# Anyone with a dog have a MINI?



## Faithy5690 (Mar 23, 2011)

Hiya,

I have had a lab pup for about a month now and just wondering if there are any other dog owners out there with a MINI car as i have one and wanted to know how you travel with them. At the min i have a harness and seat belt attachment i use, not bad but i wouldn't like to use this method for longer journeys. My dad has a 4x4 so he goes in the crate in the boot fine, the crate won't fit into mine :confused5: when he is older and not so much of a wriggler  he will comfortably fit into the back with the seats down.

thanks


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## Tarnus (Apr 5, 2011)

I've got a 3 door Audi, which is bigger than a Mini but the boot is still too small for a cage so if I'm taking Izzy somewhere on her own she has a cushion, harness and seatbelt clip on the passenger seat, whilst if the OH is coming with us then Izzy goes on the back seat and she's fine with it - she would go on the back seat every time but being the idiot I am I got a 3 door car and it isn't easy plugging in a puppy harness while she eats your face off. She'll be on the back seat for at least another year as I don't get a new company car until next September, at which point I will be getting something with a suitable boot for her to travel in!

The OH's car has a better boot but while Izzy is still so small she's also travelling on the seats in her car. 

We got quite lucky with Izzy because we made sure she was really tired before we drove her home on the first day and for the first few weeks she travelled in a plastic box on the back seat so she quickly learnt that the car =/= play time and now once you start the engine she lies down and settles for the entire journey! If you can teach your pup to settle in the car then lying down on the back seat is fine for longer journeys IMO.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Yes, I have a MINI & get x2 dogs (GSD & GSD/Lab) in mine, with the back seats down. Both are really good in the car & sit still so I never have any problems. I obviously can't have a crate so use the harness/seatbelt to secure them.


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## Balto-x (Nov 7, 2010)

haha faith we got a vauxhall Tigra how do u think we get on lol!?! 
xxxx


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## nicjane113 (Jul 13, 2011)

I have a mini and I am getting a puppy in 3 weeks.
My friend said I should just put her loose in the boot but I thought this was a bit cruel as you know the size of a mini boot! or just let her sit in the front loose but I would be worried for her safety if we had an accident.

I plan to get a doggy booster seat which is appears to be a bed with a clip that clips onto a harness to keep them secure but the bed will give them comfort to lie down.


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## Faithy5690 (Mar 23, 2011)

Balto-x said:


> haha faith we got a vauxhall Tigra how do u think we get on lol!?!
> xxxx


LOL yes but you also have a mondeo estate!! 
XX


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## kat&molly (Mar 2, 2011)

I've got a car thats even smaller than a mini
Over here its called a sans permis- I've never passed a driving test[yet]. It has 2 front seats and boot space. I fit 5 dogs in there-easy. Cant get a crate in though.
I had friends who owned a mini- they had an Irish Wolfhound


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## Tarnus (Apr 5, 2011)

nicjane113 said:


> I have a mini and I am getting a puppy in 3 weeks.
> My friend said I should just put her loose in the boot but I thought this was a bit cruel as you know the size of a mini boot! or just let her sit in the front loose but I would be worried for her safety if we had an accident.
> 
> I plan to get a doggy booster seat which is appears to be a bed with a clip that clips onto a harness to keep them secure but the bed will give them comfort to lie down.


Terrible advice from your friend! Glad you're not going to listen to them:thumbup1:


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## Faithy5690 (Mar 23, 2011)

nicjane113 said:


> I have a mini and I am getting a puppy in 3 weeks.
> My friend said I should just put her loose in the boot but I thought this was a bit cruel as you know the size of a mini boot! or just let her sit in the front loose but I would be worried for her safety if we had an accident.
> 
> I plan to get a doggy booster seat which is appears to be a bed with a clip that clips onto a harness to keep them secure but the bed will give them comfort to lie down.


I think when she is older it would be fine to put her loose but ioth back seats down but i agree as a puppy her safety is important, they juist don't keep still! Freddie isn't too bnad on the harness but he does get himself in a bit of a tangle, I haven't seen the booster seats but will have a look at them, they sound good and it will give me another excuse to spend some more money on him!! LOL 
BTW congrats on getting the new puppy what breed are you having?


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## Tarnus (Apr 5, 2011)

Faithy5690 said:


> I think when she is older it would be fine to put her loose


Everyone I know seems to think this but regardless of the dogs age they should still be secured into your car. There was a thread all about this a while back, but they need to be secured for your safety, the dogs safety and other road users safety.

If you meet a copper on a particularly grumpy day you can find yourself on the wrong end of a fine if you haven't secured your dog in the car!


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

A friend of mine has a Mini; his RR bitch sits happily on the back seat secured in a harness...looks funny though as she's quite big .


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## Milliepoochie (Feb 13, 2011)

We have a Ford KA. :thumbup1: (But I also have an Estate car so we do have a more suitable option!)

BUT Millie doesnt like cars and the only way for her not to vomit / shake become distressed is for her to lie in the passenger footwell. :frown2: We tried the boot (Crated), back seats (With seat belt), back foot well but no only place where she doesnt throw up all over the car is the passenger foot well (I think there is less rocking at the fornt and she can still see me). BUT she does stay lying down, she never moves and she is right up inside the footwell if that makes sense. I know it's not ideal but I cant starve her before every journey and im definately not resorting to medication / drugs like our old vet keep pressurising me to.


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## jayne5364 (Oct 21, 2009)

I had an old style mini when I had my great dane no probs. I wish I could find the pics cos she did look kind of cute in the back seat. I could never open the sunroof or the head would be out.


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## nicjane113 (Jul 13, 2011)

Faithy5690 said:


> I think when she is older it would be fine to put her loose but ioth back seats down but i agree as a puppy her safety is important, they juist don't keep still! Freddie isn't too bnad on the harness but he does get himself in a bit of a tangle, I haven't seen the booster seats but will have a look at them, they sound good and it will give me another excuse to spend some more money on him!! LOL
> BTW congrats on getting the new puppy what breed are you having?


We are getting a Zuchon - a cross between a Bichon Frise and a Shih Tzu. She is gorgeous and can't wait to bring her home!

Some of them look a bit cheap but I have seen a nice one that is fleece lined on Amazon for £39.99. She'll probably be going in the car about twice a week so I want to start her off early getting used to a harness and travelling.


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## mysticmel (Jun 27, 2011)

nicjane113 said:


> I have a mini and I am getting a puppy in 3 weeks.
> My friend said I should just put her loose in the boot but I thought this was a bit cruel as you know the size of a mini boot! .


i hope your talking about the new Minis cos i had an old type years ago, and you couldn't put a dog in that boot  
for my dog, shes gonna to wear a harness that connnects to a seat belt, but shes a Yorkie and i drive a Clio so should be fine xx


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## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

Years ago when I first past my driving test we had a fiat 126 bright yellow with a full sunroof. It looked a bit like Noddy's car. I also had a labrador and big fat lump of a lab. OH and I decided to go to his parents caravan in Wales for a weekend away and took Cindy with us. On a 126 the boot was in the front and the engine in the back we had a roof rack on with the case on it the dog on the back seat and the front boot filled too. Those old enough to remember the 126 will know it was smaller than a Mini with a 650cc engine. We went every were in that car.

Going back to Mini's though the owner of my 2 foster whippets had a Mini in fact was a bit of a Mini enthusiast going to rally's and such things hence the 2 whippets are called Mini and Cooper:frown2:


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