Safe dog travel in the car is a hot topic these days among many dog owners. After the state of New Jersey passed the “Pet Buckle Up Law”, it’s become a focus of many pet product manufacturers as well. Why shouldn’t we keep both our pets and drivers safe while in the car? Did you know that unrestrained pets cause 30,000 car accidents a year? We decided to take a look at what one leading manufacturer was doing to make sure we were keeping our two dogs safe while we road trip across the country. Bergan Pet Products kindly supplied us with a pair of their dog auto harnesses to test and review.
Many drivers feel it’s ok to let their dog roam freely in the car while driving. Heck, I used to be one of them. One day though, we realized what a poor choice this was. We spend a lot of time focusing on reducing driver distraction with anti-cell phone and texting laws, but not much time at all considering how distracting an unleashed dog in your vehicle can be. Have you ever seen someone driving along with a pooch in their lap? Seems like a good idea at the time, but what would happen to poor little Muffy if they were in a car accident? I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if an airbag went off! Many drivers object to the idea of pet restraints, saying the dog “doesn’t like it” or “I want my doggy close to me”. Imagine if you saw a parent with their child in their lap, how would you react if they said their baby didn’t like the car seat?
Now that I have the importance of safe dog travel established, lets take a look at what Bergan Pet Products has to offer. We were sent two samples of their dog auto harness that complies with Bergan’s V9DT durability test. What’s V9DT? It’s the durability test that Bergan designed in order to crash test their harnesses. Sadly less than 10% of all pet travel harnesses are designed to withstand a sudden stop and actually protect your dog from harm. (for more information on crash testing and dog safety take a look at Paws to Click)
When our dog auto harnesses arrived, the first thing we noticed was how heavy-duty the fabrics felt and how well constructed it was. It’s easily the sturdiest harness I’ve seen so far.
When unpacked, the dog auto harness is pretty easy to get set up and put on your doggy. With just two straps to adjust, and one buckle at the top, the whole thing went on in about two minutes out of the box. Once comfortable with it, I could get it on and off of Punkin pretty easily.
What really stood out for me though was the ease of which I could strap it in the car. With two large carabiners on each end of the tether, one simply hooks into the top of the harness, and the other clips to the hooks installed in your car for child seats.
Then you simply adjust the tether to the right length and your pooch is all ready to go.
Overall, I felt that Bergan Pet put quite a bit of design into making a dog harness that was easy to use and comfortable for our dogs. I liked that it was easy to put on and take off of our dogs, and even easier to hook into the car. If you are looking for a ways to make sure your dog is safe when you travel, this is definitely a product worth looking at.
note: Bergan Pet provided no compensation for this review, other than providing us with the harnesses. Dog Safety is critically important to us, and we felt that this product and the Paws to Click campaign deserved attention.
If you are interested in purchasing a Bergan dog auto harness to keep your fur buddy safe while you drive, please consider purchasing it from our Amazon.com link below to help support theconstantrambler.
Ha, I loved this post, what awesome invention! Stumbling this for sure ;)
Great review!
Savannah loves this! We are going to use it when we take her to the beach and hopefully her besty Zoe can come too. Thanks for letting Savannah test this out.
I have a harness that I buckle my dog into. My cousins pug got seriously injured an a fender bender because he wasn’t restrained, so from then on I’ve used a seatbelt for him. We buckle up, why shouldn’t they?
It’s good to hear that you keep your pooch safe Andrea. It’s such an important and simple thing to do.
Wow! I have two Bergan seat covers, but I didn’t know they made a harness. This would be amazing for our three dogs! Thank you so much; I’m going to head over to Amazon to check them out!
Kimberly, the harnesses are great. The dogs seemed to be very comfortable in them as well. Hope you and your doggy enjoy it and stay safe :)
This harness looks pretty good. But what we desperately need out here in Thailand is a harness for small dogs in motorbikes too! They just stand on the rear seat it’s unbelievable lol
This would work for just that. The hook can clip to almost anything.
I have been using a Kurgo for my pup for about a year. Have you reviewed this one, and if you haven’t, would you be willing to review it?
Sandra,
It’s funny you mention that. We have received a set of harnesses and zip line from Kurgo this month. We are taking a short trip in a bit in May where we will use and review them.
Good write up, we offer Bergan car harnesses here in the UK for our customers who demand the best for their dogs. No UK brands of dog car harness have been safety tested !
The Bergan dog car harness is my favorite. It is relatively inexpensive but has had a lot of safety testing behind it. My dog Pierson wears the Bergan. He’s tried a number of different brands, but the Bergan is the most comfortable for him. Maya wears the Kurgo harness, but I don’t like their loop tether so I switched it out with a Bergan tether and it works great.
Have you done any reviews of products for the giant dog breeds? I have yet to find any products that have been tested for Newfoundlands, Great Danes, etc. All of the products I have found are tested to weights below 100lbs. Also, I have heard that there have been problems with certain harnesses that actually end up hanging the dog in a bad crash. Have you heard of this? We need a safe way to safely transport our giant dogs!
Pam the Bergan harness in this review is also available in XL :) You can find it through the link in the post. Zoe has a large one and it works just fine in the car. We never leave home without it. When we first tested it she was 80 lbs. Now she is about 70lbs and it still works great.