What about insurance, anyone give that a thought.

What lets say someoen claims the dog with his head out of the window was the cause of the accident... will your insurance pay up????

As for injuries compared to dogs not being restrained to being restrained, regarding crates, there is evidence to prove, dog sin crates have a much higher survival rate.

The seat belt, will depend on how it is fitted, just like child seat belts... but as pidge says , the move force from the propulsion, of the missile, the more damage, and a dog with his head stuck out of a window, the damage is goignt o be fairly obvious, the body will move, the head wont!!!

Actually, it's the other way round. If belted, the head will move but the body won't (much). This means that the neck will snap the head/neck part into the side of the car with such a force the damage will be very severe.

I don't think you understood my point. I'm saying that strapped in or crated the dog could just as easily be injured by the force of an emergency stop.

I'm more likely to be distracted by the noise and stress my dog would make/cause if I forced him to sit on one spot or crated him but then I expect someone will tell me that's my fault for not doing this from an earlier age.

So are you saying that a dog should be forced to stay either sat or lay down for the duration of a car journey whether that be 15minutes or 4 hours? If so then i find that unacceptable.

Maybe I don't fully understand how these harness things that secure a dog work.

Regardless of the length of our car journeys monty will only move around the car/look out the window/hang his head out for the first 10-15 minutes max then he either sits and looks out the back window or lies down and goes to sleep so I don't feel the need to tether and restrict his movement.

T has never been able to get his head right out of the car window. The saxo was fab as he would lean against the back seat and just have his snoz in the gap where the window opened out the way (not the roll down type) now in the audi he leans on the back seat (if you can call it a seat!) and rest his chin on the drivers window ledge.

One of my pet hates is seeing dogs in the boot of cars, small cars in particular (also kids on those little seats in the boot of volvos). I can vouch for the fact that saxos for example have about as much strength in them as a soup tin when it comes to impact. I know theres lots of impact protection these days but i dont think its worth it. Its back seat for me everytime. Even dogs loose in the back of an estate means the distance they travel in the event of impact would (in my brain) cause more injury to them than if they were between back seat and front seats (dog guard or not, that just stops them from killing you)

Mate, if he's lying down sleeping and you suddenly brake, he will kill you. I'm sorry but at speeds such as 60mph and boxer, flying into you and your airbag going off will be like the force of an elephant going into you. If he is sat up he will prob go through the window and die.

I'm sorry to be so harsh about it but I cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to have dogs hang their heads out of the window and to especially not have the restrained in a crate (preferably), in the boot with a dog guard of with a seat harness.

Why don't people pop into their local police station to get some advice on this? I know for a fact the traffic cops will be more than pleased to pass on their knowledge and stories. They will also assess your car and offer advice on the safest way to carry your dog in the car with you.

Also, dogs aren't forced to lay down. They choose to do this because the lying down is easier for them due to the motion of the car.

Dobermonkey, I hear you, but it is worth noting that 72% of vehicle accidents occur at the front of the car.

Actually i would rather my dogs have less room when they're travelling that way if we do have a prang there's not as much room for them to be thrown about, When i had the escort i had a dog guard, the number of times moll got through it was unbelievable, i now have a box that fits my cars, can fit 5 dogs in easily 2 in one side and three in the other, they have enough room to lay down comfortably,, stand or sit whatever suits them. Its cool in summer and warm in winter, its also suitable for them to sleep in if we are at events, and most importantly i know that if we were to have an accident and i was injured they wouldn't end up loose on a busy road maybe causing an accident, as for dogs with heads out of windows i wouldn't, but for all the reasons i've metioned above.

72% crikey! I like a good fact its my research gene

That being the case then, I would still not like to see dogs loose in the back of an estate car (although somewhat enclosed for dogs in the boot of small cars i think 28% is still a relatively high risk). And perhaps a british safety standard in dogs crates? (am assuming there isnt one already?)

Because if our area is anything to go by there are for more pressing issues for the police to be dealing with than how my dog travels.

Crating is not an option for me, I'm not putting my dog through unnecessary stress for such a small risk in the sense that I'm fairly sure the last time I did an emergency stop was on a driving lesson 8 years ago.

I will look into these harnesses but if they seem like they force the dog to stay in either a sit or a lay down position then I won't be using one.

Out of curiosity, why is that unacceptable? a dog can still readjust itself whether in a crate, harness or behind a dog guard.

I also don't see, no offense, how you could compare the potential damage impact of a dog that is loose and unrestrained to one that is securely restrained. If that is the case, why do we wear seatbelts? because they save lives, and it is exactly the same for our dogs.