Question Experiences please.. 2 in rf seats and a dog?!

[mamakaimon]

Since my last question was answered so quickly and wonderfully I thought I'd look for some experiences.

My DD is 15 months and 20lbs RF in an Alpha Omega Elite.

We are expecting baby #2 in January and plan on still having DD rearfacing at that point (there's no way she'll have reached the seat limit). New baby will likely use DD's infant seat which is a Peg Perego Prima Viaggio.

We cannot put a seat behind the driver because DH is tall and his seat goes too far back.

We also have a large dog (approx 75lb husky lab mix) who we bring with us whenever we go to his parents or my parents for the weekend (so usually once a month ish we're going somewhere with the dog).

So we're thinking we need to get a new car! There's no way we can fit two seats and the dog in the back of our Grand Am!

Suggestions? We're thinking we're going to have to end up with a mini-van but it looks like they don't have a lot of trunk space unless you take out the rear row seats... We'll need enough trunk space to put a stroller (maybe a double) as well as bags for the weekend for two in diapers! Seems that would leave us again with nowhere to put the dog!

I figure there's got to be someone else out there who has had similar issues!

 

[Victorious4]

The dog must be properly restrained to protect the humans. You need either the Ruff Rider Roadie or the IMMI PetBuckle. Either will then be buckled with an unused seatbelt or you can use a heavy duty locking karibiner (sp?) to attach the harness to a nonmoving part of the vehicle.

Without any tie-down hooks in the cargo area of my hybrid Escape & all top tether anchors & seatbelts being used by humans, both of my pitbulls had to ride on the floor attached to the seat leg at my front passenger's feet.

A mere 30 pound dog in a 30MPH crash = about 900 pounds of crash force impacting your family, unless properly restrained.

 

[rodentranger]

I have two seats in my second row and often have a dog in the third unused position. I have the Pet Buckles for my dogs and one is in the 2nd row, the other in the cargo area/third row with the stroller. My 60 lb pit bull would also happily lie on the floor between the seats as well.

 

[mylittlet]

You would be amazed at what with fit in the cargo area of a minivan. We have always bought the longest version in the brands we have bought Voyager, Montana, Caravan and my sis owns a uplander.
We have a double tandem graco and double jogger. We have fit one of them. And all our stuff for 6 (2 adults and 4 kids) for most of a week plus Christmas presents in a minivan.

If you find one with a 50/50 3rd row seat, you could fold half and have dog on other half.

 

[mamakaimon]

Yes but even with the petbuckle she won't fit on the seat beside two car seats. Well no that's not entirely true. She could do it sitting up perfectly straight. But the trip is over an hour and she usually lies down and sleeps.

I hadn't considered the floor in a van. There's no way she'd fit on the floor in out car so I guess that's why.

 

[mamakaimon]

You would be amazed at what with fit in the cargo area of a minivan. We have always bought the longest version in the brands we have bought Voyager, Montana, Caravan and my sis owns a uplander.
We have a double tandem graco and double jogger. We have fit one of them. And all our stuff for 6 (2 adults and 4 kids) for most of a week plus Christmas presents in a minivan.

If you find one with a 50/50 3rd row seat, you could fold half and have dog on other half.

Good Idea!

 

[bubbaray]

We easily pack all our travel gear (for week-long trips) into the back of our Ody. The girls sit in the 2nd row and we stow the 3rd row. Our 85lb lab travels in his crate in the large cargo area, and the stroller, suitcases, and PNP are beside him.

We have learned that when travelling by car, it is easiest to use duffle bags instead of suitcases (we like the LL Bean duffles, each person has their own "color", with matching toiletry bag). They are easier to stuff under the girls feet in the second row if we need to or to cram into various spaces around the dog's crate.

 

[sparkyd]

I'm going a little OT here because my question is about the cargo in a minivan as opposed to a dog. We're probably going to get a used MPV very soon to replace DH's 2-seater truck (#2 due in 3 weeks!) and I was wondering what people do to restrain their cargo in a minivan when you've got the 3rd row folded down, or even if you've got stuff stacked up behind the 3rd row. I'm used to putting potential projectiles in the trunk of my car and I'm feeling uneasy about the idea of having stuff just crammed in the back behind the 2nd row passengers, or of things flying up over the 3rd row from the back.

 

[Nennib]

Do you need to bring the stroller along when you take these weekend trips with the dog? That could impact how much storage room you need.

For us, we have an Xterra, 2 kids and a dog. Dog is restrainted in the back of the SUV and because he is smaller, we can fit a bag or two at the one side of the trunk area. Then we bought a rocket box (roof box) to store our luggage (we also travel about once a month out of town with dog).

When my girls were little and we travelled (even before the dog) I bought a cheap, fold up, umbrella stroller to keep in the Xterra while we travelled. It was packed in after the luggage, so I could easily reach it while travelling. I brought that for ODD and used a Snuggli for YDD. Once YDD got too big, she got the umbrella stroller and ODD had to walk. Eventually, my MIL got a single stroller she kept at her house.

 

[mamakaimon]

Do you need to bring the stroller along when you take these weekend trips with the dog? That could impact how much storage room you need.

Probably not always but definitely sometimes. Depending on what the plans are.

 

[mimieliza]

I'm not all into the pet restraints (I know, flame away). I just think they are expensive and most likely wouldn't help the animal survive a severe crash anyway (the way aftermarket carseat items are not crash tested or regulated in any way). I just want to keep the dog from flying into my family in the case of a severe accident. We have a Subaru Forester with a factory pet gate that keeps our dog in the cargo area. We also have a car top carrier to carry our gear (Thule). In our minivan (Honda Odyssey), the cargo area is deep behind the third row. With a dog bed in there, it's like a little doggy nest, and there is no way he could be thrown from it. We also put the Thule on the minivan so that our gear is out of the way and not a hazard.

If we have too much gear to fit in the cartop, we put the soft, light stuff (duffles of clothes, sleeping bags, pillows, diapers, etc.) in the passenger area and the hard, heavy stuff (stroller, pack and play, etc.) in the cartop.

 

[bubbaray]

We use a dog crate more for the dog's comfort & safety than ours. Even though the Ody has good rear crash test results *I* just not comfortable having the dog in the cargo area where the 3rd row normally stows Besides, our dog wouldn't dig that much anyway -- he's much happier in his crate. Plus, the main thing in a crash is that he stays contained until we get him out -- I wouldn't want him getting out on a highway, KWIM?

We generally pack things in duffles to that in a crash, at least there aren't a ton of projectiles -- just duffles. Not ideal, but the Ody lacks cargo tie-downs.

In DH's new truck, the dog rides in a crate in the box. We haven't done any trips with it yet, but will be getting a canopy, so the luggage etc will be in the box too.

In my Ody, we can fit a large double beside the dog crate and cram various duffles back there. The PNP will fit in the leg area of the 2nd row, with duffles on top too. Or, we put the PNP right behind the 2nd row, between the 2nd row and the dog crate.

 

[mom1mg]

Hi-
Sorry if someone already said this... We have two dogs, and a cat who are just like kids and come with us everywhere.

We used a pet barrier something like this one-
http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-553

I think in a perfect world a dog seat belt may be safer for the dogs BUT our dogs have eaten their seat belts in the past. There is no way they are going to get bored and eat a metal barrier.

The barrier is a snap to take in and out and we have been in two accidents with zero injuries to the dogs! And no chance of them flying forward into the kids.

Another option - which we use in our truck and with the cat on longer trips (cause she can squirm under the barrier) is their crates. Either attached to the truck bed - NEVER loose or attached with a seat belt inside the passenger area.

 

[marciemp]

We have 3 kids and an 80 pound dog. We had a side by side double stroller with a booster for the 3rd kids (a triple stroller that only takes up the space of a double). It fit in the back of our Chevy Uplander (long version). At the time the dog rode in the van with us, she could be on the 3rd seat with a harness, a kid in the 3rd row in their carseat, and 2 kids in the 2nd row. We have travelled with luggage too, the van ends up packed and probably not always perfectly safe, but doable. We usually packed in laundry baskets, so hopefully in an accident just the clothes would fly out. Now the kids are out of their stroller, so the dog rides in the back of the van (their is plenty of room and she prefers it). There are cargo tie downs back their. We are having our 4th baby in December and we plan on keeping the minivan. Hopefully we can find a small enough stroller that we can keep the dog in the back.

Anyway if you plan on getting another vehicle I highly recommend a minivan, it really is the ultimate family vehicle. We have looked at a variety of other vehicles, full size (aka huge) SUV's, mid size, trucks, nothing copares for ease of use when it comes to moving your family. The sliding doors are huge, and the room is awesome. With only 2 kids you could stow or remove the 3rd row and have TON's of room.

 

[mamakaimon]

I'm not all into the pet restraints (I know, flame away). I just think they are expensive and most likely wouldn't help the animal survive a severe crash anyway (the way aftermarket carseat items are not crash tested or regulated in any way). I just want to keep the dog from flying into my family in the case of a severe accident. We have a Subaru Forester with a factory pet gate that keeps our dog in the cargo area. We also have a car top carrier to carry our gear (Thule). In our minivan (Honda Odyssey), the cargo area is deep behind the third row. With a dog bed in there, it's like a little doggy nest, and there is no way he could be thrown from it. We also put the Thule on the minivan so that our gear is out of the way and not a hazard.

If we have too much gear to fit in the cartop, we put the soft, light stuff (duffles of clothes, sleeping bags, pillows, diapers, etc.) in the passenger area and the hard, heavy stuff (stroller, pack and play, etc.) in the cartop.

We don't have a crate for our dog. She has never been in one and thus would probably be pretty stressed about it. She hates tight spaces. Won't even squeeze by two objects to get to a toy or treat. The gate is an interesting idea. Was it expensive? I too just want to keep the dog from flying and landing on someone in the case of an accident.
DH mentioned the other day about how he had one of those plastic storage bins for on top of the car as a kid. I suppose that's an option too.

 

[Victorious4]

The front vehicle occupants needs at least 10" between the face & airbag deployment area. One of my pitbulls fit on the backseat floor (laying down for RF seat, head between child's feet FF). Both together fit between the front passenger's feet. I imagine 1 larger dog could fit up front.

I recommend people take a walking break every hour or at least every other hour. If that isn't frequent enough & the doggy needs more room to move around (mine were content sitting up as long as they had happy attention) you might want to post in the vehicles area of the forum for more feedback on minivans.