Pet Auto Safety

A visitor to our site recently asked us, “Do you have any suggestions on how to get dog hair out of a pet car hammock without having to wash it?” That was a difficult question and I am sorry to say that unless you have a super powered vacuum cleaner, there is no perfect answer. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can use a lint roller brush and a pair of tweezers. But most of us don’t have that kind of time - or patience. So here are a few quick tips which may not get rid of all the hair but will certainly help.

Bounce fabric softener claims to repel pet hair. Try putting a few Bounce sheets in your dryer along with your dog car seat cover or pet car hammock. Do this before you put the dog car seat cover or pet car hammock in the car and do it again in a few weeks or months, depending on how often your dog rides in the car.

Try spraying the dog car seat cover or pet car hammock with a static guard spray. This type of spray not only reduces static, but it also helps to repel pet hair. Obviously, with your dog sitting on the car seat cover or pet car hammock, hairs are still going to get forced into the fabric. But perhaps not as much.

Try using a material lint brush rather than the tape ones. I have a red glove-like lint brush which resembles an ovenmit without the thumb-piece. I believe I got it at PetsMart or possibly even Walmart. It is very easy to use and you can do a few swipes with it every time your dogs get out of the car. Again, it won’t remove all the hair, but it will help keep it at a minimum.

The visitor to our site told us that she has heard of using rubber gloves. I have never tried that but from what I have read elsewhere, it sounds like it might work. The next time I need to clean my dog car seat cover, I will give that a try.

If you have any suggestions, please share!

Distractions which could cause a wreck:

• Nosing, licking, or otherwise pestering the driver.
• Trying to climb in the lap of the driver.
• Pacing back and forth from window to window.

Injury to themselves or other passengers:

• Injury to your dog’s eyes or nose from flying debris when their head is out the window.
• Broken bones, internal injuries, trauma, or death due to sudden stop, violent swerve, or car wreck.
• If a car wreck occurs, your dog could become a deadly projectile which could kill them and possibly other passengers.

Escaping the vehicle:

• Jumping out of a moving vehicle causing injury to themselves and possibly causing a wreck from you stopping suddenly or from other
  cars trying to avoid hitting them.
• Dog which is projected from or escapes from a wrecked vehicle could cause another wreck when it gets into the road.

Breaking the law:

• While it may not be against the law to have your dog unseatbelted, if law enforcement sees that your dog is a distraction you may be
  ticketed for unsafe driving.

Stress to your dog:

• Unharnessed or uncrated dogs can get stressed out in a car. Stopping, turning, etc can prevent them from keeping their balance. They
  don’t understand all the movements and can be stressed by it.
• Dogs can get carsick - especially little dogs who can’t see out the window.
• A stressed dog can vomit or make other types of messes in your car.

Our message does not mean that you shouldn’t take your dog with you in the car. We just want you to think about you and your dog’s safety when they are in the car. Consider a dog car seat belt, keeping them in a crate or pet car seat, or putting up a pet barrier between the front and back seats in order to keep them in the back. For more information on dog car safety, visit http://www.petautosafety.com/pet-travel-articles.

Jennifer from Minnesota recently emailed us about her order of the Guardian Gear Dog Seat Belt s. We have copied her email below:

“I received these harnesses and have used them quite a few times in the last couple of days…

Thank you!”

Thank you, Jennifer, for keeping your dogs safe in the car! And thank you for sharing your experience with us. We love dogs and are always glad to hear great experiences from other dog lovers. My dogs, Sephi and Maya wear the exact same brand. Maya is the one pictured at the top of this blog. And yes, she is wearing her Guardian Gear Dog Seat Belt.

Many dogs love to ride in the car. But a car ride doesn’t appeal to all dogs. Some dogs tend to get car sick which can lead to vomiting or voiding on your nice upholstery. So, in essence, to prevent your dog from vomiting or voiding in the car, you need to help keep them from getting car sick in the first place.

Have you ever used seat belts for dogs only to find that your dog gets tangled up in it? This is what generally happens if your dog moves around a lot while wearing the seats belt for dogs which uses a loop-system. What is a loop-system on seat belts for dogs? It has a loop on the back of the harness where the seat belt of the car goes through. But the seat belt of the car doesn’t lay flat against the seat unless your dog holds still - and many dogs don’t hold still. When your dog moves around, the seat belt of the car pulls away from the seat. If your dog tries to turn around, as some dogs will do, their legs get all tangled up in the seat belt of the car.

To avoid that, try using seat belts for dogs which uses a strap instead of a loop. Guardian Gear and Cruising Companion seat belts for dogs use a single strap which buckles directly into the seat belt receptacle of your car. The strap attaches to the back of the dog’s harness with a swivelled hook. So when your dog turns around, the strap doesn’t get twisted. The seat belt straps of the car are not even used so there is nothing to tangle your dog’s legs in.

We found a very informative website for people who don’t want to leave their dogs at home when they travel. The website, http://www.dogfriendly.com/, has lots of information on places you and your dog (or dogs) can go together. If you want a hotel which allows dogs of all sizes, Dog Friendly has it. If you want to know which beaches allow dogs, which parks allow dogs off leash, or which tourist attractions allow dogs, Dog Friendly has that information too. This website started over 10 years ago and is still going strong. They add more and more dog-friendly places all the time.

We recently received correspondence from one of our customers who purchased the Skybox Pet Booster Seat. Pam from Rockford, Illinois wrote us a wonderful letter about her experience. With her permission, we are sharing it here. First, she wrote about why she purchased a pet car seat. Her little Chihuahua mix named Salsa loves to ride in the car and he loves to look out the window. She used to let him ride in her lap until one day, she had to make a sudden stop. Poor Salsa got tossed into the gap of the steering wheel. Pam couldn’t turn and ended up hitting a car in front of her which she might have avoided if she had been able to swerve. Salsa was terrified and yelped for several minutes. Pam couldn’t leave the scene to take Salsa to the vet, so she comforted Salsa as best as she could while she exchanged information with the other driver and waited for police. But thankfully, by the time Pam got Salsa to the vet he was okay.

The next day, Pam bought our Skybook Pet Booster Seat. Pet Auto Safety.com had lots of car seats to choose from, but Pam chose the Skybox Pet Booster Seat because its orange color is close to the same color as Salsa. It works great, she said. At first, she thought Salsa wouldn’t like it because he was so used to sitting in her lap. But Salsa was far more interested in looking out the window than in sitting in her lap and the Skybox Pet Booster Seat allows him to do this in comfort. The Skybox Pet Booster Seat has a strap which attaches to the back of Salsa’s harness, so Salsa can look out the window in safety and Pam can feel comfortable knowing that Salsa is safe.

Thanks, Pam, for sharing this information with us! If you have a story about an incident with your dog in the car, share it with us. You don’t have to buy any of our products in order to share your story, but we would like to hear that your dog now rides safely in the car.

Pet Auto Safety.com has recently added two new products. Well, they are not really new as they have been on the market for some time. But this is the first time we are offering them on our website.

The first one is the Kurgo Wander Dog Car Hammock in black. We have had the tan Wander Dog Car Hammock on our site for well over a year now. And it has been so successful that we have decided to add the black Wander Dog Car Hammock.

The second one is the Full-Size Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat. We have had the Half-Bench Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat was added to our site last year, but we did not add the Full-Size Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat until this new year.

Both the Wander Dog Car Hammock and the Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat are great pet auto safety devices for your dog. The Wander Dog Car Hammock keeps your dog in the back seat and from getting thrown onto the floor. They also have zipper openings for the seat belt of your car so that your dog can wear a dog car seat belt and be doubly protected. The Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat is great for larger dogs up to 70 pounds. It is the biggest pet car seat we have. Strapping your dog into the Lookout Perch Pet Car Seat provides as much protection as a dog car seat belt, but is much more comfortable.

Nothing makes us happier than to hear that a dog was returned home after being lost. A couple and their three dogs were involved in a car accident just before Christmas. The three dogs left the scene, but luckily two of them were quickly found. Their German Short-haired Pointer, Kelso, was missing. Probably traumatized by an event which he couldn’t understand, Kelso had run off in terror.

Thankfully, ten days after the accident, Kelso was returned home. He had been on his own in very cold weather for nine days before a couple found him. Kelso was cold, tired, and very weak when he got home, but other than a bit of frostbite on his muzzle, he was in good condition.

To read more about this very happy conclusion to a tragic event, check out this article, “Dog in Car Crash Returns Home”.

You give protect your dog and give them more room in the back seat with the Extend-A-Seat from Outward Hound. The Extend-A-Seat covers the floor of your car, giving your dog that extra space to stand, turn around, and move freely back and forth in the back seat. It also can provide some protection in that it keeps your dog from flying forward onto the floor should you have to make a sudden stop. Getting thrown forward an be a painful experience for your dog, even more so if they happen to twist or even break their let in the process. How would they break their foot, do you ask? Imagine your dog is looking out the window. He is standing perpendicular, right? Then you stop suddenly. If it is a big dog, two of his side feet will go to the floor while the two on the other side stay on the seat. With a sudden stop, the dog has no time to prepare and joints could be snapped. See how the Extend-A-Seat both helps to protect and gives them more room? Use the Extend-A-Seat in conjunction with a seat belt for dogs for added protection. A Guardian Gear or Cruising Companion brand seat belt for dogs have longer straps to give your dog more room to move around.