On a day-to-day basis, it’s rare that I typically travel a particularly long distance with my dogs, but when I do, it’s only then that I take more consideration than normal as to whether my dogs will be happy, safe, and comfortable throughout the long journey. This new study from the UK based contract hire broker All Car Leasing gave me an insight as to what other dog owners do – turns out a small portion of them don’t even let their dog inside their car in the first place!
It does sound understandable though, as the main reason they don’t let them in the car is due to the copious amounts of dog hair and slight smell our furry friends tend to leave behind.
If one of the pack is sitting on my front passenger seat, I always make sure that they’re restrained with a harness when I’m driving just to prepare for the worst-case scenario and to make sure I don’t end up getting distracted, though if I’m ever traveling with a cat I tend to keep them inside a transportation box.
Admittedly, sometimes I do wonder what the rest of the gang are up to in the back of the car. One in three of the surveyees admitted to driving without securing their dog at all – a scary thought and somewhat relatable if you’re only going to the shops or the local park however in the UK it can be against the law to drive without restraining your pet as they could cause a distraction and perhaps even result in a collision.
From the study, it’s good to see that the safety of their pet is one of the biggest concerns for UK drivers, as their favorite dog related accessories are things like mesh guards and harnesses.
Ross Wild – Marketing Assistant for All Car Leasing, said:
“Whether your car is new or old, it’s important to take those extra steps to ensure your pets safety. Buying an accessory such as a clip-in harness will pay for itself in the first instance.”
As the roads are much thinner over in the UK, a large majority of people drive smaller compact cars, so they may not consider looking at SUV’s or pick-up trucks if they were shopping for a new car, whereas over here there are plenty of larger cars; it’s understandable that only 62% of the surveyees take their dog into consideration as there are multiple factors to take into account.
I agree with the study in that having a large boot can be one of the more desirable features of a car if you’re a dog owner, if you have more than one medium sized dog or larger, you’ll definitely need that extra bit of space. More dogs also means more mess, I suppose that’s one of the downsides of traveling with dogs – forever vacuuming your car!