Passenger Airbag & Seatbelt chime when my dog rides shotgun?

Ive noticed this as well! I should really get some sort of seatbelt on her. I'd be devastated if I saved a few bucks and lost my dog.

 

How much of a pain is it to use the harness? From the videos/reviews I've seen it looks like a real hassle to not only connect to the tethers but then also run the seat belt through the back of the harness. Does your lab mind it? Can he stand and sit comfortably, or does it force him to lay down?

Also, does that seat cover leave room for the harness to actually be used? The pictures make it seem like it covers up the buckle holes.

 

It takes me about 15 seconds to put the harness on Cooper. I leave the tethers in the seats all the time and just unclip them from the harness. The whole thing takes me about 30 seconds. I've seen the videos and read the reviews. I honestly have no clue what those people are talking about. Lol.

Cooper can sit, lay, stand in the harness without any trouble. He likes to sit in the seat and watch the road over the passenger headrest. Has to always see where we are headed. One thing I do is I usually hook up only one side unless I'm planning on a lot of high speed travel. That really lets me maneuver for comfort.

 

I also use a harness and a tether on my dog. Kipper rides shotgun, but even at 50lbs the seat is a little small for him to lay down and stretch out on. The harness I use is one of the full body walking harnesses from KONG and I use a single seat belt connection lead to connect his harness to the normal seat belt buckle. Frankly I never connect the seat belt leash to his collar, as I think being connected to the car by your neck in an accident would be horrible. I always use his harness because it would spread the load across his chest, back and stomach. He can lay down (slightly curled up), sit, and stick his nose out of the window if he wants but I know he's secure. I still worry about the airbag though, and what it might do to him if we are in a crash. In my state (NJ) it is a law that pets must be secured, so not only do I feel better about him being safe and myself being safe(unsecured objects are dangerous inside a car), I'm complying with the law.

Tether

A Pet Hub Adjustable Car Seat Safety Belt Seatbelt for Pets, One Size, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CESGACI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Harness
https://www.amazon.com/KONG-Comfort...F8&qid=1490991738&sr=1-4&refinements=p_4:Kong

 

Awesome, thanks for the useful review. I'll seriously consider ordering one. Can you use it with the waterproof cover too? or do you have to pick one or the other? (Bo loves swimming and rolling in mud any chance he gets so if I could use both that would be ideal). Maybe I just need to cut holes in the cover for the buckle and tethers to pass through?

 

The outside tether can be used with the cover. Need a little cut for the inside tether.

 

This is just, plain, not true.

 

I, too, am from that bloodline.

 

Go ahead and use those. Job security for me.

 

Do some research into the tether and harness you're using. You want to use products that are actually tested and properly rated, not just a strap that has a seatbelt clip attached to it. At the price of $2.23, I can just about guarantee you that thing will tear in half the second your dog's 50lb weight is applied to it with any sort of momentum.

Last time I looked into these kinds of products (a few years ago) there were only one or two harness/tether combinations on the market that had any sort of testing done, and all of those tests were done at speeds under 30kph, which made them completely useless in the real world. I've heard that there are new players out there with better products, but haven't seen them myself.

With the stuff you're using, I suspect there may be a chance of doing more harm than good.

Start by looking for a load-bearing harness with high-quality metal components. They're out there (often sold in online military/police K9 stores), but they are expensive. Pair that with a tether than can handle the force of your 50lb dog coming to a sudden stop from 100mph.

 

Hahahaa awesome pic

 

Thank you for your concern. I will look into it. For now Kip's trips in the truck are to and from the dog park and once to the vet. Top speed on those trips is about 30 mph. For now what I have is fine. Also, don't drive 100mph, that's not legal pretty much everywhere (I'm sure someone will tell me about some 'safe and prudent' speed limit sign somewhere near them) in North America.

 

Buy safety equipment that's above and beyond what you'll put it through. Speed limits are irrelevant.

You going 50, hitting head on a vehicle heading 50 the other way, boom, same forces involved as if you were going 100.

 

Look, I'm not going to get into a big internet argument, but no. That's not how that works. Mythbusters did this experiment. Even Jamie made the same proclamation as you in an earlier show and they revisited the experiment because that's not how physics works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8E5dUnLmh4

I will look into better dog harnesses in the future. What I have now is better than an unsecured object.

edited for a typo.

 

Or quite simply Newton's 3rd law of motion..

 

coworker has a harness for his dog and clips into the seatbelt. no chime and keeps him from flying through the windshield in an accident

 

that connected to a collar would probably be a bad idea

 

The video has got me questioning things, but I'm not sold just yet. Their experiment is faulty because they're crashing together different things: a car with a wall, and a car with a car. Mass is different, energy transfer is different, everything is different between the two crashes.

I'd like to see what will happen if they crash a car from 50 into a stationary car, and two cars each going 50 head on.

 

For sure. Will easily break the dog's neck.

A good harness with an attachment point somewhere around the upper half of the dog's back would be a million times better.

 

Thats why I said harness. Dunno why I said collar too.