Dog on the back seat

T

tom kirshbaum

New Member
I go hardly anywhere without my dog. She loves to ride in the car. When she isn't sitting up looking out of the window or, at slow speeds, sticking her nose out of the window, she stretches out across the rear seat on her side. Though she isn't huge (75 pounds), when she stretches out she take up 2/3 of the seat width.

I have wanted to buy a Volt for a long time, but the battery bump on the back seat made dog travel impossible. When I first looked at a Clarity, it had black upholstery. The battery bump wasn't very noticeable and seemed inconsequential. Now that I've seen Claritys with light upholstery, the bump seems bigger. A dog stretched out on her side across that bump hour after hour would wreck her back.

Building up the Volt seat would have been impossible because of the huge bump and the low roof (when we sit side by side on the floor we are nearly eye-to-eye). With the Clarity's lower bump and additional clearance, it would be doable. But how? How have others dealt with this?
 
I obviously don’t know your dog’s “special needs”, but Karen and I do lots of dog rescue transports in all sorts of vehicles with dogs and puppies of all sizes. Our experience in that most dogs possess a lot of skill at getting comfortable wherever they are. I’d think that if a “bump” bothered your pup that much, he’d curl up in a way to avoid it.

In any case, we put a large blanket down in the back of our Clarity, and our 60 lb Chow mix has no trouble getting comfortable in the back with one of our other dogs:

32749083558_b2b8cee2f6_z.jpg


In the photo we have the rear seat down, hence no “bump”. But now we generally leave the seat up - it makes it easier for Chowder to get in, floor first then up onto the protected seat. The bump seems to be a non-issue.

If all else fails, I’d think a thick piece of foam under a blanket would smooth things out enough for your pup to get comfy. I’m confident you can work it out between the two of you!
 
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Sandroad said:
Looks comfy! I see a tether for them. Which one do you use and how does that work out?
Click to expand...

Those are just leashes hooked up to a large carabiner.

I know the pups are at some risk in the event of an accident, but it’s a risk we accept.

Halo rides up front, also at risk, and we understand that.

32749083308_0b1e751e8f_z.jpg
 
To answer the original post.......

For long trips in our other vehicle (We don't take our dogs in Clarity for trips other than local dog walks.), we use folded towels in the seats to level everything out, place a seat-sized piece of 1/2 inch soft foam on that, and cover everything with a back seat cover from Weathertech. The dogs are comfy, the seat is protected, and it's all useable for when people ride in the back seat too seat belts are accessible).
 
Sandroad said:
To answer the original post.......

For long trips in our other vehicle (We don't take our dogs in Clarity for trips other than local dog walks.), we use folded towels in the seats to level everything out, place a seat-sized piece of 1/2 inch soft foam on that, and cover everything with a back seat cover from Weathertech. The dogs are comfy, the seat is protected, and it's all useable for when people ride in the back seat too seat belts are accessible).
Click to expand...

I hadn’t thought of folded towels to level the seat. Now I’m starting to wonder what an upholsterer could do—for example, match the consistency of the foam on the bump. Like you, Sandroad, I’m thinking of long trips.

Thanks for the helpful answers, Sandroad and Fast Eddie B.
 
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