Octavia III Dog Guard made my own

[Deano's Dog]

Being the owner of a Mastiff my problem was not him getting through the gap between the back seats and the roof it was the hair and slobber (believe me it's of epic proportions!) I bought a Boot Buddy liner (yet to arrive) but they don't do a dog guard and £90 is pricey IMO. I also didn't want my headlining drilled.

 

Drawing inspiration I made a template of the space allowing for an air gap and went to a local plastic fabricator and had the below guard made out of 6 mm poly-carbonate (boot Buddys is only 3 mm which I thought appeared a little flimsy!)

 

It may not be obvious from the photos but there is a 40 mm inward facing lip which rests on the back seats. I then went to EBay and bought two elasticated Velcro camera straps, the air holes you see I drilled myself. So it simply attaches to the two outer head rests, can be fitted from the back of the car and after a thorough road test it stays in place with no issue, and is easily wiped clean. Total cost £50, feeling quite pleased with myself. 

 

As the rear view isn't effected, and it cuts down some noise from the boot I'm intending leaving it in all of the time.

[fireftrm]

Why the 'air holes?', without them it would be a neat, clear panel, they spoil it.

[Deano's Dog]

Why the 'air holes?', without them it would be a neat, clear panel, they spoil it.

Thanks for the feedback, if you have an 11 stone dog it helps to have airflow, I don't really like those socks your wearing but I'll keep that to myself

[mikeoz]

Very inventive. You could market that. Most guards such as the Travall brands will stop dogs coming though in a crash. Not sure how yours would perform but if its just a partition then its good.

You will need alot of window cleaner with your dog.lol

[Deano's Dog]

It's 6mm which is very strong but it relys on the strength of the head rests. Didn't think of marketing it but in fairness if anyone on here wanted one I would arrange it

[Auric Goldfinger]

Excellent Effort, you could feed your dog chews by poking them through the holes

 

I don't like fireftrm's socks either

[allyst170]

I need to sort a dog guard for my two golden retreviers. Havent got a the car yet, but that looks the dogs danglies. We use a lot of macralon for guards at work, so getting my hands on some should be easy.

[Deano's Dog]

I went for a 40 mm lip and had 4 x 30 mm slots cut for the straps, the camera straps are £5 on EBAY

[Steveh3]

Cool. Nice little side line there, put it to the Dragons. Dont the holes get in the way off the rear view.

I bet you could even make a desktop stand for the Samsung S5

[Deano's Dog]

No the view is fine the angle from above is not the best from the drvers seat they are not an issue

[fireftrm]

Thanks for the feedback, if you have an 11 stone dog it helps to have airflow, I don't really like those socks your wearing but I'll keep that to myself

Can't the dog breathe the air that gets round the sides and top? Much more than a few 6mm holes worth there?

[Deano's Dog]

Can't the dog breathe the air that gets round the sides and top? Much more than a few 6mm holes worth there?

Good point I'll ask him, I let you know! He's asleep now, (doesn't like to get up before 0900) 

[Deano's Dog]

Checked with the dog, he is grateful for the extra effort I made and said he would be cooler on longer journeys. After all that effort he's gone back to sleep.

[LQA]

I quite like that, SWMBO want a Leonburger, which is why a have an Octavia Estate on order, at the moment I only have to contain a Springer.

[Auric Goldfinger]

I quite like that, SWMBO want a Leonburger, 

 

 

......is this on the Mac D's happy meal menu.. :think:

[Deano's Dog]

......is this on the Mac D's happy meal menu.. :think:

I'm loving it

[HotRod]

LOL

 

Springer is banned from my car unless she's in the cage..

 

She doesn't travel well and I'd rather have a small amount of doggy sick in the cage than when she's got her nose poked over the headrests whilst the child is fussing her above his head..  It happened once in a previous car..

[chelon]

Drawing ispiration from this and intend to make my own, reasons being shop bought ones:-

 

1. Over  priced

2. Fairly ugly

3. You have to leave them in situ - bit of a pain to take in and out all the time (my dogs are just occasional travellers)

 

I like the plastic idea, but may do it a little differently.

 

Is there a right angle bend on the sheet to make the 40mm lip? If so did the fabricator do that? I wasn't going to bother and simply drill a few holes then use velcro to wrap the bottom edge to the headrest posts.

 

Also instead of the velcro straps at the top , I was thinking of just using some adhesive velcro strips glued to the back of the headrests and the upper part of the guard.

 

This would mean that you could just unsnap and fold back when not needed. Complete removal would also be a relative doddle compared to the shop bought jobs.

 

It's just an idea at the moment but can anyone see any potential issues? I'm hoping it won't be too noisy or flap around like a banana in a shirt sleeve

[Astec123]

Drawing ispiration from this and intend to make my own, reasons being shop bought ones:-

 

1. Over  priced

2. Fairly ugly

3. You have to leave them in situ - bit of a pain to take in and out all the time (my dogs are just occasional travellers)

 

I like the plastic idea, but may do it a little differently.

 

Is there a right angle bend on the sheet to make the 40mm lip? If so did the fabricator do that? I wasn't going to bother and simply drill a few holes then use velcro to wrap the bottom edge to the headrest posts.

 

Also instead of the velcro straps at the top , I was thinking of just using some adhesive velcro strips glued to the back of the headrests and the upper part of the guard.

 

This would mean that you could just unsnap and fold back when not needed. Complete removal would also be a relative doddle compared to the shop bought jobs.

 

It's just an idea at the moment but can anyone see any potential issues? I'm hoping it won't be too noisy or flap around like a banana in a shirt sleeve

 

The velcro on the back of the head rests is going to cause an issue as the OP's idea relies on the friction of the velcro like a belt does on your body to keep it in place. With a direct contact like you propose it will vibrate (just by driving) and slowly lose contact before falling off and then just become a big noisy plastic sheet wobbling about.

[chelon]

The velcro on the back of the head rests is going to cause an issue as the OP's idea relies on the friction of the velcro like a belt does on your body to keep it in place. With a direct contact like you propose it will vibrate (just by driving) and slowly lose contact before falling off and then just become a big noisy plastic sheet wobbling about.

 

Mmm hadn't thought of that - are you sure? I work on machines which have an albeit small degree of vibration but run 24/7

 

They use this system for attaching the covers - although it is the large type...not sure what it's called but it's more like tiny plastic pegs and sockets than regular domestic velcro, so I could maybe try that.

 

Failing that maybe some kind of metal popper system? I just like the idea of being able to unsnap it at will to lie flat when not needed.