No flying puppies.

June 13, 2011 10:19 AM

Truck bed safety harness for a dog-- recommendations?

We have a 6 month old (40 pound) Husky who LOVES sticking her little face out the window of my husband's truck. We'd like for her to be able to safely ride in the truck bed where she can see and smell everything to her heart's content. The speed limit in our small town is 30mph (that's 50km/hr)-- even on the highway that runs through it, so while we'd always be going at a relatively slow speed (and obviously put her in the cab if we went further down the highway where the speed limit increases), we'd like to know that she will not be able to fall/jump out and that in the event of an accident, she won't be thrown out.

Looking for recommendations of good harnesses (remember, this isn't for attaching to a seatbelt inside the truck-- this is for standing up in the open back of the truck) that have to be available online, either shipping to Canada or available on eBay.

Thanks!

posted by mireille to pets & animals (9 answers total)

Before you get too far into this, have you checked to see if this is legal in your municipality? Around here, cops would pull you over for that in a heartbeat, even if the dog was tethered.
posted by crankylex at 10:36 AM on June 13, 2011

My brother in law lets his Golden Retriever ride in the back of his truck. He has two ropes that he ties to the side of his truck bed with carabiners on the ends. He clips the carabiners to the dog's regular harness.

Having two ropes keeps the dog centered in the truck bed. She's got enough rope that she can lay down but not enough that she can get to either side to jump out. They put her in the truck bed with her head facing the cab and leave the back window open so she can stick her head in if she wants.

I don't know how well this would work in an accident, but it works well to keep her in the bed in normal circumstances. (FWIW my BIL drives much faster than 30mph!)
posted by TooFewShoes at 10:40 AM on June 13, 2011

Dogs in trucks are super-common here, definitely legal. We might be the first in town to use a safety measure, though.
posted by mireille at 10:41 AM on June 13, 2011

Get a travel cage.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:41 AM on June 13, 2011

Go with an open cage.
posted by TheBones at 10:47 AM on June 13, 2011

I would absolutely recommend a crate - it is not cruel for the dog, and if you get in a car accident it is much, MUCH safer than a harness.
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Okay, so let's say we go for a crate/cage. We can't mount it permanently in the truck bed because on occasion my husband has to drop a welder/equipment setup into it for business when the rest of our fleet is already out in the field. How would one mount the cage in such a way that it is removable yet secure? A quick search yields answers about bungee-cord type setups and multiple results that indicate such a setup is unsafe.
posted by mireille at 12:59 PM on June 13, 2011

Disclaimer: I have owned a pickup truck, and a dog, but not at the same time.

I wouldn't use bungee cords, but maybe ratchet tie-down straps looped through the pickup-bed tiedowns. The safest would be full-aluminum dog crates (they look really similar to those truckbed tool boxes, except they have front doors and side windows) which are specially designed to attach securely to the truck bed, but that would defeat the purpose of letting the dog in the back of the truck.

I don't think there's really a 100% safe way to transport a dog in a truck in the event of an accident (but then again, there's no 100% safe way to transport a person in a truck in the event of an accident, either)
posted by muddgirl at 4:27 PM on June 13, 2011

If the bed of your pickup has anchor points at the corners, you can do a cross-tether by running a rope or something not-stretchy (like nylon straps) between the two points closest to the cab. At the mid-point of this tether, you securely tie a leash that will attach to the dog. The length of this leash should reach the side of the truck bed, but not enough to allow the dog to go beyond. So if the tether has some elasticity you will want to shorten the leash accordingly.

This should allow the dog to move from side to side without the risk of taking a hard turn or a bad bump and tossing it over the edge. For added safety you can use one of those standard body harnesses so that if the dog does bounce out of the truck, it's not choking.

I should point out that with the proper setup, the dog should not be able to place their front paws on the edge of the pickup and stick their head out over the side. Paws on the wheel well should be okay, but if you can see half your dog in your side-view mirror tongue-lolling with an insane happy grin, the leash is probably too long.

If this all seems confusing, check out your local humane society; they might have better descriptions or pictures illustrating how to properly secure your dog. Or Google-image search "cross-tether dog pickup."

Granted, the idea here is that it keeps the dog inside the bed of the truck during normal operation. If you get into a minor accident like a fender-bender, your dog should be okay as she shouldn't be thrown out or over the side.
posted by CancerMan at 7:51 PM on June 13, 2011