Dogs and 4Runners

[lockerc18]

I notice that many folks here have a picture of a dog in their sigs. It turns out that we recently lost our dog (a golden retriever, to a form of lyme disease) and will be getting a new one sometime soon. My previous dog never really liked riding in the car, so having her mess up my new (at the time) 4Runner interior was never an issue. But, I anticipate that the dog we're looking at now will love to ride in the truck, and I'm all for that. But I'm not all that anxious to have the dog clawing all over the nice leather seats, or peeing on the nice carpeting (or worse). I know there's no hope in avoiding the dog snot on the windows, but that cleans off pretty easily. And the dog will eventually be trained to keep the truck clean while riding in it.

What do people do when traveling with a dog in their truck? I figure a good seat cover or blanket will protect the leather, but do people use a barrier on the second row seats and keep the dog in the back, or let the dog roam wherever it wants to in the vehicle, or use a crate, or what?

 

[AmbideXtrous]

I have used a barrier behind the second row of seats. In the Xterra we had it worked pretty well and stayed in place without much trouble. Once we got the 4Runner the angle of the seats was different enough to cause the thing to keep falling down. It seems like the 4R back seats have a steeper recline than the Xterra and this caused the problems. In any case, after it kept falling over I just got tired of fixing it and tossed it.

 

[TheBlueWave]

I have a big dog, so I lay down a blanket over the rubber mat in the back of the rig. I put a little water and a big bone back there and he happily lays down either chewing the bone or sleeping. He gets up to look out here and there, but for the most part lays down. He might be too big to climb over the seats, but he never really tries so its no big deal.

 

[PaulSula]

I got lucky, my Australian Shepherd loves to ride in the back of the 4Runner. For short trips he gets the Husky mat and for longer trips I just put his bed down on top of that. No problems, except his long hair gets all over the back of the second row seating.

 

[_JT_]

I have a 2yo golden retriever who in essence is still a puppy. We bought a cage to block him in the back of the 4runner because he waits about 3 seconds without it to make his way to the front of the truck. We got one very similar to this model. He's an escape artist and the other models leave too much of a gap for him.

One other great thing about the 4runner is the back window moving down keeps him occupied.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

I have two dogs, a spaz yellow lab and a great black lab/boxer who's my bud. He rides all the time. I purchased cloth seat covers (I have cloth seats) and use a double bed flannel sheet. The flannel sheet has holes in it and I secure it with the headrest stalks and tucking. The flannel also has good 'stick' to the cloth seat covers. It's nice 'cause it's a 2-second removal if I want to drive clean passengers somewhere. Once every six weeks or so I wash the cloth seat covers.

The spazy yellow rides in the back. I used a barrier with her for 5 trips. She has learned that's 'her place' and doesn't even try to come forward anymore.

I think child crib sheets are lined, that may help with

 

[warpwr]

I've got one of those metal tubing cage deals that is supposed to tighten in between the roof and the floor.
That doesn't work unless you want to ruin the headliner so I put it behind the rear seat and used ty-wraps to the head rest support rods.
Then I put a big blanket on the floor and a towel between the seat back and the cage thing.

I have a German Shepherd and a little desert growler rescue dog that ride together back there. Some trips of 12 hours.
I used this in my '96 and now in the '07.
The dogs sure seem to love riding in the car with me and my wife.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

...a little desert growler rescue dog...

I just searched 'desert growler' and drew a blank, what's that?
:cheers:

 

[Neversummer]

My 2 pugs love to ride in the car. We have 2 beds in the back and a couple of toys. Plus they love to look out the back window. I think the 4Runner is the perfect doggie wagon.

ps: Dogs should always go in the cargo area behind a gate for their safety. Seeing your life long companion splattered over your windshield with their blood and brain matter dripping on your dash would not be a pretty sight for most dog lovers.:nono:

 

[warpwr]

I just searched 'desert growler' and drew a blank, what's that?
:cheers:

It's that little palimino dog in the picture.

She was found just outside an indian reservation near San Jacinto underneath my son's pickup truck.
She still had her cord and had to be bottle fed. No one knows what kind of dog she really is or how she got there.

She weighs about 60 lbs and looks similar to the "Carolina Dogs" or American Dingo.

http://www.carolinadogs.com/

We figured she might have come from a feral pack near there. In fact my wife called the reservation and they confirmed there are at least two packs of wild dogs on the reservation.

We call her a desert growler for fun since she came out of the desert and likes to talk a lot with her growler rather than barking.

And,

She's my sweetie....her name is Maybelline (after the Chuck Berry song).

 

[laureena23]

My wolf mix never goes in the car because she hates it..but the Australian Shepherd we are fostering now LOVES the 4Runner.

Right now he just chills in the passenger seat or lays down in the back seat. I just ordered a barrier off of Ebay so we'll see how it fits when it comes.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

It's that little palimino dog in the picture.

She was found just outside an indian reservation near San Jacinto underneath my son's pickup truck.
She still had her cord and had to be bottle fed. No one knows what kind of dog she really is or how she got there.

She weighs about 60 lbs and looks similar to the "Carolina Dogs" or American Dingo.

http://www.carolinadogs.com/

We figured she might have come from a feral pack near there. In fact my wife called the reservation and they confirmed there are at least two packs of wild dogs on the reservation.

We call her a desert growler for fun since she came out of the desert and likes to talk a lot with her growler rather than barking.

And,

She's my sweetie....her name is Maybelline (after the Chuck Berry song).

Cool, thanks and what a great story! :bigok: Good for you! I have heard a little about the Carolina dogs, thanks for the link.
:cheers:

 

[lockerc18]

My 2 pugs love to ride in the car. We have 2 beds in the back and a couple of toys. Plus they love to look out the back window. I think the 4Runner is the perfect doggie wagon.

ps: Dogs should always go in the cargo area behind a gate for their safety. Seeing your life long companion splattered over your windshield with their blood and brain matter dripping on your dash would not be a pretty sight for most dog lovers.:nono:

Brain matter?

Where'd you find a dog with a brain?

 

[Neversummer]

Brain matter?

Where'd you find a dog with a brain?

Well my 2 pugs don't but some do. Unless there's food involved and then they miraculously turn into Einstein.

Fact:
The average canine brain is about 72 grams, or just over two ounces (US).

 

[riverwolf]

Our German Shorthair wants to climb into your lap if she's allowed to roam around the cabin. Not the best place for a 50+ pound dog to be while driving. Blanket in the cargo area and I modified an anti-jump training harness to clip into the floor D-rings. Lets her stand up comfortably, do circles, and look around, but she can't come over the back seats or jump out of the vehicle if the cargo door's open. She was a nervous passenger when we used to put her in the backseat with a seatbelt harness, but she's a "car dog" with the harness in the cargo area...go figure.

Concept is similar to products from this company. Site appears to be down at the moment... I actually plan to order one of their harnesses due to the stronger material. I think they have a link to a German DOT study on the physics of having loose, relatively massive canine shaped projectiles inside the cabin during sudden deceleration.

-Brent

 

[OneEyedHito]

Barking Blue Heeler

We have a 50lb. (biggest of his litter not fat!) and he rides in the rear behind a Petsmart Tube Style barrier for a few reasons......

1. He barks like he is with MadMax and he is notifying me of Outlanders trying to KILL US!

2. Clients don't it when I give them Australian Cattle Dog Hair as a gift.

3. He is MY DUDE and I definitely don't want any part of him splattered any where near the front of my vehicle!

4. Once he went for a ride in my Camry after a not so subtle food change and let's just say that the new foods high protein content didn't sit well with his BOWELS!!

Works great and I have a few 4R carpets that I put down (3) so he has some padding and so I can take one out for deHairing when I need to

 

[RonMAIDEN]

We have a ******* spaniel who weighs a bit over 30lbs and she overly loves the car and is very excited to be along for the ride for about 10 minutes and after dotting the windows with her wet nose she settles down nicely.

She likes the front seat so she can stick her head out of the window but she never has any inclination to hamper the driver and usually settles down in the back.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

Why is it censoring the word "*******" in my post?? (as it probably just did again so I guess I could spell it "br1tney" )

 

[colorado]

Can't say it enough - crate train the dog and use one in the 4Runner. OK, it's not as cool or as much fun as having your buddy ride next to you, but it's the safest place for the dog, and you almost completely eliminate the dog hair/snot/body fluids problems.

My dog (and maybe we) survived a head-on only because she was in a crate and didn't come flying forward - hitting either the driver or passenger's head or the dash. A totalled truck was bad enough - wouldn't want to think about losing the dog too.

 

[AmbideXtrous]

Why is it censoring the word "*******" in my post?? (as it probably just did again so I guess I could spell it "br1tney" )

At first I thought you had said cocker which I could see being bleeped then then I realized that the dog was a brit and now I have no idea?!?!?!