Safest way to transport a giant breed dog?

ZephyrBlue · Feb 12, 2008

I have a harness that attaches to the seatbelt for our 11mo English Mastiff puppy; problem is that now he cannot fit on any of the vehicle seats. I have to fold one of the captains chairs down into the floor (I LOVE the Stow N Go feature of my Grand Caravan!!!) to give him room. So is it safe to attach a lead to the caribeaner (sp?) on the harness and find a spot on the floor to tether it to (front passenger chair leg, etc), or is there some special way to restrain a 135# and quickly growing dog? His projected weight is between 220-250lbs, based on lineage and bone structure, if that helps. TIA!

cryswilkins · Feb 12, 2008

Can you get a horse trailer?

steph · Feb 12, 2008

Can you fold down your seats and get a crate in there?

Another option would be putting him in the back area and attaching the harness to one of the cargo hooks.

Kabes · Feb 12, 2008

cryswilkins said:
Can you get a horse trailer?

lol :ROTFLMAO:

ZephyrBlue · Feb 12, 2008

Can you fold down your seats and get a crate in there?

Another option would be putting him in the back area and attaching the harness to one of the cargo hooks.

Right now, there is no crate that will fit in my van that he will fit into. At least not without all of the seats folded down. And in another 6 mos or so, he won't fit into anything but the really big one, which will not fit into my van, no matter how many seats are removed. He won't fit into the cargo space at all, and there are no cargo hooks back there (in the Dodge, anyway, but the Windstar cargo area is even smaller)

I should post a pic of him compared to me. You all would laugh

ThreeBeans · Feb 12, 2008

How much does it cost to FEED him?!

laurenrachey · Feb 12, 2008

not as much as you would think for a dog of that size. They are uuhh rather lazy

We have one also but he is way on the small side. When he has to go somewhere hubby takes him and we stay here. You should post a pic!!

melniemi · Feb 12, 2008

We transport our newfie in the cargo area (way back) of the van. We used to put him where one of the captain's chairs would go - before I ever even considered him to be a projectile - and when I read here about weight x speed, I about died thinking of a 135 x 60 projectile and he has been in the back ever since. Otherwise he would kill my kids. There really isn't a good way to 'harness' him in the back so he just lays there??? Probably not the best idea, but it keeps the kiddos safe and I guess they are my priority - as much as I do love my dog. When he won't lay down and stop slobbering on the kids heads, we leash him to the bench legs. I know, he'd probably die in a bad crash, but we can't think of another way.

ZephyrBlue · Feb 12, 2008

How much does it cost to FEED him?!

About $65/month. He eats a really good quality food, and about 8 cups per day. But he's still a baby and will grow till he's 3, at which time his caloric needs will greatly decrease. At least that's what I keep telling DH

He eats Solid Gold Wolf King Salmon/Bison kibble. We're big on super premium food here, so while I could feed him more cheaply (his food costs $42 for a 33lb bag), it's more important for his long-term health to eat really good food.

ETA- I forgot that we feed 1 can of pumpkin/day. That's an additional $30/month. I forgot because I get it at the grocery store, not the pet food place, LOL!

melniemi · Feb 12, 2008

Our dog is down to 1 40# bag a month - which is about 30-35 depending if we get it on sale. He eats about 7 cups a day - we feed him science diet adult for large breeds.

NVMBR02 · Feb 12, 2008

ZephyrBlue said:
About $65/month. He eats a really good quality food, and about 8 cups per day. But he's still a baby and will grow till he's 3, at which time his caloric needs will greatly decrease. At least that's what I keep telling DH

He eats Solid Gold Wolf King Salmon/Bison kibble. We're big on super premium food here, so while I could feed him more cheaply (his food costs $42 for a 33lb bag), it's more important for his long-term health to eat really good food.

That is not as bad as I was expecting. We spend about $50 a month on food for our lab and he only eats 3 cups of food a day.

To answer your orginal post, if he doesn't fit in the cargo area, I don't have a clue.

He would need to be harnessed to something, perhaps you can have a heavy duty TA installed somehwere?

I am no help!

keri1292 · Feb 12, 2008

Wow! As much as I love the Giant breeds, I'm feeling better about my lil Boxer boy. 50lbs at 7 months old doesn't seem big at ALL!

Hudson eats 3 cups of Canidae per day. He's supposed to be eating two, but he's so ribby and active that I need to throw in an extra cup.

I'd love to see a pic of these mooses you girls are calling dogs.

www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great site for those interested in researching the quality of your dog's kibble. My parents spend a fortune on Science Diet and it only gets a 1 star rating. Unfortunately she has kidney problems and my parents don't know what they could switch her to. Of course, the vet recommends Science Diet for all puppies.

Judi · Feb 12, 2008

My dogs food isn't on the list...

kimogilvie · Feb 13, 2008

ZephyrBlue said:
About $65/month. He eats a really good quality food, and about 8 cups per day. But he's still a baby and will grow till he's 3, at which time his caloric needs will greatly decrease. At least that's what I keep telling DH

He eats Solid Gold Wolf King Salmon/Bison kibble. We're big on super premium food here, so while I could feed him more cheaply (his food costs $42 for a 33lb bag), it's more important for his long-term health to eat really good food.

I'm jealous. My Dane still eats about 10 cups a day (can't put any weight on him for the life of me). He's also on the expensive stuff. WE go through about two 33 lbs bags a month.

ZephyrBlue · Feb 13, 2008

My parents spend a fortune on Science Diet and it only gets a 1 star rating. Unfortunately she has kidney problems and my parents don't know what they could switch her to. Of course, the vet recommends Science Diet for all puppies

This is an all-time pet peeve of mine. 15 years ago, Hills Science Diet WAS a good food, well, it was one of the best available. Now, it's at the bottom of the list because of the low-quality ingredients, but vets still push it like crazy. Hills pays for all of the veterinary continuing ed. junkets every year, and they make those special RX foods- there's a food for every diagnosis, so you make the diag, prescribe RX, and hand them a bag of disease specific food. Viola. Problem is, the ingredients are very low quality: lots of fillers, none of it is human grade so lots of contamination (melamine, anyone?). And a lot of people feed what their vet recommends, because he/she "should" know about animal nutrition. Fact is, veterinarians spend very little time learning about pet foods in school, and they, like pediatricians who give out car seat advice, really aren't always qualified to make food recommendations because they don't stay updated w/food info. Sigh. If I were willing to feed our dog Hills, I could feed him so cheaply. I can buy Science Diet at cost from my boss.

Bodhi also eats about $40 worth of raw bones a month, but I get them from the natural butcher. He loves his cow femurs

I "forgot" to tell DH that was part of the monthly dog food budget

I'm going to try and rig his harness with a shorter lead to the base of the front passenger's seat. That's where I would tether a RF seat, but the force he'd put on it would be a lot greater than a child seat with 33lb kid in it, so I'm not entirely sure that it's safe

melniemi · Feb 13, 2008

wow - I didn't know science diet wasn't a good choice - I'll have to check out that link.

Morganthe · Feb 13, 2008

ZephyrBlue said:
About $65/month. He eats a really good quality food, and about 8 cups per day. But he's still a baby and will grow till he's 3, at which time his caloric needs will greatly decrease. At least that's what I keep telling DH

He eats Solid Gold Wolf King Salmon/Bison kibble. We're big on super premium food here, so while I could feed him more cheaply (his food costs $42 for a 33lb bag), it's more important for his long-term health to eat really good food.

I hope you don't mind my asking -- Is this what his breeder and fanciers suggest? I know with the Giant breeds, one of the major factors for food consideration is slow growth formulas. My Brit friends who are Wolfhound, Blood hound, Mastiff & other giant breed fanciers really emphasize slow growth combinations. Usually have a lower amount of protein groupings or something. I can't remember offhand.

Your considerations are definitely nothing like the average sized dog.

Are you going to be getting him some sort of ramp to enter/exit your vehicle? Jumping is not going to be healthy for a long time, if ever, for him.

melniemi said:
Our dog is down to 1 40# bag a month - which is about 30-35 depending if we get it on sale. He eats about 7 cups a day - we feed him science diet adult for large breeds.

Mommyto2 said:
That is not as bad as I was expecting. We spend about $50 a month on food for our lab and he only eats 3 cups of food a day.

keri1292 said:
Wow! As much as I love the Giant breeds, I'm feeling better about my lil Boxer boy. 50lbs at 7 months old doesn't seem big at ALL! Hudson eats 3 cups of Canidae per day. He's supposed to be eating two, but he's so ribby and active that I need to throw in an extra cup.

I want to see picts too.

Something to think about befor you mock.

Those medium sized dogs can eat more than Giants because their activity level is much higher at adulthood.

LOL -- y'all make me feel like such a Scrooge. Even before my auld girl died, the two dogs combined went through a 35lb bag every 3 or so months. Now that it's just one dog, that bin isn't emptying out much either. :shrug-shoulders:
est. total cost for 1 - 17lb dog + cat on premium food.... Perhaps $10-12 monthly???? :2thumbsup:

Too bad you can't claim them as dependents on your taxes

CandCfam · Feb 13, 2008

keri1292 said:
Wow! As much as I love the Giant breeds, I'm feeling better about my lil Boxer boy. 50lbs at 7 months old doesn't seem big at ALL! Hudson eats 3 cups of Canidae per day. He's supposed to be eating two, but he's so ribby and active that I need to throw in an extra cup.

I'd love to see a pic of these mooses you girls are calling dogs.

www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great site for those interested in researching the quality of your dog's kibble.

Ditto this.

Pretzel, our Lab/Border Collie mix is 48 lbs, and my BFF who lived with us while getting her Masters, had Great Dane puppy - I came to REALLY appreciate 1) how much less our dog ate and 2) quality food - we feed Canidae.:thumbsup:

When her Dane would ride with us, before she got her a harness (she was still small enough to fit the largest car harness our pet supply store had), we would put her in the back behind the bench seat of our van - we figured she was at least contained back there.

I would consider getting heavy duty tether anchors installed and a truck style harness and harnessing to the HD tether anchors, if I had a dog large enough that needed it.

keri1292 · Feb 13, 2008

I never thought about the car dilemma with such a big dog.

Do you take him with you often or is this an occasional problem?

melniemi ~
Canidae is one of the cheapest higher quality foods. I think we pay $33 for 40lbs. We couldn't get Hudson's stool to firm up on the food that the breeder recommended, but Canidae works great. And it's human grade ingredients, so in an Armegeddon type situation, we could live a long time on his kibble!

We also feed raw bones. Makes the puppy stage so much more bearable. He spends about three hours a day nawing on a bone. 3 hours that would otherwise be spent tearing apart the house, chasing the cat and eating Polly Pocket pieces.

Morganthe ~ We can't do small dogs due to the "middle child is a mutant" factor. I'd have to carry it in a purse all day to protect it from ds1's clutzy ways.

ZephyrBlue · Feb 13, 2008

Morganthe, slow growth is definately better for giant breeds. Actually, what you are looking for is slow, EVEN musculoskeletal growth. If you are feeding a giant breed a large amount of usable protein, his muscle mass may increase faster than his skeletal system, which stresses his joints and growth plates. Too high (or an off balance) of a Calcium to Phosphorus ratio can increase skeletal growth faster than the muscle mass can keep up, and you get tendon issues. That's why you should NEVER feed a giant breed puppy any type of puppy food (even a food for giant breed puppies), because even when the protien level is kept low, the Ca/P level is too high. Many of the most respected Mastiff breeders in the US feed Wolf King because of the combined protein and Ca/P levels. Eagle Pack Holistic is also a popular choice. I don't feed it because they use chicken meal as the main protein source and I prefer a higher quality red meat protein for the main source and salmon meal for the 2nd source.

Ramps are essential for adult Mastiffs. A 250lb dog cannot jump into/out of a vehicle. Well, not safely. One of my vet tech soapboxes is large dogs entering/exiting vehicles safely. A lot of damage can be done from 1 jump.

Part of me wants a little dog, just to be able to buy regular dog toys that don't get destroyed in a matter of minutes; regular sized dog chews that don't get inhaled and bags of food that last longer than a couple weeks, LOL!!! But big dogs are my heart and I get enough of other people's small dogs at work.

Safest way to transport a giant breed dog?

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