Comfy Car Crating: A resource roundup
By Ran Courant-Morgan, M.S., BCBA, LBA
Here at DBI, we are preparing for our summer workshop at the Canine Center at Hessian Hill in upstate New York. During this workshop, many dogs will be spending time in the car while they wait for other dogs to finish their turns or while we’re doing human-only exercises. Some people are already familiar with how to do this safely and comfortably, but car crating is brand new for other people (including us!). Here are some resources and tips we have gathered from a range of sources about safe and comfortable car crating.
Clean Run actually has a whole section of products for your car and for cooling your dog! You can find that page here. Below are some of the products we saw recommended across a number of different articles:
Cool Dog Car Ventilation Tailgate Locks are designed to keep a tailgate open a controlled amount to increase airflow.
Aluminet Shade Cloth Panels, which come in different sizes, and can be used to cover a car or a crate.
Ryobi fans, like this one, can be either plugged in when at home or can be run with Ryobi batteries. I, Ran, use this when traveling with my dog in the summer to make sure that the AC is getting to the backseat, and I love how easy it is to move this around, and how quiet it is.
There are a ton of videos on YouTube (like this one) showing ways to attach these to different types of crates.
Other top tips include:
Pack your own water, just in case it’s hard to find a water source, or if your dog is picky about water.
Consider bringing an ex-pen so that your dog can be contained outside of the car while off-leash.
Bring a camping chair for yourself so you can hang out with your dog by the car if you’d like. Some people also recommend bringing a ground cover like an indoor/outdoor rug.
If you’re camping nearby, or if you want to see some other tips and considerations while traveling with your dog, check out this post on what I consider when camping with my dog, Beacon.
Here are some additional resources that might be helpful:
The StartLine Podcast has a whole episode about Car Safety Setups & Keeping Cool. They also had a follow up post on Facebook where they shared some pictures and resources and people commented with their own.
There’s a whole Facebook group dedicated to Dog Show Set-up Tips and Tricks, which might offer some other options and perspectives!
If you absorb information by seeing it, here’s a video from one person on her Dog Friendly Vehicle Setup:
Someone on the Border Collie Boards asked What do you bring with you when you attend agility trials? There are a ton of great responses for you to consider.
It’s also a good idea to try your set up before you’re far from home. If you have a driveway, or safe place to park, you can do a trial run there; if not, pack a book or a picnic and drive over to a local park with your dog to see how this goes.
Let us know if you have other tips or resources!