Pet Auto Safety

Spring is almost here and it’s time to take our dogs to the park again. But don’t forget these very important pet car travel safety tips:

1) Don’t let your dog ride in the front seat unless your car doesn’t have passenger side airbags, or unless the passenger side airbags have been disabled.

2) It’s okay have the window partly down for your dog but don’t put it down enough for them to stick their head out. Not only can flying debris hurt your dog, but if you are in a car accident, a dog with his head out the window has the chance for more serious injuries such as choking or decapitation.

3) Restrain your dog with a dog car seat belt, pet car seat, or other pet car travel safety device. A restrained dog helps to prevent driver distraction and will help to protect your dog in the event of a car accident.

4) DON’T LEAVE YOUR DOG ALONE IN THE CAR - EVER!! It may be cool outside but a car tends to trap heat, even with the windows down. Not only do you have to worry about heat stroke in your dog, but you also have to worry about dog theft. Purebred dogs have more risk, but even our American mutts are in danger form unscrupulous individuals who will kidnap your dog and hold them for ransom. Yes, it happens even to dogs. Your dog is also prone to cruelty if left alone in the car. If your dog likes to bark at a passersby, some not-so-nice people may intentionally aggravate and tease your dog.

5) Be sure to carry everything your dog needs for the trip. Things like their leash and water. You may also want to carry their vet information and a dog first aid kit.

Our plea for a traveling dog story has not gone unanswered. Patricia (Pat) from Arizona shares her dog, Bruce, with us. Bruce (probably a Labrador retriever mix) was picked out of a litter of puppies on a farm in Oregon several years ago. He was named Bruce, after Bruce Wayne, of Batman (one of the kids named him). As you may know, Oregon and Arizona have a lot in common when it comes to nature trails. Bruce and his family trekked the mountains of Oregon in early life, and continued the quest when they moved to Arizona. The family often takes nature trips in their SUV where Bruce travels in the back behind a pet car barrier similar to the Euro-Bar pet car barrier. Their favorite trip was in Sedona where Bruce investigated nature while off-leash on one of the out-of-the-way nature trails. Bruce found a tarantula in the path but smartly avoided it. Even though the tarantula was probably harmless, Bruce knew better than to mess with wild animals (experience based on confrontations with snakes and skunks). Bruce is a smart and savvy dog. And even though he likes to investigate nature, he is never goes beyond the sight of his family.

(Pat says she has a picture of the tarantula too!  She will have to scan it and send it to us later,though.)

While the Pet Buckle® Dog Travel Harness has been crash tested and other dog travel harness brands have not, most other dog travel harness brands have at least been strength tested. Crash testing does not guarantee that the Pet Buckle® Dog Travel Harness is safer than other dog travel harness brands, but since other dog travel harness brands have not been crash tested there is no proof about which is better. Strength testing is a valid assurance of safety, but crash testing is more assuring. And crash testing a dog travel harness means something else. It means that the manufacturer cares enough about pet safety that they are willing to spend the millions of dollars to make sure their product is safe for your pet.

The Guardian Gear® Ride Right Padded Dog Car Harness has recently been added to Pet Auto Safety.com. Like our black and black with paw prints dog car harness, the houndstooth padded dog car harness, and the camouflage dog car harness, the Ride Right Padded Dog Car Harness has a clip-on strap which buckles directly into the seat belt receptacle of your car. And like the houndstooth padded dog car harness, it is padded with confortable berber lining. The Ride Right Padded Dog Car Harness is also made of water-resistant polyester. The heavy duty make and adjustable fit makes it an ideal safe and comfortable dog car harness for your pet.

Check out the crash test video of the only dog car safety harness to be crash tested - The Pet Buckle®. I would like to caution you before watching the video. Although the video is of crash test dog dummies, they closely resemble dogs. Visit

http://www.immioutdoors.com/petbuckle/sledtest.htm to watch the video. And to purchase the Pet Buckle® Dog Car Safety Harness, visit Pet Auto Safety.com.

We would like to formally invite you to share your pet and your pet’s story.  It doesn’t have to be about pet auto travel safety products or about a car wreck incident with your pet.  It can be about any sort of travel event, such as a trip you took camping with your dog.  Tell us about places you and your dog have visited.  Tell us which hotels you stayed in and how dog-friendly they were.  Tell us what you and your dog did on your vacation.  Tell us where you take your dog for fun activities, such as to a lake or dog park.

 We LOVE pets and would LOVE to hear about yours.  Who wants to hear nothing but stories about Sephi and Maya all the time?  (Besides me, of course.)

Tired of muddy paw prints soaking through your dog seat cover after you take your dog home from the dog park? I know I am. After spending almost $100 to get the interior of my car professionally cleaned, I went searching for a quality water-resistant dog seat cover. And I found it through Cruising Companion. Cruising Companion has developed a new dog seat cover which is not only stylish, but also resistant to water. It is two sided - a teflon-coated nylon on one side and warm fleece on the other. It is in a hammock style so that it not only covers the seat of your car, but also the back of the front seats and the floor. Don’t worry, you can still use your dog seat belts with this dog seat cover. It has two seat belt holes for your convenience. And when your dog seat cover gets really dirty, it is machine washable.

We can not say enough good things about Bark Buckle UP. Bark Buckle UP is a non-profit company which educates people about pet travel safety. They also test products and rate them in order to ensure that the pet travel safety products on the market are safe for your dog. Bark Buckle UP has been providing such a great service to the public that they are being awarded the Pet Safe Choice Awards at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

Bark Buckle UP has listed the top vehicles to own for pet travel safety as well as the top retailers, hotels, and airlines for pets. They have also done research to provide informative statistics in regards to pets in vehicles. For example, did you know that in a car accident where the car is going about 35 MPH, a 60-pound dog can become a 2,700-pound projectile? Visit www.BarkBuckleUp.com for more information.

Dee-Ann Durbin with the Eagle Tribune has written a good article about pet auto safety devices and why your pet should where one whenever they are in the car. She writes about the Pet Buckle which is a brand we have recently acquired and offer for sale on our website, Pet Auto Safety.com. She also talks about pet car booster seats and pet crates which we also offer for sale. And she mentions a product we never heard of called the Pet Tube. While we contact the manufacturer of the Pet Tube see if we can make arrangements to sell it from Pet Auto Safety.com, you check out the great pet auto safety article at www.EagleTribune.com.

Pet Auto Safety.com has added a new product to the site. We are proud to say that we have found a company which actually spent the millions of dollars to crash test their product. The Pet Buckle® Dog Car Safety Harness has been crash tested using dog dummies. Because crash testing is so expensive, other dog car safety harness products have only been strength tested. That’s not to say that those products aren’t safe, but you can be assured with the Pet Buckle® Dog Car Safety Harness. The Pet Buckle® Dog Car Safety Harness is made with same quality automotive grade components as your car and is tested using the same test equipment used to test restraints found on commercial trucks, child restraints, and school buses. Due to the high cost of crash testing, the Pet Buckle® Dog Car Safety Harness is a bit more expensive than other dog car safety harness brands. But you will have more peace of mind when you travel with your beloved pet.