Dog Transport

[DieselDan]

G'day All,

I want to pick the brains of the Defender dog owners and ask what the best way of carrying a dog in a Defender is?

All things going well, myself and t'wife will be welcoming a new vizsla/lab cross puppy into the family and the Defender will become the main dog transport and I'm looking at ideas of where/how other dog owners put/secure their dogs while in the Defender.

I've got a drawer system fitted behind a cargo barrier, so for the short term the pup will be in her carry basket/cage secured behind the cargo barrier.
Thinking further ahead I've seen harnesses to secure the (grown up) dog on the rear seat, or I could just get a bigger cage behind the cargo barrier, or just sit her behind the cargo barrier.

So how/where do you put your dog?

Cheers.

[roverrescue]

I know this is completely unhelpful butttttttt
Buy a 130 ;)

I have built a box in the back of the 130. Our two Geepers love it in there!
Solar on the roof of box and most of the time a 39L engel on MSA drop slide comes out one side, otherside for the hounds.
Still means I have 1200x1800 of tray which is heaps for camping gear

S

[DieselDan]

Ha, a 130 is out of the box thinking I suppose [thumbsupbig]

The camping set-up and all the other guff is a good point and one of the reasons why I asked the question.
I should have posted this picture in the first place, but attached is what the back of the Defender looks like when we're camping.
The bottom, carpeted bit is a permanent addition, but the top half with the 3 tiers on the left is only bolted in when we're away.
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Assuming I removed sharp objects, I'm wondering if the dog can sit on the gap on the right.

But if that's too small, or has other junk in there, that's why I'm also considering the 60 part of the 60/40 split rear seat for her to sit on, with a proper tether, and assuming she doesn't learn how to open the fridge which is in the place where the 40 bit of the seat was!!

[trout1105]

Pups just Love to chew stuff so I would make sure that there are no cables or wires within reach [thumbsupbig]

[Ancient Mariner]

Here you go put the missus in the back[bighmmm]

[roverrescue]

Noel with your AC system poor old pup would need one of those down lined puffer jackets else it would freeze lying up there in front!

S

[rijidij]

Hi Dan,
This will also be unhelpful, but can you leave your wife at home, then simply use the spare front seat for your pooch. [biggrin]

Cheers, Murray

[DiscoMick]

The wife's rat dog travels with her transport crate, in which she sleeps at home. We do have a seatbelt connector for her harness, but rarely use it as she just sleeps on the back seat.

[Don 130]

That's what the middle box is for. The navigator.
Don.

[scarry]

Relocated the wife,this is where my girl sits.

Here she is watching out for wildlife,dogs,and vehicles jumping red lights[bigwhistle]

No noise and no complaints about the AC temps.

Since SWMBO has been riding motorbikes,she also has a real good look at any bike that appears.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/07/529.jpg (https://picturepush.com/public/15843747)

[Leyland1980]

I use a "backseat" from Dogstyler.de it's awesome and my cattle dog loves it

[DieselDan]

I use a "backseat" from Dogstyler.de it's awesome and my cattle dog loves it
Just looked them up - wow, I don't have a seat that comfy looking 😁
Did you buy it locally or order direct from Germany?

[Leyland1980]

Just looked them up - wow, I don't have a seat that comfy looking [emoji16]
Did you buy it locally or order direct from Germany?

Ordered from Germany I'm afraid - not cheap but they are really high quality

[Rig110]

Thomas the hound likes the 60/split back seat (the 40 is replaced with a fridge. The pet hammock is about $40 and goes between the front and back seats - keeps them clean and stops him trying to get into the front. (He's a 32kg Amstaff cross for size reference).

Going to have to revisit this setup with a child on the way!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/07/644.jpg

[dullbird]

We got a 130 and had a custom cage built for the back so dogs could go in there. But they have never been in the their we changed our minds and took seats out and made them a platform so they get to enjoy the aircon with us [emoji15]

[DieselDan]

Having a practice in the disco first to see how she takes to car travel.
Was not impressed at all at first, I just sat her in there to get her used to it, but she barked and whined and carried on! Then I started the engine and the dulcet tones of ye olde 300tdi rattlingng into life seemed to calm her down, so much so that she fell asleep as we were driving around. Sweet!


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/08/557.jpg

[Slunnie]

These dogs are so cute.

I put a dog hammock in the back seat also and then unless she is tired she just steps out into the front seat and takes up position as my trusty copilot!

[Garry Treen]

Hi Dan,

It's Veronca here. Just thought I'd add my 10 cents worth re dog transport. We're not transporting our dogs in a Landy as yet but we do transport them in the back of our Mazda 6 wagon and also our Holden Colorado. We have 2 Kelpies and 1 (inherited) poodle. Once a month we travel to Bridgetown which is 3 hrs south of Perth. We have tried a couple of configurations with them in the Mazda. Luggage up front near us and dogs at the rear. They spend most of the time trampling the bags to try and get closer to us and so we moved them forward to behind into the back seats. They seem much happier to travel this way. 1 of the Kelpies is very nervous of the car and road noises so she tends to stress a bit being in a car anyway. We use a body harness with a lead that clips into the seatbelt buckle to anchor them.

Travel in the Colorado (dual cab diesel) is more successful. We've only had it a short time and developed a system that works well. The back seats fold up out of the way giving us a fantastic area for the dogs and the seat belt clips push through the join in the seat and hang out the bottom for ease of connecting the lead to their harnesses. On the first trip however the nervous kelpie got one of her toes stuck in a little metal square cutout where the seat leg clicks in when you unfold them. Fortunately, we managed to disentangle her with no damage to the toe or the ute but felt a bit foolish that we hadn't realized this could happen. The hole was only 2/2.5 cm square and we plugged it with some cloth items for the rest of the trip. We now have an extra foam mattress that sits in place over the floor bed so there are no holes or anything else exposed. We still use the seat belt leads in this set up and it works really well. As the dogs are sitting so low down on the floor bed the bonus is that the front seats would also act like a cargo barrier in case of an impact. Safer for the dogs and safer for us.

A couple of points.

Your dog is gorgeous and looks super cute on that front seat. As you try and get her comfortable and happy to travel in the car be careful you don't inadvertently train her to want to be in the front seat, especially if your intention is to have her normally travelling somewhere in the back.

As she grows and travels more in the car, you will get to realize just how she travels. Out of my 3 only the male kelpie lays down and sleeps once he settles in, The female kelpie stresses and is awake the whole time and the poodle just wants to be on your lap but sometimes lays down for a sleep. My daughters Ridgeback mostly lays down pretty much straight away and sleeps. Every dog will develop a different travelling habit and in the end you work out a system for dealing with your own dog.

If you can create a spot in the rear seat area then I would suggest that as the best place. Your dog will be closer to you so hopefully happier to be in the car. I'm not sure of the exact size but she looks like being a big dog to be up in such a high position as that back spot in your photo.

Just some food for thought. [smilebigeye]

cheers
Veronica







G'day All,

I want to pick the brains of the Defender dog owners and ask what the best way of carrying a dog in a Defender is?

All things going well, myself and t'wife will be welcoming a new vizsla/lab cross puppy into the family and the Defender will become the main dog transport and I'm looking at ideas of where/how other dog owners put/secure their dogs while in the Defender.

I've got a drawer system fitted behind a cargo barrier, so for the short term the pup will be in her carry basket/cage secured behind the cargo barrier.
Thinking further ahead I've seen harnesses to secure the (grown up) dog on the rear seat, or I could just get a bigger cage behind the cargo barrier, or just sit her behind the cargo barrier.

So how/where do you put your dog?

Cheers.

[Baytown]

I removed my middle row seats and Rufus my Shar Pei and Raj, my parrot travel in there. Plenty of room for two humans and two critters for extended travel. He is harnessed to the safety barrier.
Ken
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[DieselDan]

Thanks for all the tips Veronica.
Thoughts so far is that her permanent place will be in the back seat, either on a platform if we remove the rest of the rear seat or on one of the hammock things that others have mentioned.
Good point about not getting her used to the front seat. Next trip will be in the back!

[trout1105]

This is how our dog is accommodated in the dingy [biggrin]

128401

[roverrescue]

Well if we are moving onto other modes of transport....
This is Zeros' preferred mode of marine transport
Note that we are scooting along at 36kn while pic was taken
Only drawback of course is it slows down access to the beer!

128402

Of course the pup has a less relaxed seating preference ;)

128403

Steve

[trout1105]

Maybe you should slow down a bit.
From your second image it looks like travelling at 36kts made "Zero" seasick [bigrolf]

[roverrescue]

Second picture is our other GSP, the pup - Mollie, she was just completely captivated by the waves splashing along the hull.
What was more fun was about 10 minutes later we came across a bait ball of tuna/trevally/queenfish and sharks with birds whooping about... Poor little thing went apoplectic trying to get them!
Lucky mum was holding the lead.

"slow down"

What do such words mean?
When its flat its time to blow the cobwebs out!

S

[Tins]

Hate to do the wet blanket routine, but seriously, dogs should be restrained in a proper harness. Some of the dogs in the pics here would way 40-50 Kg. Not something you want flying around in the cabin in the event of an accident. Aside from the damage to the dog, those things can break YOUR neck, or one of your kids.

[NT5224]

Hi folks

I am super-interested in this thread. We are due to collect our first ever pup in March next year ( I'm really excited about that!) and we travel lots. Hector our Land Rover is a 110 ute so the pup will be riding out back.

At present we have a canvas canopy enclosing the loadbed (LR original) but the trouble is that the sides don't role up to give pup a view outside. Im guessing we're going to have e a bespoke canvas cover made that allows the sides to be rolled up and tied -like the back.

That way the pup will be able to stick his head out of the sides to see whats going on and where we're heading. We'll also open up that sliding window at the back of the single cab so he can stick his head in with us if he wants.

When people have a dog in the tray of their ute do they secure them there? If so how? Would hate to have a dog with a neck collar jump off the side of the vehicle!


My wife and I are also planning for taking our dog flying in our aircraft, and I've been reading up on CASA regs on this. As far as I can tell, nobody in north Australia takes a blind bit of notice to those regs -we always see dogs bouncing out of planes when they park up on our friends' properties.

Cheers

Alan

[roverrescue]

Alan
For many years I travelled with dogs in ute both unrestrained and on collar
Never totallly happy with it. I would say on a chain is as bad as unrestrained for numerous reasons....

But I got smart and with these two boisterous GSP I built a box for them.
It has been great. - the hounds love it and travel happily for hours
I made it narrow for two reasons - one more tray space and two to contain the dogs!
When camping we run an engel on one side on a drop slide cam still fit both dogs but they are s little more cramped...

Steve

[ninetubes]

our flat coated retriever, Grover, goes on the false floor in the back of the 90. We put in a cargo barrier net and on camping trips with him we stack the wolf crates up a bit and tie them back so he has enough room.
If we are out working him a few old towels help keep things a bit tidy.
128749128751

[DieselDan]

Finally went for a drive in the back of the Defender last weekend.
She started off all interested in looking at the world through the window, but soon got bored of that and fell asleep. Although that might have been the fact she was absolutely pooped after her first trip to the beach...
"Wow I can run over here and dig here... And I can run here and dig here too. And here. And here..."
129119129120129121

[DieselDan]

Can't really see in those pics but her harness was plugged into the seatbelt!

[Garry Treen]

Hi folks

I am super-interested in this thread. We are due to collect our first ever pup in March next year ( I'm really excited about that!) and we travel lots. Hector our Land Rover is a 110 ute so the pup will be riding out back.

At present we have a canvas canopy enclosing the loadbed (LR original) but the trouble is that the sides don't role up to give pup a view outside. Im guessing we're going to have e a bespoke canvas cover made that allows the sides to be rolled up and tied -like the back.

That way the pup will be able to stick his head out of the sides to see whats going on and where we're heading. We'll also open up that sliding window at the back of the single cab so he can stick his head in with us if he wants.

When people have a dog in the tray of their ute do they secure them there? If so how? Would hate to have a dog with a neck collar jump off the side of the vehicle!


My wife and I are also planning for taking our dog flying in our aircraft, and I've been reading up on CASA regs on this. As far as I can tell, nobody in north Australia takes a blind bit of notice to those regs -we always see dogs bouncing out of planes when they park up on our friends' properties.

Cheers

Alan

Hi Alan, So many options available and all depends on your dog's personality and how it travels. You might spend money on a new canvas but your dog might be one of those that just lays down and sleeps. I'd get the dog first and see what he does to your old canvas beforehand. You never know, he might be a chewer![bigrolf]

Do a google search on safe travel with your dog in a car and you will get lots of ideas, pros and cons of different restraint methods. This could quite easily transfer to a plane. Also please read up a bit about dogs in hot cars.

A dog with too long a lead on the back of the ute can be flipped over the side with possible injuries to neck and also road burn rashes. It also needs protection/shade from our summer sun and their feet on hot ute trays. I've seen dogs in the past in cages or tied on to the tray in full sun parked up at Bunnings. It's not that hard to at least fit a bit of shade cloth over a cage.

It depends on your attitude towards your dog too and most of us treat them like members of our family. (or like our kids) Some are prepared to take risks and others overly cautious.

Most importantly, it is yours and your dog's safety and well being.[smilebigeye]

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[rovers4]

Hi All,

We've had two larger dogs. Both travelled in the cargo area of whatever vehicle we had at the time - a Falcon wagon or a Defender 110 wagon.

First dog loved to be in the car, quite happy to stay in the back. Didn't mind bumps/noise.

Second one put up with car travel and hated bumps under the floor she was on. Didn't even like walking over man-holes as they sounded hollow.

Our next dog will probably travel in a harness on the back seat, or on a platform in the same location when in the camping configuration. This to allow easy attention/pacification and at the same time to make better use of the rear space cargo barrier.

Re when travelling in a ute:

In our state any dog travelling in a ute/tray back truck must be secured by a chain to the centre of the headboard. The length of chain to limit movement so that the dog cannot get any closer to the edge than to be just able to get the front paws up, thus preventing the body possibly going over the edge.

Tradies often make a space between their side-access tool boxes, even mounting a roof/shade. A lot of their dogs take on the role of offsider in the front. More and more though there are harnesses being used, either with separate anchor points or via the existing seat belts.

Our state does not yet require all loads to be covered, so open flat trays are everywhere. Doggies on board are common. Where covers are used one can often see one corner just not clipped right, but then a head will appear for a bit before returning for another slumber.


rovers4

[Don 130]

I've made boxes for the girl's utes. Their dogs love their boxes and will use them as a kennel to sleep in when the girl's are away from home. The three dog box was for someone else. They must also be fairly secure as some maggots steal working dogs from utes.
Don.

(how do you delete a picture from the download manager when you discover it's appeared sideways?)