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"Mom guilt"

5K views 57 replies 14 participants last post by  angiern2004 
#1 ·
So with all the talk about car seats and harnesses and laws in NJ, I started researching tonight to see if we wanted to go the car seat route or the harness route. Tillie has ALWAYS been an amazing traveler, never moves from the passenger seat/console area... doesn't have much desire to look out the window, just curls up and sleeps. When she was a puppy I would put her regular walking harness on and leash her to the seat, that is how she learned THAT is where she belongs.
Anywho, while I was researching I ran across a comment that said basically, ' why do people put so much time and money into making sure thier pets are FED with the best quality food and then let them be sitting ducks unsecured in a car!?" LOL okay, okay, point taken.

So here I am ... I think the harness is going to work best for us since she would need to be harnessed in IN a car seat too, right??
So, can someone reccomend what kind I need to use?? What is the best quality, most comfortable?? and how to get Tillie to accept it?? LOL :pound:
 
#2 · (Edited)
#3 ·
We have a car seat for Murphy which we have used since we brought him home. Murphy loves it as he can see out the window, or curl up and take a nap comfortably - which he does every week on the way home from his day care.

We have the Lookout 1, and use a harness which attaches to a strap on the seatbelt. I did not want to pay the additional amount for the Lookout 2 which has a drawer, but now wish I had so we could just keep Murphy's travel stuff in there. The cover is completely washable which is great. Here is the link

http://www.dog-car-seats.com/index.htm

Diane
 
#4 ·
Hi Tammy,
Timmy is a sleeper too and there is no problem with laying down in his harness. Here's a picture of it. It's called Easy Rider Car Harness. He also had a tether in his car seat that I hooked on to his regular harness. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions.
 

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#6 ·
We had one of these when Kodi was younger, and I liked it because the chest was so well padded. But as his hair got longer, it started causing more and more mats. We switched to the Vest Harness, which is lined with soft flannel rather than fleece, and have had no trouble with mats since then.

http://www.gwlittle.com/product/padded_car_vest_harness_for_dogs/dog_car_harnesses

Kodi's is red, but I think Miss Tillie would look ADORABLE in this pink one!:biggrin1:
 
#5 ·
Tammy, I have to admit I did the exact same thing. I've been transporting Joey in a soft carrier in the car that is belted in, but after reading the threads, I went on line and bought a teather with all metal fasteners and a car seat. Major mommy guilt.......
 
#11 ·
You still need a car harness, even if you have a booster seat. You don't HAVE to have the booster seat. If Tillie is used to sitting on the seat, and happy there, I would forego the booster. I have a donut bed that Kodi sleeps in in the car, but you can even use something as simple as a folded blanket or towel. If you have vinyl or leather seats, I WOULD pad them with something made of cloth, though... Vinyl and leather just get too hot.
 
#8 ·
Tucker has the Lookout 2 Luxury Car Seat. We got the large so he'd have plenty of room to lay down. Glad we did since he's 18 lb. and needs the extra room. The drawer is very handy and the insert pillow washes well. We haven't washed the cover yet, but have cleaned it off the a little detergent and water. Tucker seems to like it. He falls asleep within minutes when we take a road tip to Fl. or Al. from NH.
 
#9 ·
I've been using the solvit harness, but I just ordered the Solvit Jumbo Tagalong seat (PetSmart has it on sale on their website/after taxes and the international charges it was $30 less for me to get it through Petsmart rather than Amazon). Normally I wouldn't have bought it because the shipping and international charges cost me almost as much as the seat, but it has gotten great reviews from people on here.

Brody is fine with his harness restraint, but he is getting my seats dirty so that's the main reason why I'm going to try it. Ha ha I think he'll like sitting up higher too.
 
#10 ·
I will need something that is easy to get in and out and is skinny as I have 2 car seats in the back for my Grandsons so Ted will have to occupy the middle seat in the back or the front seat if its just the 2 of us. (I can turn off the airbag)
 
#28 ·
#20 ·
X-Small fits dogs 10-15 pounds with a girth of 16-19.5-inch and a neck of 13-inch

XX-Small fits dogs 5-10 pounds with a girth of 12-15-inch and a neck of 12-inch
 
#21 ·
This is the one I have for Brody:

http://www.solvitproducts.com/products-ls798_1_ls-i24_i.aspx

(Basically because this was the only one my local pet store had when I was looking) He hates putting it on, but is fine once it's on. It's quite heavy, in my opinion. I'm not sure how a dog smaller than brody would fit it, honestly. I have the neck part adjusted as small as I can get and if the strap/buckle thing opens up at all it will come off over his head. It just means I have to check/adjust that fitting every time we use it. The girth part I don't have to have as small as possible though. Maybe he has a pencil neck/head or something. ha ha He's a freak!!!
 
#22 ·
I measured her and her neck is approx 11 inches, her girth is 15 ... not sure if I should go with the x-small (girth 16-18.5 inches, neck 13inches...) or the xxsmall the only measurements I see for that one is "rear girth 8-14 inches" 5-10 lbs ... afraid the xxsmall is too small and the xsmall is too big...??
 
#25 ·
The solvit one comes with a little seatbelt type of thing that slides onto the car seatbelt and then you just hook the dog to that.

I know I've seen the seatbelt attachment thing sold on it's own in pet stores, so far not finding it on Amazon.
 
#24 ·
Grrr...it sucks when dogs are between sizes. That's what happened with Brody and the sense-ation/sense-ible harness. I went with the bigger size and it was too big, but I really think the smaller size would have been too small.
 
#31 ·
ya, I think they are the same harness but one is 'vented' apparently... not sure which one to go with... My husband thinks I'm nuts for even considering a car harness. I explained it to him... he still thinks I'm nuts. LOL I told him, WOULD you rather have a big doggie CAR SEAT in the van!? LOL that shut him up! :pound:

Tillie's sensation harness IS the "mini" size ... and it JUST fits her, as BIG as it would go .. BUT the x-small would have been way too big... ??
 
#32 ·
I can't help you on the size... Kodi and Tillie are just way too different size-wise. Tye good thing is if you pick the wrong one, they are light weight, and it would be cheap to mail back.
 
#33 ·
I do feel a bit responsible for the wave of mom guilt after posting the video story..but I suppose it is a good sort of guilt to inspire :)

This thread couldn't come at a better time, even though the car seat is coming today, I need a breathable comfy harness for it and will probably buy one of those Harnesses from the Amazon link, they look like something we could use on short car rides and they snap into the car seats, i assume?

Tammy, if you need a custom size, you can buy the larger size and send it to me, I can alter it for you if you mark it. I have all of the industrial sewing machines one would need to sew the nylon and leathers.I just couldn't do it til' I get back from vacay, mid July-ish

Kara
 
#34 ·
I know I'm way late on this response, but is this harness a car harness? I know mine has metal type buckles on the top and a loop that the seat belt goes through, not sure if a regular harness will let you get the seat belt connected. I did find the harness that I use for Timmy on Amazon here's the link. Timmy weighs about 12 pounds and the Small size fits perfectly. I don't find that he needs any extensions since the harness kind of rides up and down the shoulder strap.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=easy+rider+dog+harness
 
#35 ·
Yes, the Vest Harness is meant to be used as a car harness, and has a loop on the back strap for the seatbelt. I like it better than The Easy Rider, because the breast piece is wider, which distributes the impact more evenly in the case of an accident. This is a minor quibble, though. The Easy Rider looks like a good option too.
 
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