Mastif's thread about rejecting a new car because his dog didn't fit in it (see www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=23...5 ) eventually prompted him to suggest that his dog should be responsible for buying the next car.
Sound thoroughly sensible, so maybe we should try to devise some guidelines for the discerning canine car-buyer?
Here are some suggestions from my dog.
* Must be a saloon, or preferably a car with no boot at all. I'm not getting stuck in one of those cages in the back of an estate
* low side windows, so that I can see out
* electric window buttons on the centre console please: much easier for me to operate
* lots of powerful dog-controlled airvents, for the benefit of my friend who insists on travelling with her shout glued to one
* no rear legroom, 'cos the gap ahead of the back seat is merely a hole for me to fall into
* soft ride please: I want some control over when I throw up
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A Rover?
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an avenger
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Certainly not one with a wuff sounding engine or gearbox or the car that always seems to be on your tail. But it must come complete with a "cat".
Perhaps a Renault Trafic? Huge interior space and rear low entry facility, so it's easy for bow-wow to jump in and out. Can double up as a kennel at night.
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It'd have to be pre-1991 - Im sure one with a cat would be out of the question....
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My dad had to buy his first car in 8 years because of Rover discontinuing the 400 Tourer which meant he couldn't have a new one every 10 months :-(
Oh, yes, it was the dogs fault. Too big for a 45, not strong enough to jump a great height into a Freelander!
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The RF faithful family companion, Fifi, is a pure breed, fully KC registered Labrador Retriever. So despite acting like a queen her car needs to do two things
1/Get her to the park in under 5 minutes where "(park=ballxthrowing) x enjoyment squared.
2/Be edible afterwards.
she hates fast estates where (large space x papas driving = labrador stuck to back window)
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My pack of beagles like nothing better than the back of a Hilux with an Ifor Williams top and some shavings on the bottom.
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At one time a really top dog would have had a Phantom III Barker limousine.
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Thank you NoWheels, for once again brightening my afternoon....
Must disagree with you re the window switches. The window needs to stay up so that there is something to slobber on.
On second thoughts, that's what the driver's ear is for.
Don't forget the map pockets on the rear of the front seats ... if they're not there, where can you get your paw stuck?
Also plenty of small, difficult to clean recesses in which to deposit vomit.
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Corgis. Lots of them. For a Toy Poddle, maybe?
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Not a car at all. A lorry: Leyland Mastiff (remember them?)Not too many cars named after dogs, surprise surprise. I'm amazed BL didn't try it in the seventies. Austin Whippet anyone?
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I'm amazed BL didn't try it in the seventies.
Every BL car in the 70's was a dog. or a pup.
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Don't Peugeot make a Boxer? How about the classic Hillman Husky? or any model of Alfa Bonio?
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AN Other said:
>Not a car at all. A lorry:
I have to agree with that.
Many moons ago when I was just a lad, Dad had a TK Bedford. Our German Shep. was in heaven laid on the engine cover behind the seats, his head on dads shoulder and nose through the open window.
Believe me, dogs do smile!
Kevin...
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Being a Spaniel, mine would probably be partial to a SEAT. His favourite car I've taken him in is a Boxster with the roof down - plenty of fresh air and he gets to sit on the front seat. Least favourite is the Volvo V70 in the boot which I'm sure he'd tell you he doesn't like at all.
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Also plenty of small, difficult to clean recesses in which to deposit vomit.
My adviser agrees that this is, indeed, very important, although he would add a preference for cloth-covered seats (rather than leather or vinyl). They not only provide better absorbency for vomit, as well as much better traction for claws.
I am also told that an automatic gearchange is very desirable, because it avoids the driver's elbow repeatedly bumping into his snout, and free's up mummy's hand to stroke him, feed him tidbits etc.
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I guess my attitude to cars is the same as to dogs - I don't think I would ever waste money on a brand new pedigree one when there are so many already out there looking for good homes!
Our dog is a crazy collie, left tied to the gate of the NCDL rescue place when she failed to make it as a sheepdog. I don't think she'd have a car - she'd run everywhere, while barking at everything else on the road.
I hate to be the one to harp on about safety again, but...
Please don't put Mr/Mrs Pooch in the front or back seat unrestrained. A dog free to move around the car as it pleases is a danger to itself, the passengers and the driver.
Firstly, dogs don't look pretty when they go through the windscreen, and they also don't do the driver/passenger any good when they are thrown into them. Remember the advert with the boy who kills his mother because he's in the back with no seatbelt? Same thing could happen with a largeish dog.
Also, just like children, dogs messing about are a distraction you just don't need in the car.
PG...getting sensible as old age and full time employment approach!
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Please don't put Mr/Mrs Pooch in the front or back seat unrestrained. A dog free to move around the car as it pleases is a danger to itself, the passengers and the driver.
Sound advice, I'm sure, but my dog has just bought himself a harnessy thing which attaches to the seatbelt, so that he can take his proper place on the front seat. Excellent devices, not expensive, and can even be used while a two-leggedy is in place as a cushion.
Also, just like children, dogs messing about are a distraction you just don't need in the car.
I get more distracted if I have to turn around to the back to see how he's getting on!
PG...getting sensible as old age and full time employment approach!
You getting old? Where does that leave the rest of us wrinklies? ;-)
(Don't worry, the sensibleness wears off again after a decade or two!)
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My dog's not too bothered about what sort of car, so long as it's very very fast! As far as he's concerned there's much better things to do than sit in the back of the car.
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I must admit I had a good laugh at this thread. Jaz is a Mastiff and weighs 13 stone and still growing, apart from being dangerous as pointed out elsewhere jaz is to big for the front seat and if she could get in she would rest her head on my arm causing compulsory left turns. She is to big for the back seat which is just as well as she would rest her head on my shoulder and cover me from head to foot in slobber. In the V70 the boot is flat all the way through in the V40 there is a lip, which is what she doesn?t like. As for not taking her out in the car if she has the slightest inkling that you are going out in the car and she can get out before you she will sit in front of it and to remove her is a 3 man job.
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I think Turbo would buy a Dachshund 240Z...
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One of my mates has a Newfoundland - the biggest dog I have EVER seen - in fact - I think it was a horse in disguise. Anyway, preferred (and only!) method of transport?
A Transit van! Even then it's a tight squeeze. I';m 6ft 5 and it jumped up on me once and was at an angle yet still seemed to tower over me (although it could have been fear).
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Why not just put it in harness and let it pull the car?
[Would Gordon then claim fuel duty on the dog food, I wonder?]
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NoWheels - I'm not sure about the electric windows and the air vents, but it sounds like your dog would buy a Suzuki X90.
Which is surely proof that dogs shouldn't be allowed to drive, on the off chance that any more were needed.
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>>it jumped up on me once and was atan angle yet still seemed to tower over me (although it could have been fear).
Back in my yoof, I went to watch some school rugby match. There were TWO of the beasts there, who cahsed the ball all over the place, much to the annoyance of the players! Eventually, they caught the hounds, and put them into the swimming pool enclosure. Bad move. They took to the pool like ... er ... Newfoundlands to water! But being a competition pool, they couldn't get out. Cue four or five blokes (including me!) chest deep in very cold H20 trying to push them out!
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My collie is addicted to cars. We've even added a new word to our dictionary, the car is now called the "In-you-get!".
She usually just curls up on the front or back seat, but she has times when she hovers her head near the gear lever, so a rapid change usually ends up grabbing her nose by mistake...
Only problem is that her hair is magnetically attracted to the seats. I have to hoover the car out every week. No other preferences, but she doesn't like Radio 1. (who does?)
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It's gotta be a ROVER
Roger in Spain
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NW - forgot the most important feature.
Upholstery colour must contrast with coat colour so that the hairs stand out. After all, it's either that or "mark" it as mine by some other means. And you don't want me to do that, do you?
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Upholstery colour must contrast with coat colour so that the hairs stand out. After all, it's either that or "mark" it as mine by some other means. And you don't want me to do that, do you?
You're patently right, that's a crucial factor -- though some dogs are cunningly equipped to circumvent any human attempts to sabotage the fur-marking duty, by shedding hairs of more than one colour.
My dog has several difft colors of hair, but even a jet black labrador manages to shed a lot of grey downy hair to ensure that even a black seat is properly marked.
Of course, as I'm sure you know, the wise canine car-buyer selects a color which contrasts with all the different colors of hair he might shed. It's important to reserve the other territory-marking equipment for areas requiring rapid property-labelling, such as friend's houses or their human's favourite garden plants.
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