Hi, I have my new company car, a Greenline II hatchback, coming next week and I am just thinking about how we are going to contain our Labrador in the boot. He is a bit of a chewer so I want to get a crate to keep him out of mischief. Problem is I will also need to keep some boot space for shopping etc. Holidays won't be too bad as I have a large roof box we will use.

Has anyone got any experience with a dog crate for the hatch which will fit a large dog but still leave a bit of space?

I ordered the car before we had the dog so didn't go for the estate. Doh!

I have a boxer and she happily jumps in and out my hatch but never had a guard nor do I think she needs it....but she doesn't chew upholstery!

Without dropping the rear seat backs, I think you'll have a problem for such a large cage. I have a genuine Skoda dog guard in mine, and there's barely enough room in the boot area for my Cairn Terrier in her small cage, and 2 Border Terriers uncaged next to her. Hence the reason why my next Octavia must be an estate!

Even a small cage will only go in with it's longest side horizontal against the rear seats. A larger cage wouldn't go in height-wise due to the slope of the rear window.

Mike

My Large Cairn is too proud to think he's going in the boot - more like Laird of the Isles . But in he goes when G

If you don't think that you can trust the dog in the car -a crate is the only real way to go -there's plenty of firms that will make a crate to order to fit your car -this is probably the best option -sorry can't think of any manufacturers of the top of my head -It might seem expensive to go that route -but it'll probably be a lot more expensive if he eats half your interior.

otherwise you could get some sort of dog hammock for the back seats from these guys -they build to order and are excellent quality and then you could use a seat belt leash to stop him jumping around.

Without dropping the rear seat backs, I think you'll have a problem for such a large cage. I have a genuine Skoda dog guard in mine, and there's barely enough room in the boot area for my Cairn Terrier in her small cage, and 2 Border Terriers uncaged next to her. Hence the reason why my next Octavia must be an estate!

Even a small cage will only go in with it's longest side horizontal against the rear seats. A larger cage wouldn't go in height-wise due to the slope of the rear window.

Mike

My Large Cairn is too proud to think he's going in the boot - more like Laird of the Isles . But in he goes when grandson is in back . But I wouldn't think you'll get a cage in the hatch that gives any medium dog any space . Cure for them jumping over is to raise the height of the neckrests - mine ( and Cairns are escape artists ,par supreme) found it easy to get over till I raised them . Nice to see a fellow Cairn owner - thouight we were a dieing breed .

There's more of us around than you'd think -I have a Cairn too -he rides upfront with me in a Kurgo Skybox.

Cars are boring to him -he only likes to chew expensive electronics -so I can trust him in the car while I nip in to a shop.

Seriously though I wouldn't take a dog in a car without proper restraint -even if it was well behaved -you wouldn't drive without your kids wearing seat belts -dogs deserve the same protection.

We have a medium size dog (Basset Fauve de Bretagne) he goes in the back of Greenline estate in crate (Like this ). We looked at the hatch but didn't think it was big enough.

We use a crate as I think it is the safest way for the dog and the occupants of the car. I don't want 17kg of dog flying through the back of my head if I have to stop quickly.

No much help but I have seen transport cages companies that make bespoke car crates for different cars see here but they are not as cheap as the ready made ones.

Try pets at home, they do cages, also try giving your dog a BIG hide chew to keep them amused.

get a muzzle?

As you can see from my profile picture, we have a Choc Lab - but she doesn't eat cars!

Edited 8 January, 201214 yr by barlborough

get a muzzle?

As you can see from my profile picture, we have a Choc Lab - but she doesn't eat cars!

Probably not, but I bet you just get licked to death on your return to the car.

Thanks for all the replies.

My dog is only 5 months old at the moment and so full of puppy enthusiasm which means he is into everything and very excitable. That's why I think the cage is the way to go. He might not eat parts of the car, but it will be mighty expensive if he does. We found a vinyl floor tile missing form the kitchen the other day and he'd completely eaten it (I know because I found the evidence a few days later in the garden )Even if he doesn't eat it I'm sure he will scratch the heck out of any plastic surface he finds.

Also he might be only be a pup but he already weighs 20kg and like io1901 says I need to make sure he's secure.

I think I'll wait till I get the car and then measure up to find a sloping cage that will fit like the ones suggested. Can't afford a custom made one so will probably go for the type sold on various websites. At least I can fold those up during the week when I need the full boot for all my work gear.

I'll post it on this message when I've got it sorted out.

Thanks for your help.

There's more of us around than you'd think -I have a Cairn too -he rides upfront with me in a Kurgo Skybox.

Cars are boring to him -he only likes to chew expensive electronics -so I can trust him in the car while I nip in to a shop.

.

Mine is one of the larger variety - approx 11.5Kg - he's only interested in frightening off any passing dog /cat ( or if in the park car park -squirells ) . He's also partial to giving the local store parking folks heart attacks if they get too close to car . Problem is that his short claws do do some damage to rear door panels . But I'm not convinced that the restraints on the market would not cause injuries to the dog in the event of a sudden stop , so I basically drive with this in mind - and so a lot more defensively .There's two choices - have dog on rear seats and make sure that you drive as to not have him fly into the back of you .Or put dog in boot and risk massive injuries to him if rear end shunted . Having lost one dog weeks after a rear ender ,I am very reluctant to have him in boot area whether or not in cage . But then ,mine is that spoilt ( or is it some need to be in a place where he cannot be left ,as he was dumped on a rescue site) that he's always looking to go out in car with us .It seems he prefers to be left in car than left in house . He pefers the former ,and I know that any person attempting a theft is going to think twice with approx 12kg of Highland fury ( and furry) with gnashers rampant .

My dog always wears a Ruffwear Webmaster Harness -it's a very serious bit of kit, the Skybox has a carabiner that attaches to the harness, there's also plenty of those a leash attachments that plug in to the seatbelt socket, if used with a suitable harness I don't see any problem using these kind of restraints in an emergency stop situation