Dogs & Cars

F

Fanatical

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 March 2009
Messages
1,640
Visit site
To all of you who travel your dogs regularly, what car do you have..?

I'm going to need a new car soon and thinking maybe a small 4x4 or a car with a larger boot that I can put a grill in to seperate the back seats from the boot for travelling the dogs.
 
I have a Shogun LWB and OH has a BMW estate. H travels in both boots although we only have one dog guard which is easily moved from one to the other. Although unless he is going to have to be left in the BMW, it usually stays in my car as that's the one he travels in most. He will only climb over the back seats if left.
 
Citroen C5 estate - huge boot for a rottie and a JRT who travels in a small crate. I have had the rottie, 2 Irish water spaniels and a lab in there before, was a bit crowded :D but doable!

I do a lot of miles so a 4 x 4 wasn't an option - 30mpg v 55mpg and servicing/tyre costs put paid to the idea of having a 4 wheel drive.
 
I have a Renault Clio, and have 4 greyhounds of assorted sizes :p

They do all fit in the car if I put the back seat down, but there isnt a lot of spare room :D Luckily I dont take all of them in the car very often :D
 
A Subaru Forester, so a small estate-y 4x4. I have Barjo boot and tailgate guards, takes two sibes in comfort. Very thirsty on the fuel but I love it to bits, even my car-nut OH has admitted it's nicer to drive than his car. Needed something big enough to carry the racing rig so roof bars or towbar, plus the roads around here flood/freeze often enough that we needed one 4x4 between us.

Previously had a 1994 Nissan Micra, removed rear seats and put in a 36" crate, it was a squeeze for two dogs but would have been ideal for one large dog.
 
I have a Honda crv which fits my 2 large dogs in fine, could prob fit in another two! Average about 39 mpg, up to 50mpg on motorway. They happily travelled for a year in the back of my Toyota aygo though. Was very amusing!
 
I have a corsavan and love it :D

I have the bulkhead that's solid on the bottom half and grill top half, with a boot liner and then a Barjo tail guard. I have a gsd and 2 staffies who fit fine :). I have squeezed 3 gsd's in the back before but was a real squeeze :p
 
The dogmobile is a citroen nemo multispace; the back seats lift out completely to leave a flat floor space. The boot has a VERY low level entry point....ideal for older dogs or those worried about HD. The spare wheel is underneath the car and is accessed from outside, so if you breakdown on your own on the motorway or wherever with dogs in the back there is no issue. Also, there is no carpet.....floors are a combination of plastic and rubber mats....naff, but practical and makes for easy cleaning.

With a tailguard and tailor made wrap around dog guard (thank you barjo!) that covers the side doors, it is great for leaving dogs in whilst on a shoot as you can slide the back doors open.

Also, whilst not a 4x4 it is higher than most cars and can cope with a fair bit of battering on rutted tracks.

Can fit four HPRs in......albeit they are all bosum buddies.

PS No, I don't have shares in citroen!

PPS. Get c 55mpg +
 
Last edited:
Nissan x trail has very good fuel economy for a 4x4, 2.5 litres. Excellent boot, back seats fold totally flat for more room. Three springers fit in with lots of crumple room (hence the purchase :o).

Waiting for Zak:
IMAG0535.jpg


That's a specially fitted boot cover that lifts out for cleaning.
 
Last edited:
A vauxwagon caddy van (not many cars you can for more than 10 dogs in):p fab on fuel.

I also have a freelander but dogs dont go in there and I am actually thinking of selling it:(
 
ooh well ive had a few dog-mobiles:cool: started off with a clio, i used to put the back seat down and fitted a dog guard... my lab had lots of space. Then I had a ford focus estate with a custom made cage in the boot with a divider and 2 separate doors. Once we were up to 6 dogs I got a Renault Traffic van and had 2 tier cages. Terrible reliability though:rolleyes: I now have a Toyota Hilux double cab pickup with a tailgate guard - tons of room for multiple dogs that sleep in there over the weekend at comps too.:cool:Oh, and tows my trailer well too:cool:
 
Stencilface said:
Ford focus hatch for a gsd x rottie :)

It's not the best, I want a skoda yeti or Audi a3 next :)
Click to expand...

Snap! Add a GSD to the mix too. I had custom guards made to allow the dogs to have the whole of the back (minus a gap for storing things behind the front seats), since there's the two of them and I do worry about the boot getting squashed in an accident.

14.jpg
7.jpg



Not perfect but I didn't want to move from a Nissan Micra to an estate car! Will probably go for something with a bigger boot next time, perhaps a Focus estate or maybe a Skoda (got shown an estate one at Carcraft which had a huge boot)
 
Last edited:
krlyr said:
Snap! Add a GSD to the mix too. I had custom guards made to allow the dogs to have the whole of the back (minus a gap for storing things behind the front seats), since there's the two of them and I do worry about the boot getting squashed in an accident.

Not perfect but I didn't want to move from a Nissan Micra to an estate car! Will probably go for something with a bigger boot next time, perhaps a Focus estate or maybe a Skoda (got shown an estate one at Carcraft which had a huge boot)
Click to expand...

I only give mine the boot though, the back seat is much needed space for my saddle and any other stuff I don't want getting dog on. Your Grottie looks just like mine :)

IMAG0449.jpg


I want a car with a flat lower entry next, I'm not a fan of non-flat entry, and its not good for a dog with HD who won't use a ramp - well, he will but he's just so eager to jump in the dam car - he jumps in anyone's car as soon as the boot opens :D
 
Gorgeous boy - I like the term Grottie! I go with Rotten Shepherd - apt when she's rolled in fox poo but Grottie works too!
kiki.png


The bonus of having the rear seats down and the guard positioned where it is means I can get them in and out via the rear passenger doors. Helpful when parked in a tight space making boot access difficult, and they can step up/down instead of leaping out. Does mean limited storage but not been an issue for me so far (and it's proved very helpful as an excuse to not have to chaffeur family around!)
 
She's beautiful! :)

Rotten shepherd would have worked well when he chased after the stable cat this morning ignoring my shouts of 'leave it' until the cat had become boring again, little swine.
 
For what it's worth when I was looking for a new dog-specific car we decided on either the Subaru Forester I have now, a Honda CR-V or a Skoda estate. The Honda had the highest entry point, the Subaru and Skoda are about the same. The Subaru has a nice wide grippy ledge outside of the boot (I can't afford a Range Rover 'picnic seat' but this is an excellent budget alternative :p :D)

422248_4344315163950_1307081618_n.jpg
 
I've got a Skoda grannymobile (Roomster):D. Loads of space for the dogs behind the back seat and if I put the seats down/take them out they could have a party in there. I like the fact it is good square space, I had a fabia before which had plenty of floor space but Evie had to sit a little hunch backed due to the angle of the back door.
 
How about a Yeti for the cool 4x4 version? :p

MIL has a Honda Jazz with a similar configuration to the Roomster, square rear so plenty of height and seats fold down into a recess so it's all completely flat. As a family of car nuts I wasn't permitted to buy anything that wasn't Japanese or Volkswagen-Audi group which happily includes Skodas. :o
 
Another plus point for the Citroen estates - they have 'flat entry' AND because they have that funny suspension you get a button in the boot that raises or lowers the height by about six inches. It was absolutely invaluable when the rottie was having his leg ops as I could back it up to a curb or step and he could step in - 40kgs of Rott is not easy to lift!

I'm odd though, I love Citroens - I've had 4 or 5 now :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top