A California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would make it illegal to drive with lapdogs on the laps of drivers. Before the collective ‘no duh‘ resounds from you, readers, please know, it is increasingly common to see this take place. I myself, admit to being guilty on a few lazy occasions, justifying a short drive as reason enough not to strap Louis in.

Regardless of whether the bill passes in California, and similar legislation is introduced in other states, it is worth taking a good sniff around the issue.

Not only is it distracting having that wriggly puppy on your lap, (who can resist some kisses at the stoplight?) it is dangerous. Dogs move around, climb up, down and every which way and even the most well behaved dog, in the event of an accident, is a projectile loose in the car, likely resulting in serious injury for your beloved.

Beyond having a dog on your lap, just having your dog loose in the car subjects Fido to the same risks.

So what to do?

There is the obvious route - crating your pet for car rides, which probably means keeping a second crate on standby just for driving, but it works. There are also car seats and safety restraint options at all different price points and designed to appeal to your individual aesthetic.

Available at G.W. Little, there are a few car seat options in a variety of sizes, colors and prices in addition to the Seatbelt Safety Harness, which not only uses a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for display purposes, but, was put through actual crash test development (meeting the same standards as a child safety seats).

I myself use Louis’ Puppia soft harness, loop it through the seatbelt, similar to the seatbelt safety harness described above. Not safety tested, but it keeps him belted firmly in place. My little charmer just lays down once belted in, falls asleep and proceeds to snore and drool on the seat, combining cuteness and safety!

Being that I claim to be such a responsible dog owner, it is probably about time to slap down a few bucks for something officially meant to do the job. Dog owners, like me, can find gear meant for this at most pet stores, making it convenient and economical to think ahead and make this a standard practice in traveling with our pets.

So regardless of the legality of how we travel with our pets, lets look at the issue from the perspective of keeping our beloved family members safe. We would think it insane to travel in a car with a human baby that isn’t properly restrained, so lets do the same for our furry babies.

Travel safely!!

 

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