Tacomas and dogs

This is Jager. I have 2 of those hammocks. One for the back seat and one for the back of the front seats. I cut a piece of carpet so he doesn't slide around. I also have a harness for him attached to the LATCH hooks behind the seat. That helps a lot when we're on bumpy 4x4 trails.

 

i feel like i'm carrying a lion or something exotic in the back sometimes.

 

I use Kurgo's dog Bridge. It is designed to "bridge" the gab between front seats and back seats, but it fits perfectly in my 2013 Access Cab. I also like the fact that it has a divider between the two fronts seats that limits my dogs access to the front and from destracting me while driving.

http://www.kurgostore.com/dog-travel/backseat-bridge/

 

My lab puppy jumped out of an old ram with a 4" lift and 33's!! It was about 5' high, hurt his paw a little but he was ok. We were only at 5mph

Had a cousin have his dog jump out at night and didn't know it. Went back the next day and asked around found a guy that saw it, picked up the dog and brought him to the vet, just bruised and scraped but ok... Lucky. I only put my do in the back for short distances.

 

Can't remeber who on TW did this originally but they posted all the dimensions for me and it has worked great. Good for even just traveling so stuff doesn't fall into the wheel well.

 

Too big, even if you are carrying multiple dogs in there.
You want to keep it just big enough for dog to lay down and tall enough to sit in.

Anything bigger and they will be thrown hard against the wall in accident or even if you had to break hard. For multiple dogs, make separate compartments.

...unless you do have a lion in there.

 

Dog box which is pulled tight to one corner then chained and masterlocked to the D ring in the bed, prevents stealing and box flying around. He loves it in there too. When its hot I put a big bowl of ice and water there and hose him down before he goes in (which he also loves) haha

 

My Leer topper is great, unless it's too damn hot outside. Then I have also used a small fan/home made air conditioner with ice plugged in to the bed outlet to circulate some air for the boys. Unfortunately I have the flip-up contractor windows, so can't have them fully opened while on the highway. I did cut a pool noodle down the center and slip it on the bottom of the windows, so they don't shut. This also helps with air circulation.

To keep them from sliding around I bought a big heavy rubber bed mat. It works great. They can grip it with their claws if I'm taking a corner. Keeps em from sliding all over the bed. Typically after taking off, they lie down the rest of the trip so they seem fine to me.

As far as getting the boys into the back of the truck, they're heavy, I bought a pet ramp that leans right up on the tailgate. They wouldn't use it at first and were scared, but now they run right up it after getting used to it. They know the ramp means TRAVEL TIME!

 

I run hunting dogs and they go in a well strapped down heavy gauge wire kennel inside the camper shell. Swamp cooler plugged into the bed outlet cools the bed. Works pretty well.

If we need to sit the sun or travel in the hot summer rain I use a camper shell-to-cab inflatable boot, open the rear window and run the truck with A/C on. Combined with the swamp cooler it's fine.

I never leave them in the sun without keeping an eye on the truck and it's running. It will get 120F in there really quickly, 95F with open windows.

Ive seen lots of people use open air kennels in an open bed. Some are not strapped down?!? I think the wind and road noise can stress certain dogs. You should know your dog and what they can handle. Not every dog can handle the stress well.

We all have probably seen the farmer on the highway with dogs in the bed, paws on the wheel wells, holding their heads high and heading 60 MPH down the road.

Not cool, but too each his own.

A trainer I know got a new kennel box. It was unsecured 250 lbs (4) hole box and the the kennel flew out of the bed on the highway from wind sheer as he was headed home to secure it. Thank God no dogs were inside.

Kennel tool boxes like @Socalduckslayer are great. They can bought online from about a dozen vendors and custom made. Some can have real A/C built in for big $$$$$. The pro trainers I work with all use kennel tool boxes.

Dogs will get your backseat and windows extremely dirty especially after working in a swampy area so the bed/secured kennel/camper is my best solution for the Tacoma.

Strap down those kennels and secure your dogs for long road and highway travel. Drive safe and more cautiously when you transport animals and pray no one hits you hard.

We train for loading and traveling so when the tailgate comes down they jump right in and load up tails wagging, happy pups!

 

Old truck had a camper shell. He outgrew the access cab after a few months, so we just put him in the bed with the camper shell and a yoga mat so he didn't slide around. The windows had pet screens, so we could leave them open for air circulation.

Our current truck has a cap on order. For the Fourth of July, we let him ride in the back seat with a dog hammock. We went on some hikes where he swam and it also rained, and it worked out ok, but I can't wait for the cap to be ready.

 

I have a platform I made in the back, they usually climb up front for short trips around the farm though