Seat Belt Harnesses for Large Dogs
This isn’t a rant or maybe it is. I’m not sure yet. We need crash-tested seat belt harnesses for larger dogs (weighing more than 90 lbs). Over the last two years, we’ve had tremendous progress keeping our dogs safe during car accidents. I just wish there were products especially made for large and giant dogs that have passed independent crash-testing in the U.S.
So I started searching for one. When asking fellow Rottweiler and Mastiff pet owners how they restrain their big dogs in car rides, many dog owners admitted to crating their dogs or using seat belt harnesses that haven’t passed crash tests in the U.S. Putting your dog in a crate sounds great if you have an extra large SUV, but many well-known crate brands failed crash tests in 2015. One kennel brand passed with flying colors, but not one made for large and giant-sized dogs. Sigh, back to square one.
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Car Safety Restraints for Large Dogs
There are a couple of options, but it’s important to understand the risks too. Personally, I believe any type of restraint during car rides is better than none.
More Funding Needed
Until the Center for Pet Safety receives more funding to test giant dog car safety products, we’ll have to assume our big dogs are completely safe using other brands of safety restraints. Before pointing fingers at CPS, they studied the largest population of dogs, which includes dogs under 90 lbs. Labradors and Golden Retrievers are among the top five popular dog breeds.
Products That Passed Overseas
Many giant dog harnesses and crate brands are tested successfully overseas. I would certainly choose these products over those that haven’t been tested. From my understanding, Germany has the toughest crash-testing standards, so this must mean something.
Dog Harnesses
With that said, we purchased the Allsafe Harness made for dogs under 110 lbs. Sobek is technically 118 lbs, but there’s really no other option out there. When researching this harness, Allsafe passed crash-testing criteria in Germany, U.S. and Sweden. However, the largest tested dog dummy was 70 lbs, so I’m not exactly sure this harness can hold a 118-lb dog in his seat.
The dog harness lead that clips inside the seat belt buckle is long, so provide plenty of movement in the backseat. But when watching seat belt crash-testing, this extra length allows dogs to fly off the seat and spring back, causing a secondary impact. The harness fits well and is easy to put on a dog. Allsafe does offer an expensive option of a retractable harness lead that moves forward and retracts like a regular seat belt (definitely worth looking into). Overall, it worked well for Sobek.
Dog Crates
MIM Variocage crates have passed crash-testing in many different countries and were recently tested using CPS criteria. The cage has crumble zones that worked during CPS testing, as noted on MIM Variocage information. However, the straps holding the crate in place broke during impact. Now, understand that an unrestrained dog would have probably been launched out the back window. This dog crate, instead, kept the dog dummy inside the vehicle and the emergency escape door worked perfectly after the crash. With that said, it seems tie downs are the biggest challenge and not the crate itself.
Warning though, you’ll need a very large SUV if you’re purchasing this crate for a giant dog. Options are pretty limited, so expect your big guy or gal to squish in due to low width and height options. If you think about it though, the crate is probably more comfortable for your dog than the economy seat in many airplanes.
Click your dogs in!
Check out my recommendations for car safety restraints here. You’ll likely notice several familiar brand names. Give Allsafe harness a try for your big dogs. So far, it seems Allsafe is the safest dog harness for our huge beasts!
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