Does your dog ride in the front or back seat?

My boys love to take rides in the car. They have their spots, they basically chose them theirselves. Gizmo, if I'm driving sits up front with me, or if my hubby is along he sits on the console. Giz, sits behind the front passenger seat, no matter what. They are both excellent passengers, never hanging out the windows, like some dogs do. Best of all, I don't have to hear "are we there yet".

Most dogs I have seen on the road are right beside the drivers. Occasionally when there are multiple dogs in a car, I see them in the backseats. I have not done so myself because I haven't had a dog yet. If it's up to me, I think the backseat is better for safety reason. In case the dog wants a hug or try to lick my face when I am driving, I don't want to get distracted when I am in the driver's seat lol.

Good points Ram. Luckily I haven't had any issues like that while driving with the boys. They are more behaved than my children were, when in the car. Once they get in, they go to their seat and remain there until we stop.

My dog is in the back seat in her car carrier. She's a small dog and jumps around a lot. We don't need any drivers distracted by a Jack Russell jumping out of nowhere.

This situation kind of made me think the car carrier is the best place for small dogs at least. My friend was helping a friend out last week. Her friend is in an assisted living place after she broke her hip. She has a small dog and asked if my friend would bring it to her to visit. It is a Yorkie.

She had the dog in the back seat. All of a sudden the car got really windy. The dog had somehow hit the button to lower the window and the window was all the way open. That really scared me! It's so easy for a dog to jump out before you'd have time to think.

When we had a dog and a car, it would be a mix. At the beginning of the drive, the dog would sit in the back seat, but as the drive continued, she would sit on my lap in the passenger seat.

She also liked to lie down in the back seat on a blanket. Unfortunately, she got car sick a lot so we wouldn't take her as much as we wanted to.

If any dogs go for a ride with me, I prefer to have them in the backseat. There's more room in the back than in the front and I don't want them to be uncomfortable if the front is too cramped. Unless they're a little dog, in which case they can ride wherever they please.

Without the crate? Front, because Buchi is pretty well-behaved. He will sit on the floor for the entire trip to the vet.

It's Chooey who moves a lot and prefers climbing up to the driver seat. It's either she's up to mischief or she wants to take over and drive to McDonald's.

Our dogs would sit in the back, but all three of them would squash their heads together and stare over the console. They got really excited when we were driving, especially on a freeway. Not sure if it kind of fascinated them to be moving that fast or what. In Ohio nowadays, they have pet rest areas at the service stations along the turnpike, which is a really great idea. My pets have since passed on, but I like to stop by and see other people's dogs when I'm traveling.

I don't have a car so I don't have this problem. When I take my dogs out for a ride on the motorcycle, they sit in front, between my legs. Something like this:


Minus the hat and shades, of course. My dogs are not good with putting on clothes.

I just put my dog wherever there is room. Sometimes there is more room in the back and sometimes in the front. If she gets to decide she is usually on the front seat right next to me if I am driving because she has to be as close to me as possible. She is like my shadow dog. Gotta love her though!

When I owned my Jack Russell's they both traveled in dog crates in the estate part of the car but that hasn't been practical with the dogs we have now. We did try our little dog in a crate but she was terrified so we progressed to letting her ride loose in the estate. Being so small however she could get through just about any gap (even the dog guard) and therefore ended up sitting on the passengers lap where she now stays!

Our larger dog progressed from the estate part of the car to the back seat once he learned how to not only move the dog guard but pull the cord to lower the back seat allowing him to park his butt in between the kids. As a result we have removed the middle seat now so he can lay quite happily on the floor between them on his soft squishy quilt!

I think they may be a little spoiled!

To me, it doesn't sound like a good idea to have a dog on the loose in a moving car. You never know what might happen if it gets excited. It might be better to put the dog in a seat belt.