Anyone using the third-row (R1S) for dog transport

[PeterSK]

We have two labradoodles, about 30 and 45 pounds. I got them Kurgo crash-tested harnesses from Petco that I clip to the buckled seat belts using rock climbing carabiner straps I got from REI (the original straps got lost, and these are sturdier).

Usually I just throw old towels on the second row seat and buckle them there, but when we have four or five passengers we put the small one in the middle of the second row and the big one in the back. He has a little trouble jumping through the opening to get in, though mostly because he thinks he’s going to the second row so I have to redirect and help him a bit. It’s not hard for me to leave the carabiner there and just reach back to buckle to the harness, but I’m 6’3” so have better reach than most.

If my youngest daughter is in the back next to him, she can help get him settled and buckled. Sometimes we leave the other seat folded down and put softer luggage there. He spends a lot of time looking out the window then eventually lies down on the seat.

I feel the buckled harnesses are definitely the way to go, though have to admit to often not bothering with them for a quick 5-10 minute ride to a nearby park or the vet. It’s not buckling them in the car that’s the issue, it’s putting on the harnesses in place of their usual light walking harnesses.

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[usulio]

I have been considering this product:
https://www.rayallen.com/mim-safe-variobarrier/

It's under $500, which is reasonable to me.

It's also crash-test rated and potentially solves a few problems:

1. dog can't fly forward like a projectile through the front of the vehicle,
2. dog can't jump the seat and roam freely,
3. (possibly) can be located in a couple of positions (e.g. third row folded flat versus third row in-use),
4. and it looks small/portable/light enough that it wouldn't take up half my garage if I needed to take it out.

Doesn't solve for vehicle rollover, I suppose, but dog has ample room to cruise around for comfort. Dog can use it's own bed and our no-spill water bowl can just sit on the flat surface nearby.

Does anyone know if the harness/seatbelt solution can be used in this rear cargo area? I'm guessing NO because the seats and the receptacles would be folded up and out of reach...

Unfortunately if you put that on the back of the second row seats it will be almost impossible to get your dog into the 3rd row. Unless I'm missing something.

Edit: if you have one 3rd row seat down and one up, they can go in and out from the rear, if nothing is in the way.

 

[yizzung]

Unfortunately if you put that on the back of the second row seats it will be almost impossible to get your dog into the 3rd row. Unless I'm missing something.

Edit: if you have one 3rd row seat down and one up, they can go in and out from the rear, if nothing is in the way.

Oh, I was looking at this barrier ONLY if using the rear cargo area for dog transport. I'd keep the third row folded down, if using the barrier...

 

[yizzung]

FWIW, on the way to the park this afternoon, tried loading up the dog in the third row area and wasn't successful -- the passage to the third row, with the middle row seats pushed forward, is pretty narrow. My dog wasn't having any part of jumping back there. (She's a pretty big girl so I'm guessing this might be easier with little dogs...)

While fiddling with the config, I did test the seat belts in the far rear cargo area and they actually "work" even when not buckled in. Jerking on the belt causes it to lock, even with the third row folded down. So I think it might be possible to harness and belt a dog in that area.

I'm coming back around to the idea of using the far back cargo area, if I can figure out a proper barrier (and maybe a step or a ramp). But it we're going to buckle up back there, I can probably get away with a barrier just a deterrent for seat hopping.

 

[1stPlace]

I've got different preferences for traveling with my dog. I keep both 2nd row and 3rd row down. I use a 5-step aluminum pet loader at the tailgate. https://www.petloader.com/ 5-step is great for tailgate entry (ideal in parking lots) or side entry with seats down. I got a very cushy ORVIS dog bed for him that he loves and never leaves when traveling. I personally like having him closer to me while I'm driving and I think he does too. I'm looking into the KURGO impact harness now. Questionable if it will work well with the seats down. Alternative untested option--attach current harness and leash to the cargo tie down to at least improve the front crash forward motion risk.

 

[yizzung]

I've got different preferences for traveling with my dog. I keep both 2nd row and 3rd row down. I use a 5-step aluminum pet loader at the tailgate. https://www.petloader.com/ 5-step is great for tailgate entry (ideal in parking lots) or side entry with seats down. I got a very cushy ORVIS dog bed for him that he loves and never leaves when traveling. I personally like having him closer to me while I'm driving and I think he does too. I'm looking into the KURGO impact harness now. Questionable if it will work well with the seats down. Alternative untested option--attach current harness and leash to the cargo tie down to at least improve the front crash forward motion risk.

Yes, your approach is not dissimilar to my setup in the R1T.

​

I used Orvis foam rear seat extenders (just one shown below) to fill out the back seat area.​

​

I had a cheap Amazon barrier to keep both dogs from exploring. (It rattled when we were moving, so it worked but wasn't ideal.)​

​

I purchased, and later returned, some Pet Loader steps because the angle would not work for side entry into the R1T, as the doors simply wouldn't open wide enough to position the steps perpendicularly to entry. Might consider again for rear entry.​

My only word of caution is that using a leash and a dog-walking harness might give you some peace of mind, but that's akin to making your own DIY seatbelts... Not recommended. It might help keep a dog in its place under normal conditions, but it's not going to hold up in a crash.

If you do end up buying a safety harness, I'd look at the Sleepypod brand because at least they crash test their harnesses via reputable third-party. That's likely where I'm headed.

I might also try to reach out to Sleepypod to see if the harness will still work properly when connected to an unbuckled seat belt. That seems to be the only way I could use the harness in the cargo area with the seats folded flat.

(Sadly, the dog pictured below passed away this summer. And, no, her passing was not related to a crash. And, of course, she was a good girl.)

 

[vince993]

I've got different preferences for traveling with my dog. I keep both 2nd row and 3rd row down. I use a 5-step aluminum pet loader at the tailgate. https://www.petloader.com/ 5-step is great for tailgate entry (ideal in parking lots) or side entry with seats down. I got a very cushy ORVIS dog bed for him that he loves and never leaves when traveling. I personally like having him closer to me while I'm driving and I think he does too. I'm looking into the KURGO impact harness now. Questionable if it will work well with the seats down. Alternative untested option--attach current harness and leash to the cargo tie down to at least improve the front crash forward motion risk.

I use a similar setup in my R1S for my 3 labradors. For harnesses I use the Ruffwear load-up harness (which has been crash tested) https://ruffwear.com/products/load-up-dog-car-harness and attach that to the unfastened seatbelts with the Kurgo swivel tether https://www.kurgo.com/dog-seat-belts/swivel-tether?sku=K01179. The dogs lay three across right behind the front seats - the two next to the passenger doors attached to the respective 2nd row seatbelt and the one in the middle attached to one of the third row seatbelts. Took a little practice for them not to get tangled up, but now it is rare for that to happen. Certainly not as secure as a crate, but hopefully in a crash this setup will stop their forward momentum and also keep them in the car.

 

[JonS]

Not really the answer to your question directly but we're running a collapsible crate in the rear for our Frenchie. He really likes it, there's a vent that blows directly on him and I've got it strapped down with some stretchy straps.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07HLYJL7Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[yizzung]

Not really the answer to your question directly but we're running a collapsible crate in the rear for our Frenchie. He really likes it, there's a vent that blows directly on him and I've got it strapped down with some stretchy straps.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07HLYJL7Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Our girl is pushing 70 lbs. Crate would be too much and we never bothered to crate train. The crash tested crates are also $$$.

 

[1stPlace]

I use a similar setup in my R1S for my 3 labradors. For harnesses I use the Ruffwear load-up harness (which has been crash tested) https://ruffwear.com/products/load-up-dog-car-harness and attach that to the unfastened seatbelts with the Kurgo swivel tether https://www.kurgo.com/dog-seat-belts/swivel-tether?sku=K01179. The dogs lay three across right behind the front seats - the two next to the passenger doors attached to the respective 2nd row seatbelt and the one in the middle attached to one of the third row seatbelts. Took a little practice for them not to get tangled up, but now it is rare for that to happen. Certainly not as secure as a crate, but hopefully in a crash this setup will stop their forward momentum and also keep them in the car.

This is sound advice--thanks! His current harness is ruffwear. I've had it for 8 years and it has no issues. They make some really high quality stuff.

 

[Autolycus]

Yes, your approach is not dissimilar to my setup in the R1T.

​

I used Orvis foam rear seat extenders (just one shown below) to fill out the back seat area.​

​

I had a cheap Amazon barrier to keep both dogs from exploring. (It rattled when we were moving, so it worked but wasn't ideal.)​

​

I purchased, and later returned, some Pet Loader steps because the angle would not work for side entry into the R1T, as the doors simply wouldn't open wide enough to position the steps perpendicularly to entry. Might consider again for rear entry.​

My only word of caution is that using a leash and a dog-walking harness might give you some peace of mind, but that's akin to making your own DIY seatbelts... Not recommended. It might help keep a dog in its place under normal conditions, but it's not going to hold up in a crash.

If you do end up buying a safety harness, I'd look at the Sleepypod brand because at least they crash test their harnesses via reputable third-party. That's likely where I'm headed.

I might also try to reach out to Sleepypod to see if the harness will still work properly when connected to an unbuckled seat belt. That seems to be the only way I could use the harness in the cargo area with the seats folded flat.

(Sadly, the dog pictured below passed away this summer. And, no, her passing was not related to a crash. And, of course, she was a good girl.)

Sorry for your loss. Was she a German wirehaired pointer? We had a 13-year old Spinone Italiano who we lost in January.

To keep my post on topic: We used a harness from a company I don't even remember the name of and don't think they still exist. It was not crash tested to anywhere near the standards of SleepyPod, Kurgo, Ruffwear, etc. but at the time it was one of the best options out there. The thing I preferred about it was that it used a super heavy duty oval ring to attach to a robust ballistic nylon webbing strap. The ring was threaded and could be attached to either a seatbelt or the LATCH pin on the back of the seat, which is where we had it clipped so it was easy to flip over the back of the seat out of the way when a human passenger got in. The other side of the strap clipped into two pretty beefy D rings on the harness that kept the quick release buckle from being a failure point. It worked well for what it was. She was comfortable with it and could move around on the back seat a reasonable amount but would have been restrained decently in an accident. She likely would have had some sort of injury in a really bad collision, but not life threatening.

If/when we get another dog, we'll get a harness from one of the three companies I named above and will follow the instructions exactly, using the seatbelt itself for the restraint. I think those offer a little less flexibility in how the dog sits or lays, but I think the additional safety is worth it, especially when you're starting out with a puppy that will only ever really know that that's how they're supposed to sit and lay in a car.

 

[Skysurfer]

Seatbelt + harness, or free roaming?

In the 3rd row, my lab is free roaming. It is closed in and padded enough they couldn't go flying through the cabin in the event of an accident, but am certainly looking into some of the harnesses that buckle in as they look more functional than previous solutions I've seen in the past.

 

[yizzung]

Sorry for your loss. Was she a German wirehaired pointer? We had a 13-year old Spinone Italiano who we lost in January.

Yes she was a GWP. Had complications from a splenectomy... Sorry for your loss.

 

[yizzung]

Posted on reddit (I know most of us read both) but bringing back here to close the loop:

I dropped $400 on a crash tested dog barrier. (It's the "medium" size on this site.) In my R1T, I had used a cheap/janky amazon barrier and (a) it rattled when I drove and (b) would have provided zero protection in the event of a crash.

If you don't know this brand, I think they make barriers to police cars / K9 units...

Note: It did not go exactly as planned. I probably should have ordered a small (as crazy as that sounds) but even the small wouldn't have worked exactly as intended. More on that below.

The contraption has feet that are supposed to sit flat on the floor. (The medium was a smidge too tall, hitting the roof and impeding its ability to slide all the way up against the middle row seats.) It needs to sit against the seats for actual crash protection.

It's also supposed to anchor on the vehicle's cargo holds. See the hooks in the photo below:

Those tie down hooks will never reach back far enough to anchor...
This won't work in the Rivian R1S because the cargo holds don't slide far enough forward to engage... They stop at the rear of the third row seats.

So I called an audible and got it to work. (That's a good thing because it's non-returnable and non-refundable. Please take note before ordering one for yourself.)

If you remove the "feet", the "legs" will slide right down in between the middle row seats and the (folded down) third row, resting on the floorboards.

This actually works pretty well and the angle is pretty good. See below.

To keep it all from rattling, I zip-tied the barrier to the child seat anchors with heavy duty zip ties. You could maybe use velcro or also zip-tie to the headrests to secure it.

It's really not going to move very much wedged in between the seats but I don't want those steel legs to mess up the fake leather on the top of the third-row seats, so securing to the middle row seems prudent.

This think is built like a tank and because of the angle, you still get maximum storage capacity behind the barrier: Dog, dog bed, water, bones, etc. all fit behind there. She's very comfy.

Photos:

My helper and a lot of unused hardware.

 

[yizzung]

I've got different preferences for traveling with my dog. I keep both 2nd row and 3rd row down. I use a 5-step aluminum pet loader at the tailgate. https://www.petloader.com/ 5-step is great for tailgate entry (ideal in parking lots) or side entry with seats down. I got a very cushy ORVIS dog bed for him that he loves and never leaves when traveling. I personally like having him closer to me while I'm driving and I think he does too. I'm looking into the KURGO impact harness now. Questionable if it will work well with the seats down. Alternative untested option--attach current harness and leash to the cargo tie down to at least improve the front crash forward motion risk.

Any photos of the steps in action? I tried them on my R1T and the angle wouldn't work. Not 100% of what size to get for the R1S. (There's both number of steps and width to consider, maybe? They have so many versions on their site...)

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