Restraining dogs in Motorhomes

Harrietliberty

Harrietliberty

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Hi, we have just bought (picking up on 17th July) an Ace Capri motorhome which is 2 berth with 2 seats. We currently have a nearly 2 year old Golden Retriever and we are getting a Golden Retriever puppy in August. In our cars, our dog has been restrained with a harness and lead which plugs into the seat belt holder. We won't have a spare seat in the motorhome so how do we restrain them? There are 2 clips attached to the back of the bench seats (one either side) should we use these with a harness and shock absorbent lead? Any help gratefully received
 
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I had two of these in the motorhome. Could be used outside for the cats and two of them travelled in one on the rear bed. You'll need sufficient space for the right size though.
1592652782348.jpeg
 
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I got one of these, recessed it into the floor by the hab door and secured it through the floor into a steel spreader plate using stainless steel set screws and nyloc nuts. The dogs are attached to it via a carabiner and stretchy double dog lead. The dogs are in full harnesses, this gives them enough room to bumble about on the floor and
A0FBE17A-1078-4F98-A5A8-6D2B17226610.png
at full stretch they can just about get a tickle behind an ear from SHMBO.
 
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Harrietliberty said:
There are 2 clips attached to the back of the bench seats (one either side) should we use these with a harness and shock absorbent lead?
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Just noticed that bit. Hard to know but if you can upload a photo of them it would help. Given the size of your dog's you need an anchor point which can withstand a few hundred kg. You could attach a bit of rope to one of these points and pull as hard as possible. If the clip flies past your ear they are/were unsuitable. 😀
 
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:welcome4:

Our Westie travels perfectly happy in his cage - but then he was introduced to it at birth. It's a collapsible metal affair (we normally just leave it made up and store it on the bed when not in use) which fits nicely between the tow side benches just behind the cab seats so he can see us. He can't see outside though but doesn't seem to bother him - he's stayed in there or up to 4 hours although from our own personal comfort point of view it's rarely more than 2hrs.

Just a gentle reminder which I'm sure you know, it's an offence to travel in a vehicle with an unrestrained animal.
 
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on previous vans I bolted a double seatbelt receiver, sourced from a scrapyard/ebay to the floor and clipped into that. This van, I have bolted load rings to the floor and attached chains and clips

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DBK said:
Just noticed that bit. Hard to know but if you can upload a photo of them it would help. Given the size of your dog's you need an anchor point which can withstand a few hundred kg. You could attach a bit of rope to one of these points and pull as hard as possible. If the clip flies past your ear they are/were unsuitable. 😀
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That's good thinking. My feeling is that they are not strong enough to hold nearly 30Kg of golden retriever (our current one). Haven't got the motorhome yet, we pick it upon the 17th and I want to get everything clear in my mind first. I think the idea of load rings to the floor is probably best. Thanks
 
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RustyRuss said:
I got one of these, recessed it into the floor by the hab door and secured it through the floor into a steel spreader plate using stainless steel set screws and nyloc nuts. The dogs are attached to it via a carabiner and stretchy double dog lead. The dogs are in full harnesses, this gives them enough room to bumble about on the floor andView attachment 400095 at full stretch they can just about get a tickle behind an ear from SHMBO.
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This looks like the answer for us and I like the idea of positioning it so they can just get a tickle behind the ear. Thanks
 
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Harrietliberty said:
That's good thinking. My feeling is that they are not strong enough to hold nearly 30Kg of golden retriever (our current one). Haven't got the motorhome yet, we pick it upon the 17th and I want to get everything clear in my mind first. I think the idea of load rings to the floor is probably best. Thanks
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The rings are certainly strong enough, they can probably take several hundred kgs but the problem is finding somewhere to fix them which is strong enough. The floor is probably best if there is no bodywork you can reach.
 
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Harrietliberty said:
That's good thinking. My feeling is that they are not strong enough to hold nearly 30Kg of golden retriever (our current one). Haven't got the motorhome yet, we pick it upon the 17th and I want to get everything clear in my mind first. I think the idea of load rings to the floor is probably best. Thanks
Click to expand...
I know we don't ever want to think about it, but in an impact a 30kg dog can exert a load of 300kg 10x their weight. They need a very firm fixing point and the vast majority of dog leads are sewn together and fail at 50+kg. I have had several leads snapped by pulling dogs, so of no use at all in a crash/ rapid deceleration. That's why I use a length of fully welded chain for each dog, clipped to a decent quality harness. It's not heavy chain, but has a lifting/breaking resistance of 500kg

Having a crash is absolutely awful, but then having to recover the mangled remains of your much loved dog would be far worse
 
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I use a webbing loop sold for climbing as the connection between the ring and the harness. It is quite light but has a massive breaking strain - can't remember how much but you can get thicker ones if needed. Our Charlie is only 10Kg.

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Yorkshire Puds said:
Something along these lines maybe.
Amazon product ASIN B078836Z17
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I have tried a few of those, fine for little dogs like a yorkie, but my big dogs snap them like a piece of thin string. I have had the dog jump out of the car when I opened the door, lead still attached but the metal clip left behind in the seatbelt clip. The biggest dog weighs about 30kg, the middle 25kg and the little one 20kg. The heavier 2 have both snapped leads

Most of the cheap ones are made in China and are rubbish. All I keep is the seatbelt clip, as that is fine, the rest gets binned. Then I replace the webbing strap with chain and a caribina clip
 
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TerryL said:
:welcome4:

Our Westie travels perfectly happy in his cage - but then he was introduced to it at birth. It's a collapsible metal affair (we normally just leave it made up and store it on the bed when not in use) which fits nicely between the tow side benches just behind the cab seats so he can see us. He can't see outside though but doesn't seem to bother him - he's stayed in there or up to 4 hours although from our own personal comfort point of view it's rarely more than 2hrs.

Just a gentle reminder which I'm sure you know, it's an offence to travel in a vehicle with an unrestrained animal.
Click to expand...
I think our problem is the size of the dogs. Our older dog is now out of her crate but it was massive when she was using it. I'm thinking that the recessed ring suggested by DBK is probably the right way to go but we will have to wait until we pick the van up before making a final decision. It will be just about the first thing we do when we get the van as we won't take our dog in it until we know that she can be restrained safely.
 
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TheBig1 said:
I know we don't ever want to think about it, but in an impact a 30kg dog can exert a load of 300kg 10x their weight. They need a very firm fixing point and the vast majority of dog leads are sewn together and fail at 50+kg. I have had several leads snapped by pulling dogs, so of no use at all in a crash/ rapid deceleration. That's why I use a length of fully welded chain for each dog, clipped to a decent quality harness. It's not heavy chain, but has a lifting/breaking resistance of 500kg

Having a crash is absolutely awful, but then having to recover the mangled remains of your much loved dog would be far worse
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I think you're right - we need to make sure that the chain will hold her in the event of a crash. However careful you are, there's always the unexpected
 
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Yorkshire Puds said:
Something along these lines maybe.
Amazon product ASIN B078836Z17
Click to expand...
That's what we use currently with a harness in our cars, it's just the securing the seat belt holder or a ring to something strong enough not to break away in a crash - the problem of only having the 2 seats

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TerryL said:
:welcome4:

Our Westie travels perfectly happy in his cage - but then he was introduced to it at birth. It's a collapsible metal affair (we normally just leave it made up and store it on the bed when not in use) which fits nicely between the tow side benches just behind the cab seats so he can see us. He can't see outside though but doesn't seem to bother him - he's stayed in there or up to 4 hours although from our own personal comfort point of view it's rarely more than 2hrs.

Just a gentle reminder which I'm sure you know, it's an offence to travel in a vehicle with an unrestrained animal.
Click to expand...
It's a Highway Code rule and not law.

I'm more concerned by the contents of the lockers, several drawers, and possibly the fridge, whistling past my ears than a soft, warm, dog. Or three in my case.
 
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tonyidle said:
I'm not. I'm not even slightly proud of it. But I don't believe it's particularly unsafe.
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You might have a different view if you are ever in an high speed accident. As someone who quite easily survived a coach pulling across me (the wonders of seatbelts) only to be nearly killed by the contents of the boot (it was an estate car) come flying past me to hit the windscreen.
 
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We have a 30kg Labrador her bed goes behind front seats she wears a chest harness with a lead which goes over the wife’s seat belt anchor point and wife clips her belt in. I’m the event of a collision the seats will stop her coming into cockpit area and any force will go through her chest And shoulders. And god forbid should we end upside down she will hang like on a parachute and not hang from neck.
 
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2x2camper said:
You might have a different view if you are ever in an high speed accident. As someone who quite easily survived a coach pulling across me (the wonders of seatbelts) only to be nearly killed by the contents of the boot (it was an estate car) come flying past me to hit the windscreen.
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But that's my point. The dogs, either inches behind me or in the passenger footwell, pose much less of a threat than poorly attached furniture. I'm not being clever or suggesting there's no risk from the dogs it's just that they're the last thing to worry about. There's a crash test of a motorhome somewhere on the internet that demonstrates the dangers. If any weighty object is close to the driver or the dashboard it can't move far enough to develop any momentum and is in a relatively safe place.
 
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