Hi,

 

When I bought my Superb hatch, I had one well behaved dog, but I was always wary of the electric tailgate button - I had visions of the Mrs or me pressing the button by accident at a junction, and the dog jumping out, etc. etc.

Before Christmas we ended up getting a frenchie puppy - he's a nutcase. And now, I need to sort this problem out properly.

I've had quotes for a custom-made tailgate guard (£390 was the price) which would be the perfect solution, but I can't afford one unfortunately.

They effectively create a 2nd tailgate made of metal mesh with a barn-door style gate on it, so you can open the tailgate up on a busy road without having to catch escaping dogs, then open the top gate to attach leads etc, then open the bottom one to let the dogs out safely.

 

As my budget is tight, I was thinking of making something out of perhaps some netting or even a roller blind, to stop the dogs from jumping out on a busy road (whether opening the tailgate by accident or on purpose)

Attached is a photo of something I was messing around with last night, it's part of the original Skoda boot net program - imagine that, but with the forward-most hooks much higher up so that the dogs aren't restrained with head height. I can also get rid of the small opening along the bottom by clipping it into the warning triangle holder.

 

I wondered if anyone had any other ideas or indeed if anyone has a better solution that they use?

Cheers 

Dog harness and lead attached to one of the tie down loops?

 

Dog crate?

14 minutes ago, xman said:

Dog harness and lead attached to one of the tie down loops?

 

Dog crate?

Crate isn't possible unfortunately as the pup screams his head off at the sight of one lol - tried to crate train him but it didn't work out because of this... 

The leads/harnesses idea is a good one, I'll have a go with this see how it goes, cheers 

If possible I'd persevere with the crate training. I can't think of anything else that's really going to be safe and practical to achieve the same thing. The lead anchoring may work, but I can imagine it could be an absolute pain if they're wriggly and start tying themselves up in knots and / or stringing themselves up from the the anchor points!

Surely cage for its sake, and yours in case of accident.

 

An unrestrained dog hitting a passenger in an accident could kill both of them.

 

There is only one person to blame if the dog is is control rather than the owner.  And it isn't the dog.

Cheers for the ideas/comments.

We really did try with the crate training, we did as instructed - left the room with him in it, and did not return until he'd stopped crying. It took around an hour for him to stop crying, and towards the end he really was screaming his little head off and getting very stressed indeed.

 

To train against "learned crying" like we did with our other dog when he was a pup 8 yrs ago, I went into him 10 seconds after he stopped crying. I went into the room to find that he'd FORCED his head through two of the bars, bending them. Because he did this quite high up, he then got stuck, hung himself, and stopped breathing. Luckily I went in quick enough to get him out and get him breathing again. Straight to the vets, he was fine other than some serious stress and a mark on his chin.

FYI the crate (cage) was your typical dog cage with only narrow gaps between the bars - you couldn't even get a full hand through them, so he was VERY determined to get out of it....

 

I left the cage on the pavement for the scrap metal boys - and I will never use one again. 4 months on, he's a happy pup and very well house trained, never cries either 

 

 

So, back to the car - I want them to have the boot to themselves, and regardless of all that above, with the size of crate that would fit in the hatchback taking into account the hatch slope, I don't think it'd be big enough for 2 doggos.

@IJWS15 I have a dog guard fitted, so no risk of dogs hitting passengers unless someone decides to sit in the boot with them.

@CheshireBumpkin after much thought I think you're right with the leads - they might tangle and get really stuck without me knowing!

 

I've ordered some netting which will do the same job as in my photo, but will reach up to hook onto the dog guard. It was only a few quid from Amazon. I'll see how that goes and report back - this thread might help someone in the future with a similar problem 

 

If it comes to it, I'll whip out the Mastercard and go get a proper gate fitted - unfortunately there are no such companies around where I live, and they all need you to take the car down to them so they can measure up etc.

All makes sense @drewellis - it's a difficult one. There are very serious 'crash-tested' vehicle crates available that no dog (or crowbar!) could bend, but cost-wise they won't save you anything against the gate you've looked at:

 

http://www.safedog.co.uk/used.htm

 

For peace of mind I think you're right to consider biting the bullet to get the proper gate and eating gruel for a couple of months. 

 

Have you spoken to any local fabricators? A local company could potentially fabricate you a barrier/gate specifically to fit the boot opening out of heavy gauge mesh and with similar projects in the past I've found them to be less expensive than something bought off the shelf. A pain in the @ss to sort out though.

 

Best of luck!

thanks cheshirebumpkin, those safedog crates do look good - I like the idea of them being crash tested too, not many dog products are. I saw a program a while back about harnesses that retailers were selling, being crash tested with a 'dog dummy' and the results were very scary.

 

good idea re the fabricators - there is a local metal/welding guy nearby, might go and have a chat

In my opinion the best way to get a pup used to a crate is to make it an "everyday" object.

Put it up inside your house were the pup plays, eats or sleeps. Put some treats in it now and then, maybe a favourite toy or something else. Eventually and hopefully the pup learns that this crate isn't evil reborn!

I had a German shepherd who I tried to crate train. Wasn't happening and she tipped the cage over going that berserk inside it.

 

I just left the cage open and gave up. After a few days she became curious and would go for a sniff and explore. A few days later that cage was her kingdom and she used to go in it as soon as you mentioned the word bed. 

 

She crate trained herself!! 

I’m the same boat with needing a car crate for our 6 month old Vizsla. 

 

He’s not adverse to being in a crate but finding one for the Superb hatch isn’t easy.  I’ve given the relevant dimensions to Julius K9 in Goole who are a Variocage stockist.  Hopefully they’ll have something that fits both the car and dog (future proofed too) 

 

I’ll update here once I know more 

 

 

Edited 7 March, 20188 yr by penguin17

5 minutes ago, flyingpigvrs said:

I had a German shepherd who I tried to crate train. Wasn't happening and she tipped the cage over going that berserk inside it.

 

I just left the cage open and gave up. After a few days she became curious and would go for a sniff and explore. A few days later that cage was her kingdom and she used to go in it as soon as you mentioned the word bed. 

 

She crate trained herself!! 

Mine suffers separation anxiety.. she will happily lay down and sleep etc in one but as soon as you leave the room she goes mental and destroys them.  Had to cut the last one open as she bent the frames so badly it wouldn’t open. She travels on the back seat now harnessed into a seatbelt

Edited 7 March, 20188 yr by Mikek3111

Pull up, get in the back seat, lower the rear split seat to access the dog(s), attach lead, take the dog(s) out of the rear door?

4 hours ago, Mikek3111 said:

Mine suffers separation anxiety.. she will happily lay down and sleep etc in one but as soon as you leave the room she goes mental and destroys them.  Had to cut the last one open as she bent the frames so badly it wouldn’t open. She travels on the back seat now harnessed into a seatbelt

Glad its not just me