Dog crates for the car

[Mr Scruff]

What crates to people use in the car? Are there any options that don't rattle any annoy the hell out of you!? I have a cockapoo puppy, so likely to be medium sized when fully grown. At the moment I take her 'home' crate in the car but its wire and the rattles drive me crazy.

Any other suggestions?

[carinatauk]

I have a Cocker, and use one of these:

https://www.doghealth.co.uk/collections/airline-ca...

Can't remember the size but can check if its what your looking for

[SimpleSimonSays]

We have one from these guys- http://www.transk9.com

Built like a tank, great quality and finish. Excellent customer service - we ordered online and they rang us to check how big our dog was going to be when fully grown to make sure she'd fit and they were therefore selling us the right thing.

The crate is heavy if you need to take it out at the other end of the journey (when going on holiday and you don't want to take the rattly house crate with you as well).

Rear visibility can be a bit iffy too - I think I'd buy the full width one next time so it's easier to see through.

[Mr Scruff]

Thanks both, I must admit the TransK9, while impressive looking, is a little expensive for me.

Carinatauk, would be interested to know what size works for your Cocker if it's not too much trouble, thank you.

[carinatauk]

I will check in the morning

[Pesty]

I'm going to pay these chaps a visit

Look very good and starting at 350 for double and 275 for single cheap for this kind of thing relatively


http://www.madaboutpetsuk.co.uk/transit-boxes-cage...

Edited by Pesty on Tuesday 12th September 00:09

[carinatauk]

Mr Scruff said:

Thanks both, I must admit the TransK9, while impressive looking, is a little expensive for me.

Carinatauk, would be interested to know what size works for your Cocker if it's not too much trouble, thank you.

Hi it is the L80, but I do not use the wheels. I use it in a X5 and strap it down

The best I have seen are, but expensive:

http://www.safedog.co.uk/index.htm

Followed by:

http://www.animaltransitboxes.com/products

[red_slr]

Also Trans K9 here.

Used daily very tough and quiet enough.

[parakitaMol.]

I have safecrate (above) for my car, they fit almost any car and From what I've read are about the safest you can get - I like that I can lock the doors and leave the boot open if I need to. Also you can just call them, turn up and they fit the best option for your pack and car.

I'm just about to order Trans K9 for my dog Motorhome (in the garage) as they are a bit more suitable for that vehicle- also pretty good quality and safe.... think you've got the best 2 suggestions here 😊

[smashie]

We use safedog crates.

[popeyewhite]

What's the reason for using a crate above a dog guard wire mesh thing that separates the boot from the back? I've always used the dog guards myself and they are completely silent and allow the dog some room for movement. Of course if you open the boot fully you risk an escape... but other than that?

[parakitaMol.]

popeyewhite said:

What's the reason for using a crate above a dog guard wire mesh thing that separates the boot from the back? I've always used the dog guards myself and they are completely silent and allow the dog some room for movement. Of course if you open the boot fully you risk an escape... but other than that?

The safedog crates (and to some degree their tailgates) have crumple zones, the way they are constructed means they provide significantly more protection during a minor impact than if the dog were loose. There is less room for the dog to be flung around the boot space which even at low speeds can cause injuries. Also, when at shows, you can open the boot and lock the crate doors, this for me is essential - which I also use a long bolt lock - there is also an escape hatch on the back of the crate..

I used to have harnesses but bought mine after witnessing an escaped dog (rear window got smashed in a fairly minor shunt) a and the dog bolted towards 4 lanes of oncoming traffic on the M25. Unfortunately the 'fight or flight' instinct kicks in and even the most placid dogs are liable to bolt after a shock.

Everyone has their preferences I know, but I don't want to take any chances - I do a lot of miles with my pack - it is also a legal requirement to have your dog secured in any vehicle.

[PistonBroker]

Useful thread as I'll need a new one when our next car arrives.

We used one of these up until recently;

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog/dog-cra...

But having pieced it together fairly early on - in hindsight, cramming Christmas presents, luggage etc around it then closing the hatch and hoping for the best was asking too much - it finally gave up the ghost.

The plastic frame was the weak link. Material around it was certainly hard wearing.

[PistonBroker]

popeyewhite said:

What's the reason for using a crate above a dog guard wire mesh thing that separates the boot from the back? I've always used the dog guards myself and they are completely silent and allow the dog some room for movement. Of course if you open the boot fully you risk an escape... but other than that?

Interesting to hear the safety aspect as I hadn't considered that.

The motivation for us over a wire mesh was that Buddy used to climb all over the back of our old CRV and I didn't want him doing that in a brand new car!

The TransK9 stuff looks great but I think for my purposes the Doghealth airline carrier linked to earlier could be a winner.

[smashie]

parakitaMol. said:

The safedog crates (and to some degree their tailgates) have crumple zones, the way they are constructed means they provide significantly more protection during a minor impact than if the dog were loose. There is less room for the dog to be flung around the boot space which even at low speeds can cause injuries. Also, when at shows, you can open the boot and lock the crate doors, this for me is essential - which I also use a long bolt lock - there is also an escape hatch on the back of the crate..

I used to have harnesses but bought mine after witnessing an escaped dog (rear window got smashed in a fairly minor shunt) a and the dog bolted towards 4 lanes of oncoming traffic on the M25. Unfortunately the 'fight or flight' instinct kicks in and even the most placid dogs are liable to bolt after a shock.

Everyone has their preferences I know, but I don't want to take any chances - I do a lot of miles with my pack - it is also a legal requirement to have your dog secured in any vehicle.

These are the reasons we bought our safedog, although I do not use mine any more since I changed cars as the one I got is too high to fit in the boot. The other half runs a dog walking/boarding business and uses a safedog crate in her car.

[popeyewhite]

PistonBroker said:

Interesting to hear the safety aspect as I hadn't considered that.

It hadn't occurred to me either. I don't know - I imagine the dog is happier with a little bit of room in the back but maybe it makes no difference to her. What I do know is that when we were t-boned by a lorry she was completely unfazed and saw the exchanging of details between drivers as a perfect opportunity to get some peace and go to sleep.

[Konan]

Got a 4pets proline tied down in the boot.

[parakitaMol.]

Konan said:

Got a 4pets proline tied down in the boot.

I have a double one of these for sale, it's the Cerberus M. http://www.4pets-products.com/4pets-proline-en

I have just taken it out of my van to change to a different set up. If anyone is looking
I'm near Reigate - would need collecting.

[chrisga]

We've got a made to measure crate (dog pod) in the back of the 159 from these guys. When I say made to measure, it was made to measure for the 156 but handily fits the 159 too: http://hamsterbaskets.co.uk/products/dog-and-pet-c... It doesn't rattle at all and is now in the third car, so while it was expensive it has served us very well. Think it was about £250 about 6 years ago.

I'm not sure about the cages with crumple zones built in. I don't understand what they are trying to achieve. If the car is rear ended presumably they crumple/deform, which a normal/cheaper wire cage would do too anyway wouldn't it? Presume pooch gets equally squashed in a rear ender. Or are they supposed to do the opposite and not deform by resisting some of the cars crumple zone (typically the boot floor) to try to maintain a certain open space for the dog? Sounds horrible as ours always travel in our boot crate but if a car is rear ended enough for the boot floor to deform taking a crate with it what are the chances of the dog surviving in either style of crate?

As parakitamol says a full boot crate is great if you go somewhere and need to leave boot open as it can be locked separately.

If we're going anywhere with all the dogs we take the dog van though which is a vito with 4 built in crates. Similar issue though, I do worry about a rear ender in that too so all crates are accessible from the front of the van.

[parakitaMol.]

chrisga said:

I'm not sure about the cages with crumple zones built in. I don't understand what they are trying to achieve. If the car is rear ended presumably they crumple/deform, which a normal/cheaper wire cage would do too anyway wouldn't it? Presume pooch gets equally squashed in a rear ender. Or are they supposed to do the opposite and not deform by resisting some of the cars crumple zone (typically the boot floor) to try to maintain a certain open space for the dog? Sounds horrible as ours always travel in our boot crate but if a car is rear ended enough for the boot floor to deform taking a crate with it what are the chances of the dog surviving in either style of crate?

As parakitamol says a full boot crate is great if you go somewhere and need to leave boot open as it can be locked separately.

If we're going anywhere with all the dogs we take the dog van though which is a vito with 4 built in crates. Similar issue though, I do worry about a rear ender in that too so all crates are accessible from the front of the van.

Yes its very important to have front and rear access hatches. I am quite neurotic about the safety aspect, and have worried about the same things. But certainly with the safedog crates the bars that run front to rear slide inside each other and I think that is how they crumple, it is better to understand on their website. I looked at quite a few dog crate companies for my van but absolutely none of them have any features or designs that consider impact... its more about 'stacking' - so I prefer the safe crates in my van which has tie down points in the floor (was previously a MX garage) and my garage is going to build a new mounting block with bulkhead to fit them up against. .