IMMI PetBuckle question--need by tomorrow

I'm not sure which forum this goes in. We're going on vacation tomorrow, taking our dog for the first time. She's an ~50lb Aussie mix. I drive a Sienna minivan and usually put her in the recessed well behind the third row seats, with the third row seats reclined to hopefully keep her from flying anywhere in an accident. For the trip though, we need cargo space, so I need to do something different.

I thought I could put her in the third row seat (we have all 3 kids across the 2nd row) and use a pet harness. I wanted the Ruff Rider, but the pet store only had the IMMI PetBuckle (and a different one with sheepskin that I hadn't heard of). I brought the PetBuckle home, but I'm not sure if I should open it to try it. Can anyone tell me how much movement their dog has with it on? I'll be installing with the seatbelt, not a LATCH strap. I'm worried about putting her in it for a 2.5 hour drive when she's not used to it. She's very calm and rides very well in the car. When she's in the back, she just lies down and stays there the whole time, never making a peep (we forget she's there!).

Any thoughts? If it seems likely to work, I will put her in it tonight and take her for a short drive somewhere.

TIA!
Kirsten

PS--I know I should have planned this farther ahead of time, but we booked the trip last minute, and the cargo space thing just struck me last night.

So are you worried that she won't have enough freedom of movement while riding? Or that she'll have too much freedom?

Has she ridden in the car on the seat ever before?

Our dog is about 40 lbs. With her harness on and hooked to the seatbelt, she has enough room to sit up and lie down as needed. I guess if she tried she could get a little lateral movement as well, but she is a super mellow girl and never really tries to get too crazy.

I say go for it. It's certainly more safe than having her as a potential projectile that could injure herself and any passengers :twocents:.

Good luck!

ETA: The sheepskin one you saw is probably not made to keep a dog restrained in the event of an accident, more just to keep them from moving about the vehicle cabin. I had one of those before I knew it was junk!

My dog has a PetBuckle. She's only 11 lbs, so I'm sure it fits her differently than it will your dog, but I'll give you my experience anyway.

She's able to sit , stand and lay down with it on. We tried the latch connector to give her more room, but it was too long for her and would have allowed her to get on the floor in front of the backseat.

We used to keep her in a soft sided carrier belted into the backseat before we knew better. She seems to prefer the PetBuckle.

Here are sone pics of my Dobi in our pet buckle:

Judi said:

Here are sone pics of my Dobi in our pet buckle:

Click to expand...

ADORABLE! I love Dobies. And your DD's cute too .

Thanks! The dog is mine, but the kid is just borrowed. Wonderful birth control!

Thanks so much for the pictures. You're just using the harness with the belt, not with the extra harness extender thing, right? I can't figure out how that part works.

I was asking about movement because I was worried that if she's really restricted by it, she'd be more likely to have an issue with wearing it for a long trip the first time. She's about 8 years old and I have no idea if she's ever ridden on the car seat before--we've only had her since November, and we've never had her on the seat of the car. She's very mellow, but also has anxiety issues, if that's not too much of an oxi-moron. She just came off of anti-anxiety meds she was on for separation anxiety (she had two freak-outs before the meds, where she panicked when we were gone and damaged herself and the house).

In any case, I did open the harness and tried her in it, and I *think* it will be okay. I thought I could walk her on it, so put it on in the house, hoping that taking her for a little walk wearing it would make her like it, since she loves going on a walk. She didn't want to walk while wearing it though. Once in the car, she seemed okay with it on. I put down the 40 part of the 60/40 split seat, and put her on the 60 part, and she has enough room there, so that's my plan. I guess we'll just make sure to check on her several times to be sure she's doing okay and hope for the best!

Thanks!
Kirsten

No extras. I figure since I have big dogs for the most part, I will use just the seat belt and petbuckle. I have also used it on my 10 yr old Rot mix and 1 yr (this month) old Black lab mix, but she is a little thing. I have used it with just a lap belt also. All dogs have handled it well, as long as I am in the van. I made the mistake of leaving one buckled when I wasn't in the car. I will not make that mistake again!

Here is my thread from when I bought it:
pet buckle

We have one as well, and I refuse to take either of our dogs anywhere without it. I do suggest getting her used to it before your trip - ours has a metal hook that allows it to be used as a walking harness as well so that's what we do.