Have you noticed that a large percentage of people who dig cars also have a soft spot in their hearts for man’s best friend? I’m not sure what exactly it is, but the two do seem to go together more often than not. Plus, have you ever met a dog hater that you felt you trusted? Yeah, me neither.
When it comes to canines and cars, it’s more of a love/hate relationship as traveling with a pet of any kind can result in your ride looking like the barbershop floor and your windows looking like they’re undergoing some sort of scientific snot survival test. That’s why, just how some dogs are better traveling companions than others, so too are some cars and trucks better at accommodating our four-legged friends.
What we’d like your opinion on today – and you cat people can just wait your turn – is what you think are the best cars and trucks for traveling with Sir Barks a Lot or whatever your dog’s name is. What do you think, what is the best canine conveyance?
Image: WalkingTheDog
Hooniverse Asks: What's the Best Car for a Dog Lover?
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41 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What's the Best Car for a Dog Lover?”
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A Rover.
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Did they make one with a boxer engine?
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Really, anything you can heel and toe shift is adequate.
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They’re easy to spot…
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And first gear is to the left and down
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From a practical standpoint, a big SUV with a barrier to the seats and a large rubber mat in the rear. For the dog’s enjoyment, a big, old, ratty, American convertible. I’ve had several dogs, most didn’t mind riding in cars, but one LOVED it. She was a Rottweiler named Zora (after Zora Akrus-Duntov). If you so much as opened a car door when she was around, she would hop in and not get out until she at least got a ride around the block. Her favorite was my old 1967 Imperial convertible. She would get in the back and ride like she was the homecoming queen.
Also, any idea why dogs hate going under bridges? I’ve seen several dogs that are fine riding in cars, but freak out when you drive under a overpass.-
For a well-behaved dog, sure — I love riding in a convertible more than anything, too!
However, I had a coonhound that would, despite our best efforts at training her, chase anything and everything smaller than her and furry (and at 75lbs, almost everything we regularly encountered fell under the category of “smaller than her”). She was the absolute sweetest, most gentle dog, with excellent house manners, but we eventually had to say goodbye to her because her need to chase meant we couldn’t leave her alone for 30s in our backyard with its 4′ fence, which she could clear without touching. We couldn’t afford to upgrade to a 6′ fence, but I’m not sure anything less than a 10′ fence with barbed wire could have stopped that girl’s hunting instinct.
She would have been awful in a convertible.-
When I was a pup, our dog acquired us when we lived in a house with no fence. A few years later we moved to a house with a fenced backyard. The first time we put him back there, he was out front in 45 seconds. Another time he jumped into the backyard of the neighbors and opened their patio door for a midnight rendezvous with their dog. We watched him run/climb up a 15 foot wall once.
A convertible couldn’t hold him obviously, but he wouldn’t have voluntarily escaped it. He loved cars. -
They do make harnesses that can buckle into the seat belts. I used one a few time, but realized that it was unnecessary for my dog.
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SUVs might not be the best, but I won’t miss a chance to share one of my favorite car commercials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XCKSXvhbQU
Dogs. Love. Trucks. -
Most dog people around here will simply get a wagon, put a mat or blanket in the trunk and fit a cargo net behind the rear seats, not lastly due to our road laws considering pets cargo and demanding proper securement so they can’t interfere with the driving or pose a danger to occupants. Passenger seat riding isn’t an option unless the dog is held on someone’s lap.
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People who ride in airbag-equipped cars with dogs in their laps are not dog lovers, they are people who like canine fashion accessories.
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I’m pretty sure passenger airbags can be turned off since the invention of passenger airbags due to rear facing child seats.
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I think most vehicles now rely on weight sensors instead of switches. There might still be switches on vehicles without a back seat. Also, here in the US it isn’t uncommon to see people driving with a small dog in their lap. I have no idea how they do it and it seems really stupid to me.
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My dachshund, Kimi, loves riding in my Miata. With the top and windows down, there’s plenty of open air to sniff and no windows to be-snot. She has a harness and a dog seat for when we typically take her somewhere in the MkV VW Rabbit, so she’s strapped in. The only added danger is that people seem to follow me more closely with her in the Miata. Well, that and the whole lack of a roof.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3746/19477556030_1f422ffa1a_z.jpg-
Just curious does she bark or go nuts when you go under a bridge? I’ve seen two or three dogs to that.
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I’m not sure, actually, I haven’t tested that. She is usually more of sniffer than a barker though. She pretty much only barks if someone isn’t paying attention to her. In the Miata she mostly tries to point her nose into the wind and ends up sneezing a lot from all of it going up her nose. It was pretty funny the first time also, because she was used to being enclosed in the Rabbit, so she was looking behind the car a lot, eventually finding this position.
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Our dachshund, Baron (also a black-and-tan, HI!), has a blast in the back of the 928. The deck is high enough that he can see out the rear quarter windows while laying down. Sadly, no in-progress photo, but you get the idea…
http://rennlist.com/forums/attachments/928-forum/495262d1291944712-out-with-the-corvette-in-with-a-928-img_3195.jpg-
They seem to fit in the darndest places.
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Easy, The Honda Element. Honda even did so advertising to suggest the practicality of the Element for large dog owners. The Element offers easy rear access by way of a split tailgate (top half is the rear window and the bottom folds down to easy entry) and the rear seats fold to the side of the car. Also, the Element has the Rubbermaid like floor to clean any spills. Can you guess that I may be looking into a used (awd/manual/ re : in the States a Unicorn) ) Element as a potential third vehicle.
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The dog friendly package makes it an even better choice!
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/16/2010-honda-element-with-dog-friendly-package-review/
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I had an Element (5mt!) and
never really understood its reputation as a good dog car, aside from the
rubberized floor and tough seat fabric.
The only other advantage is that the rear seatbacks fold flat to make a
lumpy bedlike platform. The disadvantages arise from the low-floor/high-beltline design and the placement of the rear seats, making it difficult for
smaller dogs to see out. Leaving aside the wisdom of letting your dog stick its
nose out the window, this is impossible in the rear seats, as the small
(manually operated) windows in the half-doors only pop out a couple of inches
and aren’t reachable from the rear seat cushion. The only nose-outable window
is the front passenger side one, which is unavailable if you have a passenger
there or don’t want your dog riding in the front seat. I would strongly advise trying out the
Element with your dog before assuming its superiority. -
For me, the fold-down rear tailgate would actually be a minus, as the two 100 pound+ impatient young-uns would jump on it while I’d still be lowering it. Similarly, automatic-opening tailgates are a disaster. And the clamshell-opening side doors would lead to more of this:(see picture)
I.e.: no room for me!
For the rest, the low floor yet high roof and easy clean interior would be great, which is why it’s on my potential-replacement-for -the-PT-Cruiser list.
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I promised the kid we’d take both Oliver and Shelby to granddad’s next week.
So I really hope the Focus hatch is a good doggie-mobile. -
Honda Element. Rubber interior and flexible room.
http://www.amazingautowoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sarah-and-Balto-Loving-Their-New-Honda-Element.jpg-
Don’t forget the option of the Dog Friendly Package!
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/16/2010-honda-element-with-dog-friendly-package-review/
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Yep! The professional dog walker’s favorite, also easy to park.
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Don’t you get huge blind spots with the rear seats folded up? In the PT Cruiser (similar form factor) the seats fold forward, creating a dog barrier and leaving the visibility intact (yet without the high floor that comes with stow-n-go).
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Distrustful catman here. Put the dogs outside so all the wet hair blows off before it pollutes your house and car. Brilliant.
http://www.uaz.ru/en/assets/components/phpthumbof/cache/pickup-blue-en.b47c8b00134f794904a78515020ceed1.jpg-
as a coworker told me once (I have a dog that sheds like no tomorrow)… “Once you get a dog, you stop being house-proud”
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Our dog is a chewer, as the plastics in the cargo bay of my Legacy wagon will attest. As a result, puppy is only allowed to ride in the back seat of the Ram, where the seats fold to reveal a metal cargo shelf, in the front seat of the old Ford with the metal dash (albeit with an old blanket thrown over the seat) or her favorite position on the package tray of the Alfa with the top down. From an enjoyment perspective the last one ranks high, for safety it’s nigh on irresponsible.
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Car? Have to order it to size. Small to medium dogs, Mazda 5, large dogs, Dodge/Chrysler minivan. I’ll explain. The center aisle is key, also fold flat floors are outstanding. Why the Dodge/Chrysler? Stow and go seats. You put one or both down in the middle and rover has enough space for his entire bed to be inside without making it impossible for luggage to stay separate from hairy Fido and his bed. Your kids can fit 3 across with acceptable comfort and you’re set. Then when you get somewhere, take the dog and bed out, put the seats, which were conveniently stowed away from hairy dog, out and allow adults, or kids to sit wherever they need to.
If you have no kids, and it’s you and your dog, consider a pre-1997 F-series. Window vents, low beltline versus seating, and a rear sliding window for when the dog is too gross to let into the truck, but still wants his head to be scratched. Also, the dog may occasionally want to rest on top of the middle jump seat with his head through the slider resting his chin on the tonneau cover. That may be just my dog though.
Image for image’s sake. Color not important.
http://images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/27585424.jpg -
Anything you already have. Really, dogs don’t care about much as long as they are with their people. Although, Mocha does prefer backseats which aren’t sculpted too much so she rest her paw on the armrest.
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Pretty much, I know a guy who drives around a Newfoundland in a Neon.
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Many years ago, I picked up a very nice ’78 Lincoln MK V with a sunroof. Took it over to a friend’s house to show it off. He asked if he could bring his Dalmation, Lucy, along for a ride. Of course! Lucy loved car rides, but she was quite happy to get out of the car as well. Usually. After our brief cruise, we arrived back at his house, and the doors were opened. We got out of the car with Lucy standing in the front seat. He called for her to come, and she just turned around laid down. Lucy liked Lincolns…
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Our two dogs ride in crates in the rear compartment of our Subaru Forester. We used to let the dogs move around in the vehicle, but the risk to them and us was too great. We can drop the rear seat to give more air flow.
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the Toyota Dog’s Head with Wheels
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Its the Element, stupid.
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Honda element
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I’m gonna go with suv’s like 80’s 4runners or the 90’s land cruisers with sliding rear side windows. Honestly for the longer trips anything they don’t slip around in works fine. Nicely bolstered seats work great, just put a towel or something down. Bonus points if the headrest err armrest is padded 😛
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