee cord with the hooks on each end, but that would stretch and not hold them in place if I stop short, wouldn't it? Can you enlighten me? Or point me to a source so I can look for it?

(Oh, I keep the kids behind the back seat so the windows back there do not open. I think Sheena would have given me a heart attack).

[Coco Chow]

I just wanted to let you all know, that now that I use the seat belt for Coco, she's an angel in the car. It works fine, no more jumping, she just happily sits there. It gives her enough room to lay down on the seat if she wants to sleep, but she usually prefers to sit and watch outside.
I really recommend it .

[chowpups]

In some areas they are trying to pass a restraint law for animals. PA has been trying but not sure if it passed..I try to restain Nikki by putting the leash end in the hatch of my SUV when I shut the door. I know this probably isn't enough .. I was told by my trainer once that its bad for the dog if you stop quick or have an accident they become flying objects that could hurt the people in the car plus the dogs injuries. I see what they mean but its hard to restrain her much more than I have because she likes to lay in the back and pop up if we stop to see whos there.

[Juniper]

Juniper,

I can't quite picture what you are using. The only thing I can envision is a short bungee cord with the hooks on each end, but that would stretch and not hold them in place if I stop short, wouldn't it? Can you enlighten me? Or point me to a source so I can look for it?

(Oh, I keep the kids behind the back seat so the windows back there do not open. I think Sheena would have given me a heart attack).

Sorry took so long...haven't been back for a while...the strap looks just like what coco chow bought but instead of the seatbelt attachment it has another hook. It works great! Zooooooooooooomin to No CA Chowfest this weekend! Stay cool everyone!

[lightforce18]

never used a seatbelt for yogi he just runs around on the backseat and sometimes sits down. Where did u guys buy them from?

[Coco Chow]

I bought mine at a shop that sells pet supllies but you could easily find any type of belt online I guess .

[Boogie and Linda]

I wanted to bring this post back up to remind everyone to be sure you are using some sort of restraints in the car. Unfortunately, there are now two lost chow postings on this site for chows who escaped after car accidents. It is so sad. I was never 100% consistent with the seatbelts for my chows but I sure will be now.

[Mia]

I use the seatbelt you have for Coco. It works fantastically. They can lay, sit or stand. Mine prefer to lay on the back seat. They are not really interested in looking out the window too much.
But, with the harnessess (padded, of course), i could leave the window open for them to look out and get fresh air. Unfortunately, most of the year, they would rather have the air conditioning.
I put it on the Artic setting for the back. LOL!!
To me it's even safer than in a cage, because they can always smack themselves on the cage if there were an accident. At least with the seat belt, it prevents them from hitting into anything, including the backs of the front seats.

I always drive very carefully with them in the car as well. I leave more space in front of me, so I don't have to hit the breaks too much. Of course, that's no guarantee.