Driving With Your Dog: Restraint, Car Sickness, Breaks, Heat and the Law

The car is how most dogs go on holiday, and for good reason. There is no weight limit, no carrier to squeeze into, and you can stop whenever you like. A dog that travels happily in a car can go almost anywhere with you. But a long drive asks more of a dog than the run to the park, and three things decide whether it goes well: how the dog is secured, how the dog feels about the motion, and what you do when you stop. This guide covers all three, along with what the law requires and the one place a dog should never be left.

Securing Your Dog

A loose dog in a moving car is a danger to itself and to everyone else in it. In a crash or a hard stop, an unrestrained dog is thrown forward with great force, and a dog on the front seat or the driver's lap is a distraction even when nothing goes wrong. In Britain this is written into the Highway Code. Rule 57 says that in a vehicle you should make sure dogs are suitably restrained so that they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly. It names the ways of doing it: a seat belt harness, a pet carrier, a dog cage or a dog guard.

Those are the four choices anywhere in the world. A crate or cage in the boot or cargo area, fixed so that it cannot slide, suits most medium and large dogs and gives the dog a den of its own. A carrier strapped onto the back seat suits a small dog. A harness that clips to the seat belt lets a dog sit or lie on the back seat. A dog guard keeps a dog in the back of an estate car or SUV, though it does nothing to hold the dog still in a collision.

Not every product sold for the purpose will hold in a crash. An American charity, the Center for Pet Safety, crash tests harnesses, carriers and crates independently, takes no money from manufacturers, and certifies those that pass. When it tested harnesses in 2013, all but one of the products were judged insufficient. If you are buying a harness or a crate for the car, look for one that has been independently crash tested, and do not assume that a label saying safety means it has been.

Whatever you use, the back of the car is the place for a dog. A front seat airbag can injure a dog badly, and a dog with its head out of the window is at risk from grit, insects and passing branches, however much it enjoys the wind. If you have a dog that is new to restraint, introduce the harness or crate at home and on short trips first, so that it is familiar before the long journey.

The Law

Rules differ from place to place, and they are usually about distraction and not about dogs as such. In Britain, the Highway Code's rule on restraining animals is advice and not a law in itself, but driving with a dog loose in the car can be used as evidence of careless driving, and insurers take an interest after an accident. Across continental Europe, several countries require a dog in a car to be secured or separated from the driver, so the same crate, harness or guard that keeps your dog safe also keeps you legal.

In the United States the rules are set by each state, and few states have a law specifically about restraining a dog inside a car. A driver distracted by a dog can still be stopped under ordinary distracted driving laws. Carrying a dog loose in the open bed of a pickup truck is restricted in a number of states and is dangerous in all of them. Wherever you are driving, a properly secured dog removes the question.

Car Sickness

Some dogs are sick in cars, and it is commonest in the young. The veterinary group VCA explains that in puppies the parts of the inner ear involved in balance are not fully developed, and that puppies will often outgrow motion sickness by the time they are about a year old. The signs come before the vomiting, and they are worth learning: whining and pacing, heavy drooling, lip smacking or licking, and a dog that goes quiet and dull. If you see them, stop when it is safe and give the dog some air.

A few things help. VCA suggests not feeding your dog for some hours before a journey, keeping the car cool and quiet, and securing the dog in a carrier or harness, which steadies it. A dog that can face forward and see out often does better than one sliding about in the back. And build up gradually, because a great many dogs are sick through anxiety, and they are anxious because the only time they go in the car is to the vet. Short, pleasant trips that end somewhere good change that, as our guide to training your dog to travel explains.

If your dog is still sick after all this, talk to your vet before the holiday. There are effective medicines for motion sickness in dogs, and it is far better to try one on a short trip at home than to find out halfway across France that it does not suit your dog. Our guide to the vet visit before you travel covers what else to raise at that appointment.

Before You Set Off

Give your dog a proper walk before a long drive, so that it starts the journey ready to sleep. Feed lightly and well ahead of time. Pack water and a bowl where you can reach them, the lead by the door of the car and not buried in the luggage, waste bags, and a towel. A blanket that smells of home helps a dog settle in the car and again in a strange room at the other end.

Check that your dog is wearing a collar with a tag that has your mobile number on it, and that its microchip is registered to your current details. A dog that slips its lead at a service station on an unfamiliar road is a long way from anyone who knows it, and a tag with a number that reaches you at once is the quickest way home.

Breaks

Stop every two to three hours, which is good for the driver as well as the dog. At each stop, give your dog water, a chance to relieve itself, and ten minutes of walking about and sniffing. A dog that has stretched its legs and emptied its bladder will sleep through the next stage, and one that has been kept in for four hours will be restless and miserable.

One rule matters more than any other at a stop. Clip the lead on before you open the door or the crate. A dog that has been shut in a car for two hours will leap out the moment it can, and a motorway service area or a roadside pull in is the worst possible place for that to happen. Motorway services are not designed for dogs, so look for a patch of grass away from the traffic, and in summer think about where you will eat. Most service station buildings do not admit dogs, which means either a picnic or taking turns.

Heat, and the Parked Car

On a hot day, cool the car before the dog gets in, and check that the cool air is reaching the back, where the dog is. The boot of an estate car under a sloping rear window gets a great deal of sun, and window shades help. Offer water at every stop. Then there is the parked car. The RSPCA's warning is the one to remember: when it is 22°C outside, the inside of a car can reach 47°C within an hour. Leaving a window open or parking in the shade does not make it safe, because a dog cools itself by panting, and in a hot, still car that stops working very quickly.

So on a warm day the dog is never left in the car, not for five minutes while you pay for fuel or queue for coffee. Either someone stays with it, with the engine and the air conditioning running, or the dog comes with you. Leaving the engine running with nobody in the car is not a safe answer, since engines stall and air conditioning fails. Our guide to heat and your dog on holiday explains the signs of heatstroke and what to do in the first minutes.

In the United States, leaving an animal in a hot car is a specific offence in many places. The Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University counts about 32 states with laws on animals left in unattended vehicles, and about 14 that allow any passer by to rescue an animal in distress. Whatever the law where you are, the dog's welfare is reason enough.

Overnight Stops and Driving Abroad

On a journey of more than a day, book the overnight stop before you leave, and tell the hotel you have a dog when you book. Do not count on finding somewhere that takes dogs at nine in the evening on a main road. Our guide to the questions to ask any hotel lists what to check. And never plan to leave the dog in the car overnight. It is too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and a car with a dog in it is a target for thieves.

If you are driving into another country, the dog needs its travel papers, and those are checked at the port or the tunnel before you board. Carry them in the car with you and not in a suitcase in the boot. Take a muzzle too if you are heading for the continent, because some countries and many ferries and trains require one, and it weighs nothing. Our guide to taking your dog abroad explains the documents, and our guide to ferries and the Channel Tunnel explains the crossing.

A Closing Thought

A dog that is comfortable in a car is a dog that can share most of your life, and almost any dog can learn to be. Secure it properly, deal with sickness before the trip and not during it, stop often, clip on the lead before you open the door, and never leave it in a parked car on a warm day. Do those five things and the journey becomes part of the holiday.