5 Best Cars For Dogs: A Guide For Their Humans

Hello? Yes, this is dog. Oh, hey human! You want to take me with you on a road trip, you say? Oh boy this is so exciting! It’s the best day ever!

We dogs love to travel with you. That’s why I’m happy to help you humans choose the perfect car for us dogs. And it’s an important issue, because almost a quarter of UK households have a pet dog. And also because we’re way better than cats. Grrr, cats.

So I’ve been sniffing around some of the latest cars to find the best features and models designed with man’s best friend in mind, me! And I’ve put together a cool checklist of things to look for, and brought you five of the best cars for dogs. Oh, I’m so excited!

I’ve asked the other dogs at the park, and these are the things we love our owners to have in a car. Plus there are some safety features you should look out for.

Space!

We need as much space as possible to stretch out, lie down and turn round and round on the spot. You humans don’t like being cramped up for long journeys and neither do we. And we have four legs. That’s twice as many as you, so don’t forget our legroom.

Dog grille or guard

This is the safety barrier fitted behind the back seats to keep us dogs in the boot and stop us clambering all over the back seats when we’re excited. Which is all the time! It also prevents us getting a scolding for getting dog hair everywhere. We can’t help it.

A low boot sill

We need this so we can jump in and out of the car easily. Especially those of us with little legs. I’m referring to my Daschund and Chihuahua friends.

Lashings to tie things to

Make sure there are lashings to tie down luggage or pet carriers in the boot. We don’t like it when things fall on us or roll around in the boot with us. Not cool.

Window shades

Boy it’s hot in the car, especially with all this fur! Window shades help us stay cool.

Dog seatbelt

Oh boy, is that a lead? I love leads – they mean walkies! This seatbelt hooks onto my collar or harness like a lead and is then attached to a seatbelt plug. It helps keep us controlled but still comfortable.

Dog car seats

These are strange things that you can buy online, if you must. They’re similar to human car seats and fit little dogs. They need to be used in conjunction with a dog seatbelt or harness, but apparently they make it possible for us to see out of the window. I’m a big dog now, so I don’t need one.

Here are five cars that get the wagging tail of approval from us dogs. So exciting (have I mentioned that before?)

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY

Oh we can go on so many adventures in this car! It will be the best day ever. Every day!

The Land Rover Discovery has a big boot – 280 litres, or 1,124 litres with the third row of seats down. There’s room in here for me, you, the kids, big suitcases. Not the cat. Plus you can add loads of dog upgrades like dog grilles and partitions, and a range of boot liners.

AUDI Q7

Now this is a big car. I love a big car!

The Audi Q7 has seven seats and a big boot, which gets even bigger if you put the third row of seats down. It goes from 865 and 2,050 litres. Oh, there’s so much space! I can turn around and around on the spot. I can even chase my tail! Grr, missed it. One day, tail.

BMW 5 SERIES TOURING

We love estate cars – they are so roomy.

Now this is a big boot. The boot space isn’t just big on the BMW 5 Series Touring, it’s clever too. When your human opens and closes the tailgate, the load blind moves automatically, and when they fold the rear seats down, it goes into a special storage recess under the floor! I don’t mean to sound selfish, but it means we can have all the boot space. So exciting!

MERCEDES-BENZ GLB

This car is perfect for all dogs, not just the little ones like me.

The Mercedes-Benz GLB is a huge SUV with loads of space in the boot – 570 litres! I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like a lot. It can even be extended to an enormous 1,805 litres when the rear seats are folded forward.

MINI CLUBMAN

The MINI Clubman is another great car with a low boot floor as standard. It makes it easy to jump in. And out. And in again. Woohoo this is fun! And there’s so much space in here! Apparently, it has 1,250 litres with the seats down and 360 litres with them up. The distinctive split doors mean no more bonks on the head when your human closes you in on the way to the park... I love the park.