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6 Features I’d Like To See In My Future Dog Friendly Car

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Dublin Dog Car
Dublin wishes for the perfect dog car

Many moons ago I wrote about the perfect dog car.  At the time I was interested in purchasing a new car that would be suitable for me and my dogs.  I was driving a 2000 Honda CRV which was suitable, but not quite the perfect dog friendly car.  Actually not even close, but light years better then my previous Mazda RX-8.

So, the hunt was on for the perfect dog friendly car and guess what I decided?  There wasn’t a perfect dog friendly car and today I’m still driving my 2000 Honda CRV yearning for the day when someone will cater exclusively to us dog lovers.

Will There Ever Be A Perfect Dog Friendly Car?

I think we’ve been very close with the Pet friendly Honda Element.  If there was a car made for dogs the Honda Element just may have been that car, but guess what?  Honda discontinued the Element several years ago.  Today you can only purchase a used Honda Element and the Elements of the past will not come with the same bells and whistles you see on the latest and greatest vehicles of today.

This all reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, The Simpsons.  One of the classic episodes is when Homer meets up with his long lost brother, Herb voiced by Danny Devito.  Homer is allowed to design his own car exactly as he wants complete with an oversized drink cup holder (brilliant) for your giant beverages.

Here are the car’s features, according to the Simpsons Wiki:

  • The Homer has two bubble domes; one in the front, while the one in the back is for quarreling kids, and comes with optional restraints and muzzles.
  • According to Homer, the engine sound causes people to think “the world’s coming to an end.”
  • There are three horns, as Homer claims that “you can never find a horn when you’re mad.” The three horns play the song “La Cucaracha.”
  • The car also features gigantic cupholders, which actually became a feature on many cars in the 1990s onward.
  • The car has various outdated features such as bubble domes, shag carpeting, and tailfins. It also has a metal bowler as a hood ornament.

The Homer was marketed as, “powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball” and “designed for the average man.”

Unfortunately the monstrosity probably only meets the demands for a market of one Homer J Simpson at a sticker price of $82,000.

The Homer
Car for the average American – The Homer!

I feel like I’m in the same boat as Homer.  I could design the perfect dog car for me, but it may only be meeting the demands of a few or the one like The Homer. To quote another famous movie character “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.” if you can guess where that quote comes from then high paw to you!

Anyhow after years of thought.  Here’s what I’d like to see in my perfect dog friendly car:

1. Plastic Floor Boards

Most cars, trucks, and SUVs have carpeted floors.  If you have a dog that sheds then you know the pains of trying to remove fur from the carpet and out of all the little nooks and crannies in your vehicle.  Not too mention the carpet can retain some of your favorite doggy odors especially if you’re the outdoorsy type and love to watch your best pal romp through the mud.

A few cars we know of that offer plastic floor boards:

  1. Toyota FJ Cruiser – I’ve heard others give the FJ high marks as a dog friendly vehicle
  2. Honda Element  (discontinued)- Popular opinion has said you can hose out these cars, but I’ve heard that is not the case and it’s not wise to hose out the interior of the Element even though most models come with plastic floors.  I believe the high end model has carpeted floors.
  3. Jeep Wrangler – plastic flooring is not stock, but the carpet floors are easily removed.  Some have even treated their floor boards with a rubber gorilla grip substance.  Also, an added bonus is you can hose out the inside as Jeep has included plug holes for water to drain out.

2. Weather Resistant Interior

Weather resistant interiors are a common feature in many SUVs which make SUVs more suitable as dog cars.  One thing I’ve noticed with my CRV is that the cloth seats really hold in odors…especially doggy odors!  Not to mention that dog fur clings to the cloth much more then it does to leather or vinyl.

A few cars we know of that offer weather resistant interiors:

  1. Most Rugged SUVs

3. Convertible

It was always my dream to own a convertible.  While most convertibles are sports cars there is one SUV that is also a convertible.  Step forward Jeep Wrangler.  I guess you could probably include the HUM V, but I think that’s out of most of our price range.  There have been other convertible SUVs from our past.

A few that you might find out on the road still are:

  1. Jeep Wrangler – cloth or hard top.  your choice!
  2. Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet – just saw this one.  It may be worth a closer look
  3. Suzuki Samurai (blast from the past) – one of my buddies from college had one of these
  4. Geo Tracker (blast from the past) – my college buddies girlfriend had one of these

4. Powered Off Air Circulation

Something that wasn’t around when we first started looking for a new dog car was powered off air circulation which helps to keep the ambient temperature of the cabin cooler.  While we don’t recommend leaving your dog in the car on any warm day any feature that keeps the car cooler while your dog is inside would be an added benefit.  Even better would be a car that can run air conditioning without running the engine.  If this feature is available someone please let me know.

Here’s the one care we know of that offers powered of air circulation:

  1. Toyota Prius – and not all models.  I think this is only in their high end model with the solar panels on the roof.

5. Dog Friendly Features

In recent years we’ve noticed that many car manufacturers have tried to appeal to dog lovers by adding extra features to make their cars more dog friendly.  We’ve also seen some go so far as to run an entire campaign around their entire lineup of cars.  Here are some of the front runners and offering add ons for your next dog-friendly car

  1. Honda Element – The Element is most likely king of the road for dog friendliness and was named dog car of the year by DogCars.com (now defunct) a few years back.  We wrote a short post about what features are included in the dog friendly honda element.
  2. Toyota Venza – Back in 2009 Toyota included a dog friendly package on their Venza.  I’m not sure if it’s still available today, but we saw and documented those add ons in a toyota venza doggy post
  3. Subaru – Subaru’s dog tested marketing campaign has been a hit amongst many dog lovers.  Even before the “Dog Tested” campaign hit the screens I had always heard that Subaru made a great dog car.

6. Good Gas Mileage

We like to think we’re raising green dogs…saving a little money on gas is nice too.  While SUVs seem to be the cars most in tune with being dog friendly one thing most SUVs are not are gas mileage friendly.  However, there are a few Hybrid SUVs out there on the market with varying degrees of gas savings.  Subaru offers a few gas saving cars and smaller SUVs can often be much more friendly on your wallet when reaching for the pump.

Here are a few gas mileage friendly cars:

  1. Subaru XV Crosstek Hybrid – 29 City, 33 Hwy
  2. Toyota Highlander Hybrid – 27 City, 28 Hwy
  3. Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid – 25 City, 28 Hwy
  4. Toyota RAV4 – 24 City, 31 Hwy
  5. Honda CRV – 23 City, 31 Hwy

Our dream is that Honda will bring back a revamped hybrid, dog friendly Element.  I guess we’d also be looking for a convertible version that would let the breeze run through our dog’s fur (I can’t say my hair because I lost that years ago).

Backup dream is for Jeep to add a hybrid, gas mileage friendly version of the Wrangler.  This is probably a more realistic dream.

So what about you?  Everyone has different needs and mine most certainly won’t be the same as yours.  What do you want in your perfect dog friendly car?  Will yours be a monstrosity the likes of a Homer Simpson mobile?   Tell us about it in the comment section below.

6 Reasons Why The Mazda RX-8 Is Not A Dog Friendly Car

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If you’ve been following us since the beginning then you probably remember years ago when we were writing about the best dog friendly cars.  In fact, I just took a look at the archives and came across a few of my early dog car posts.  The first post I wrote was about Finding The Perfect Dog Car published way back on January 9th, 2008!  Unfortunately, I never did find nor purchase the perfect dog car.

However, this trip down memory lane did remind me why I first started looking for the perfect dog friendly car and it all started with a little pup named Linus…

Linus = time for a new dog friendly car
Linus = Time for a new dog friendly car

Who Shops For A Car For Their Dog(s)?  …ME!!!

I was single…

I just turned 30…

I didn’t have any dogs…

My Honda Accord was over 12 years old…

It was time for a new car!  This was the first time I had money to get pretty much whatever kind of car I wanted!  No one to tell me what I should get.  No restrictions (well kind of) on the amount I should spend.

I was always enamored by the old rotary powered Mazda RX-7 sports cars.  In 2003 Mazda released the RX-8, a rotary powered sports car that was considered a 4 door car because of the novel suicide doors in the back.  I immediately decided this was the car for me and purchased the top of the line RX-8 with sparkling black mica exterior paint and black leather seats.

The Mazda RX-8 Is Not A Dog Friendly Car

The Black Mazda Rx-8
I loved the RX-8, but a dog friendly car it was not!

The RX-8 was so much fun!  Small and fast, my co-workers called it the Bat Mobile and it did kind of look like the caped crusaders ride.

A couple years after picking up my very own Bat Mobile I decided to adopt a little rescue pup, named Linus.  The RX-8 was a fun car, but a dog car it was not.

When Linus was a puppy I used to take him to my parents house during the day while I went to work then school.  Every day we’d go for a ride in the RX-8 and every day he’d throw up on the leather.  You can really feel the road in the Mazda and while this is cool for a high performance car it was not so nice for a little puppy.  After two weeks Linus got used to the bumpy rides and everything was great until…

Dog Rescues And Foster Puppies

Actually the rescuing dogs and fostering puppies wasn’t that big of a deal.  I used my mother’s CRV to transfer the pups and bring them over to the vet’s office, but besides that they mostly just stayed at the house.  I did this for about a year and got by with the RX-8/borrow the CRV combo.  Fostering over a dozen dogs and puppies during that time.

Then one day I decided to raise a guide dog puppy for Guide Dogs of America and that’s when the RX-8 no longer cut it.

Raising Guide Dog Puppies

As a guide dog puppy raiser we take our puppies almost everywhere with us and when our pups ride in the car they have to learn to ride on the passenger side floor boards.  While this wasn’t a problem for Stetson the problems arose when I had to tote two doggies around.  Stetson on the passenger side floor boards and Linus rode in the back seat.

Why The RX-8 Is Not A Dog Friendly Car

Black Mazda RX-8
The RX-8 was a nice car…I also like being 10 years younger and 20 lbs lighter!

One dog was okay, but two dogs was a problem.  Here are the issues with the RX-8 and 2 dogs:

  1. It’s a little cramped when you have two big dogs in the RX-8.  Linus was a little too big for the back seat and when Stetson got full size he was a little too big for the floor boards.
  2. While the suicide doors were cool they were also impractical with the doggies.  Getting Linus in and out was a pain!  Also, if we were in a parking lot and there was a car next to us it was really difficult getting Linus out because we couldn’t swing the rear suicide doors all the way open 🙁
  3. There was no way to fit a large crate in the RX-8.
  4.  Very little trunk space.  So if I needed to bring anything large for the dogs it wasn’t happening.  I couldn’t even transfer my collapsed dog crates or x-pens!
  5. It was a luxury vehicle and I was petrified any time the boys scratched the leather, doors, interior, or side panels (cringe!).
  6. It was a manual transmission.  I know I should always concentrate on driving, but every once in a while I had to do something with my hands to control one of my dogs.  This is much more difficult when driving a stick.

If you saw last weeks post about buying a dog car then you probably saw the picture of the parking break.  At least the CRV is over 12 years old.  If Dublin had chewed on the parking break on my RX-8 I might have gone postal!  Thank goodness Dublin uses old cars as chew toys and not new, luxury cars.

I loved the RX-8, but it was not a dog friendly car so I ended up selling it and borrowing my mother’s Honda CRV until I had a chance to find the perfect dog car…five years later and I’m still looking for the elusive perfect dog friendly car!

Have you had a luxury car or sports car that didn’t work quite so well with your dogs?  Did you have to change over to a more dog friendly vehicle?  Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Do You Think About Your Dog(s) Before Buying A Car?

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It’s been a while since we talked about some true mischief, but this week we’re hitting the old mischief archives and bringing up a story about a little guide dog puppy in training named Dublin…

Lets roll back the clocks to mid 2011.  Dublin was not a young pup anymore probably about 13 months and very well-behaved.  He was trustworthy for a 13 month old puppy and at this point we allowed him to lie down on the passenger side floor boards while Stetson did his K9 Nosework Training.  Linus would sit in the back seat and both Linus and Dublin would usually just lie there quietly sometimes watching from the car, but never getting into any mischief until…

Dublin Vs. The CRV

One day Dublin decided he was bored of just lying on the passenger side floor boards.  He wanted some adventure, excitement, or maybe just something to chew on.

Stetson Dog In Car With Parking Break
That’s Stetson, but the actual mischief maker here was Dublin!

Yep, Dublin decided the CRV parking break would make a great doggy chew toy!  Lets just say I was not too pleased with Dublin’s actions.  So what kind of discipline did I perform?  I followed my own puppy training advice and  took a rolled-up newspaper and hit myself over the head as I repeated the phrase, “I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG, I FORGOT TO WATCH MY DOG.”

Do You Think About Your Dog Before Buying A Car?

The good news is I don’t own a brand new, luxury car.  The CRV is on it’s last leg and I recently began thinking about a possible replacement car that my dogs and I will both enjoy.  I even visited the Orange County Auto Show not too long ago with Dublin to check out some of the dog friendly cars.  Check out this video of Dublin sitting in some of our favorite dog cars (the first half of the video is our guide dog Halloween party):

 I’ve been researching the best dog friendly cars for over 5 years and still haven’t found anything that I really like.  Some of the front runners are the Honda Element, 4 Door Jeep Wrangler, the Nissan Xterra, and the FJ Cruiser.  I’m not thrilled about any of those options and that’s probably why I haven’t pulled the trigger on a purchase.

So what do you think?  Do you think about your dog(s) before buying a car?  What kind of car do you currently drive?  Is it a good dog friendly car?  As a dog owner what are the positives and negatives of your current car?  Please tell me all about your dog car in the comment section below.

Orange County Pet Expo Recap

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It was a great and busy weekend for me starting on Friday with the Orange County Pet Expo.  The Pet Expo actually wasn’t the only event I had scheduled this weekend after volunteering for Guide Dogs of America all day Friday I hopped on a plane to Las Vegas for a friends bachelor party.  I scheduled an early Sunday morning flight back to Orange County in attempt to make our guide dog puppy training train trip to Universal City.  Unfortunately, I was too tired to make the final leg (train trip with Guide dogs) of my weekend.

Anyhow I wanted to give you guys a short recap of my experience at this years OC Pet Expo.

Orange County Pet Expo Recap

Did anyone get a chance to stop by the GDA booth over the weekend.  I was there from 10am to 2pm on Friday. Some of our other friends manned the booth the rest of the afternoon while I grabbed lunch and walked around the pet expo.

I was a little too tired this year to hang around for the demonstrations.  I did catch a few of the splash dog contestants jumping into the pool.  I caught a glimpse of the K9 demonstration, but overall I just checked out the latest pet products,  the different dog breeds, some of the other service dog organizations, and the cat and dog rescues.  We even saw one of the therapy dog groups we hope to one day join.

Overall it was a great experience my feet were barking by 4:30pm so at that time we headed home.

Interesting Dog Training Opportunities

While we were working the Guide Dogs of America booth we were visited by two of the other exhibitors at the Pet Expo that really caught my attention.  The first was Beach Animals Reading with Kids also known as BARK.  We visited an attended a BARK group meeting a few months ago. BARK is a volunteer program that encourages children to increase their reading skills by reading aloud to certified therapy dogs.  I’ve been procrastinating with Stetson, but I really want to get involved in a Therapy Dog program like BARK.

Next, a couple of young ladies stopped by to say hello and also introduced us to K9 Nose Work. From their website:

“Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt. The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise.”

COOL!  Stetson loves to sniff!  This would be an excellent sport for him to take up.  We’ll be investigating this in the near future.

Any New Pet Products At The Pet Expo?

So now I guess you’re wondering what about the latest and greatest pet products.  Well we did walk away with a few purchases that we plan to review in the coming weeks.  The pet-friendly Honda Element made it’s debut at this years OC Pet Expo.  Unfortunately, I did not come home with a new dog car.

However, I did find a new dog bowl for Stetson.  Well, it’s not exactly a dog bowl, but it’s the latest in a long line of dog bowls/products I found to help slow down Stetson’s fast eating.  It’s called the Amazing Treat Machine and I plan on getting a review on the site as soon as possible.  Also, I want to see if it’s viable solution as Stetson’s new dog bowl.

One pet product I did not buy was a new bed made out of PVC piping.  It was a little pricey at $70 and I’m going to see if it’s something my dad can custom make for Stetson and Linus.  Here’s a photo:

If you’re wondering who our dog bed model is that’s GDA Puppy In Training Winter.  We hung out most of the day greeting people at the GDA booth.

In the past I’ve also talked about Stetson and his dog skin allergies.  Well, we found something to kill the bacteria on Stetson’s skin and hopefully relieve him of his itching.  The product was recommended to us by good friends from Sudsy Dog Wash.  The stuff is called Vetericyn and is said to kill 99.999% of bacteria, single-cell organisms and fungi.  YAY!  hopefully no more dog skin allergies or itching for Stetson.

That’s about it for the 2010 Orange County Pet Expo.  Hopefully you had the chance to visit.  If not, there’s always next year.

Tell us about your experiences at the 2010 OC Pet Expo.

My Next Dog Car? The Dog Friendly Honda Element?

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I’ve been talking about getting a new dog car for what seems like forever (over two years anyways).  A few months back I went to the Los Angeles Auto Show and came away with a few new ideas for a dog car, but didn’t actually pull the trigger on purchasing a new car.  So I guess I’m going to have to drive around in the 2K Green CRV for another few more months years.

Anyhow here are a few pictures from the show.

My Next Dog Car

Lexus LFA

It might get a little cramped in this bad boy with three two oversized dogs.  Also, the price may be a little steep at $350,000 and Lexus is hand picking the people who will be allowed to purchase one of the only 500 cars going into production.  I guess I might have to pass up on the Lexus LFA as my next dog car.

Fiskar Karma

I know what you’re saying…you need a four door car for those dogs of yours.  I hear ya, we’ve also been talking about going green and getting an eco-friendly dog car…something that gets good gas mileage and has minimal impact on the environment.  I give you the Fiskar Karma…What say you?

The Karma uses plugin technology along with solar panels to power it’s engine.  It can go up to 50 miles before burning any fuel…and it has 4 doors…perfect for dogs? no?

Okay, maybe this is a little over the top as well and I’m not even sure how much it would cost for this dog car.

Dog Friendly Honda Element

Yep, we did talk about the dog friendly Honda Element just before we visited the LA Auto Show and much to our excitement Honda impressed us with their new upgrade to the boxy SUV car minivan wagon.

That’s me in the front seat of the Dog Friendly Honda Element.  You can kind of see the rubber mat with bone shaped notches.  Also, the seat covers had doggy designs as well.  You can’t see it in this picture, but there were also climbing latches in the back seat to tether your dog’s leash to the floor.

Me again with baby going up the dog ramp.  I’m not sure if it’s a standard sized crate, but it fits nice an snug in the rear storage are of the Honda Element.  You can also see the dog ramp in this picture.

Here are a few other accessories included with this Dog Friendly package.  There was also a list on display of all the additional upgrades included with the dog friendly model of the Honda Element.

Dog Friendly Honda Element Accessories

  • Rear Car Kennel
  • Pet Bed
  • Stowable Ramp
  • Dog Pattern Seat Covers
  • All Season Dog Bone Floor Mats
  • Spill Resistant Water Bowl
  • Electric Fan
  • Tote Bag
  • Dog Friendly Emblems
  • A Leash, Collar, and Dog Tag
  • Dispensor Bag

All of this for an additional $995 on top of the regular price for the Honda Element EX.  It’s nice to see that Honda is thinking about us dog owners.  However, I still have two glaring issues that keep me from purchasing a Honda Element.

  1. First, the fuel economy is not good on this car.  EPA City/Highway driving: 19/24mpg.  That’s just not cutting it.
  2. Second, the clamshell doors.  As I’ve mentioned before my RX-8 had the clamshell/suicide doors and they drove me nuts trying to get people and dogs in and out of the back seat.  A car as large as the Element could very easily have regular doors.

So now I sit back and wait for Honda to redesign the Honda Element.  Hopefully they will bring the fuel economy up or possibly add a hybrid version to the lineup and remove those awful clamshell doors.

I also looked around for the dog friendly Toyota Venza, but Toyota did not bring any of the dog friendly accessories to the LA Auto Show.

What kind of dog car do you own?  I’d love to hear about it and perhaps you can convince me to trash the old CRV for a new dog friendly vehicle.

Top 5 Reasons Why A Dog Sticks His Head Out The Car Window

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Yesterday I was driving home from work when I saw a dog stick his head out the car window.  It was a beautiful Golden Retriever wearing a gentle leader, sniffing the air, and in general just enjoying the car ride.  I pulled out my handy dandy new DROID Phone and snapped a few pictures while waiting at the stop light.

This got me to thinking why do dogs like to stick their head out the car window?  As usual I began my search on the web and also asked a few dog loving friends the question: Why do dogs stick their head out the car window?

Dogs, Cars, Windows, And Safety First

I wanted to start off by saying it can be very dangerous to let your dog hang his head out the car window.  There’s all kinds of debris scattered on the road and it often kicks up from the cars in front.  Just take a look at my windshield (several nicks) or the front of my car (chipped paint and minor dents).

Now just think about your dog hanging his head out the car window getting pelted in the eye by a tiny rock at 50 mph.  I don’t even want to think about the vet bill let alone the pain and suffering your dog would endure if he caught a pebble in the eye.  I’ve never used them before, but I’ve heard that some people have their dogs wear Doggles when they hang their head out the window of a moving car.

A friend of mine used to let his dog hang her head out the window until one day his collie mix jumped out the car window at 30 mph.  Lucky for him there was no oncoming traffic and his dog didn’t get injured on her fall to the ground.

Also, if your dog has allergies like mine then all the pollen and dust flying into your dog’s face could cause an allergic reaction.

I just wanted to let you know about some of the dangers of letting your dog stick his head out the car window.  After all you wouldn’t let your own child stick his head out the window of a moving car so why would it be appropriate for your dog to hang his head out the car window?

As a child my parents never let me stick my head out the window.  The few times I tried I seem to recall receiving a quick smack to the butt.  I’ll crack the window for my dogs and they’ll put their nose about against the window, but I never let my dogs put their entire heads out the car window.

Top 5 Reasons Why A Dog Sticks His Head Out The Car Window

Now that I got my safety speech out of the way we can get to our list of Top 5 Reasons Why A Dog Sticks His Head Out The Car Window. Lets do it David Letterman style and begin with a countdown.  Drum roll please……….

NUMBER 5 – It helps them to cool off faster inside a hot car.

NUMBER 4 – So they can pretend like they’re running at an incredible rate (see the movie Dumb and Dumber).

NUMBER 3 – To make sure you’re driving safely on the road.

NUMBER 2 – This is a sure sign that you stink!  Your dog is obviously trying to avoid your stench.

NUMBER 1 – They love to sniff the air…

Of course just like the David Letterman list the Number 1 answer is always anti-climatic although in today’s case it’s probably the closest to the truth.  It’s my understanding from what I’ve heard from friends and family, read in books and on the internet, and observed, dogs have such a keen sense of smell that being able to put their noses entire heads out the car window is like a natural high.  They get to catch many different smells passing through the air and because the car is moving so fast these smells are constantly changing.  I guess it might be similar to watching some beautiful scenery pass by.

Anyhow that’s my take on why a dog sticks his head out the car window.  Just remember, if you do let your dog hang his head out the car window then please be careful and protect your dogs eyes with a product like Doggles, get him a safety restraint so he can’t jump out of the car, and maybe just try cracking the window so he can catch the scents with his nose, but not put his entire head out the window.  As I mentioned earlier, you don’t want to end up with a huge vet bill just because your dog was hanging his head out the window of your car.

How about you?  What kind of experiences have you had with dogs sticking their head out the car window?  Do you allow your dog to ride with his head out the window?  Do you take any safety precautions?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.


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