SUV/4wheel drive

VanillaBean

VanillaBean

We are looking at changing car and just curious of those that have the above mentioned car what do you do regarding getting dog in and out? I am thinking we would have to look at a ramp as the boot is high and would be mindful of the jumping and the damage it will do on her.
Suppose it is a how high is to high for a dog to jump on a regular basis. Not just a car, but also beds, sofa etc....

Also how/what do you do regarding having them in the boot. Do you use a crate or...?

Thanks
 
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HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Just my mullings here...We're about to get new car(s) and doggability is top of the list of priorities. Thinking of a van-type with low boot access, and also a 4x4 like a Freelander for which we'd get a dog ramp. Found this article on ramps quite interesting (angles of ramp particularly) although US-focussed: 5 Best Dog Ramps — Folding, Telescoping, Steps, Stairs & More

In the boot, the main things we're thinking of are safety & comfort - room to move around vs. if the car rolls/brakes heavily, how would the dog be protected/restrained? These crates are expensive but look secure: TransK9/B21 Dog Cage, Dog Crate, Dog Transit Box fitted to Land Rover Freelander 2 2007-2015
Or there are these lightweight crates I remember reading about in the past: Dog and Pet Cages | Hamster Baskets
 
VanillaBean

VanillaBean

Thanks for the info.
Ramps seems to be easier to find info, but having to take into angle etc. Never really knew as such. I am mean I knew you can't go steep etc., but not that it would be that way.

Cages is the harder one. I still don't fully understand how it protects the dogs in the cage given that they are still loose. I know it is a confined space, but surely it would hurt being thrown agains the side etc. of a cage.

At the moment we have Vanilla sitting in the back seat with a car harness and a hammock over the seats. So in an accident it is same as a human tension on seat belt etc. So there I know potential injuries.

Will though contact them (cage people) and have a chat, plus I would have to find something similar here or get it shipped...
 
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snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
VanillaBean said:
but surely it would hurt being thrown agains the side etc. of a cage.
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Sure, but it’s about not allowing the dog to travel far. Think about the difference between being thrown against a wall a couple of inches from you, compared to one a couple of metres from you. By the time you reach the wall farther away, you have picked up more speed so are likely to do yourself more damage, and it’s definitely going to hurt more! If the car rolls, being thrown around in a large space is far more likely to cause serious injury than if the dog is more confined. Not only that, cars change shape during crashes. There are a couple of implications of this: dangerously shaped edges for the dog to be thrown against and also the possibility of the windows blowing or doors opening, so the dog can escape. Dogs who have left cars during accidents are petrified and often end up killed by other traffic; sometimes even destroyed by police in order to protect the public if they are too scared to come when called. A crash-tested crate that is designed to stay intact during a crash will prevent that.

Harnesses are all well and good for restraint, but in the case of a high-speed impact, they are likely to fail at the stitching or connection points. Even the best ones are nowhere near as safe as a crate. I couldn’t find any that claimed to be effective over 50kph (approx 30mph) and most of us spend a good deal of time in our cars going faster than that. The added danger from a harness failing at speed is that the dog becomes a projectile that is very capable of injuring or killing the other occupants of the car.

The safest option is a good crash-tested crate like the Trans-k9.
 
Oberon

Oberon

Location
Canberra, Australia
snowbunny said:
Think about the difference between being thrown against a wall a couple of inches from you, compared to one a couple of metres from you. By the time you reach the wall farther away, you have picked up more speed so are likely to do yourself more damage, and it’s definitely going to hurt more! .
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I tried to crush my inner physics pedant but I lost.... :geek:

If we're talking about horizontal velocity then you'll be going the same speed whether you hit the wall after 2cm or after 2 metres or 20 metres. Once the initial force acts against you no additional horizontal force is applied, so you won't accelerate in that direction.

If we're talking about travel in a vertical direction then you will have gravity acting on you, causing you to accelarate towards the centre of the Earth, so the greater the distance you fall for the faster you will be going when you hit the ground. From that point of view it is definitely much better to be confined in a small space if the car rolls.

So, crates are good!

And could not agree more that you must go for a proper crash tested harness if you're going down the harness road. Not one that the manufacturer claims has been crash tested but one that has actually been independently crashed tested. As Snowbunny said they mostly fail at the clips, joins and attachment points.
 
Lab_adore

Lab_adore

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Sydney, Australia
OH built a custom cage for our 'big car' - the SUV. It's padded and fits snugly in the space behind the driver. Maxx can turn around in it but only just. We only transport Maxx in this car if we are going away for the weekend or anywhere that is a longer drive. Otherwise we use my smaller car as it has a hatchback that fits him nicely and we clip him in. He can lean forward to get half a nose out the back window and loves it
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Oberon said:
I tried to crush my inner physics pedant but I lost..
Click to expand...
Haha! I was cringing myself as I wrote it but tried to just keep it simple but at 4:30am I’m not very capable of getting my thoughts out coherently.
If you are “loose” in a rapidly decelerating car, you are effectively accelerating towards the wall (of the car), no? I can’t even think straight right now! :D
If I’m an occupant of a car travelling at 50kph and the car brakes rapidly, I am still travelling forwards at 50kph but the front of the car is now accelerating towards me, relatively speaking?
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Ha ha, and I’m trying to go to sleep but my poor little addled head won’t drop this now, trying to clear through the fug to work it out. I think I have it- jeez, this would be easy at a normal time of day, you antipodeans must think I am soft in the head!

So, if you are loose in a car travelling at 50kpm it doesn’t matter how far you travel and hit the side of the container (crate/car), if the side of the container is stopped when you hit it. In that case, you will hit it at 50kph no matter what. But, because the car doesn’t go from 50 to 0 in no time, the distance from the side does matter. The car is decelerating; if we were pressed up against that front edge, we would decelerate at the same rate, there would be no impact. If we were a small distance from the front edge, we would hit it, but well before it had reached 0kph. Let’s say we’re only a few cm from the edge, then we are travelling at 50, the car decelerates so we are moving forwards within the container, but at the point of impact, the car is still moving forwards, let’s say at 45kph, so we actually hit the side at 50-45=5kph, then continue to decelerate together.

So the smaller the distance between you and the edge of the rapidly decelerating container, the sooner you will hit that edge during the deceleration and so the smaller the difference in relative speeds.

Did I do it? Can I sleep now? :sleepy:
 
VanillaBean

VanillaBean

Thanks for the replies all.

Harness we have is crash tested, but rightly like @snowbunny mentioned only up to 50kph. And yes when doing 100kph+ not ideal, but then again nothing is once you take into account another car that is coming towards you. All of a sudden it is a 200kph+ impact.

Cages seem to be really hard to find here in Oz, that
A - are crash tested (only one found)
B - suitable

Then again here there are only 2 rules re: dogs in cars to keep them constraint - one is if they are in a basket, this has to be secured and the dog attached to the seatbelt. Second one is the back of a ute/pick up tray. There they have to be tied to the bars, that is it. Now image having an accident in that with a dog....

I had a quick look at those cages and I think what I struggled with was how they are secured (but found that answer) and someone being inside in an accident. I get the confined space and velocity etc. but was still thinking and trying to imagine Vanilla flying in the cage to the edge if she was lying down and asleep. Get the distance etc. but still there is that element of wrong angle, but same can be said around us humans in a car crash...

So going down the route of a cage, which is my preference anyhow, if you have multiple dogs, do you have one each or do you get a double one that has a divider in it? Obviously space is one thing to consider, but safety is the primary for me. I had a look at the double one, but then the picture shows 4 dogs in it.
I will ask the company that makes them to get my next lot of answers...would be easier one thinks.

Now I am not expecting an answer from Fiona for at least say 10 mins.... as she should be :sleep:
 
VanillaBean

VanillaBean

snowbunny said:
What do you mean?! It’s morning now! Time to start the day!!
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You sound like me...I will at times wake up and then end up doing work or be on here or watch TV. then get about 10min. sleep before Vanilla wakes me up for the day...

At least you waited past the 10min...
 
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