StraightChicane

Hi all. Happy holiday season!
Does anyone has any experience travelling with a dog for a prolonged road trip in a 718? Better yet, among those of you who does, anyone tried to do it with a LWB seat? I'm planning to take a road trip from NYC to Miami and back this coming New Year with my golden retriever as I breaking in my 4RS. I wish to receive some feedback and/or advice on the viability/safety/comfort (more for the dog than me) of this plan with anyone who's done it before. I've travelled with my dog before in other cars, so I have the safety equipment ready. Thank you!

manifold danger

I'm curious to see how this pans out as well, as I'd love to be able to safely cart my homeboy places in my 718 too... but I just don't think it will work. For one, he's just too damn big- he's a Belgian Malinois/Dutch Shepherd mix- plus, I don't want to mess up my car. He's sort of a psychopath.

Obligatory pic.

A1Aflorida

I tried to set up our former 987 for our dog in the past. She was not thrilled about it, much preferring the entire back seat of "her" F150 King Ranch which she had grown accustomed to. Plus she had a chest harness she wore which was buckled into the seat belt receptacle. She loved it because from that day on she never did another face-plant on the center console after a hard stop. But I digress...

First thing that did not work in the 987 was she could not sit in the seat comfortably because the seat bottom gave her barely enough room to place her front paws on the front of the seat. I solved that by using extra boat cushions to build up the level of the floor to be even with the height of the seat bottom. That helped quite a bit but she was still not crazy about it.

For your situation, if I am picturing an LWB correctly, the seat bolsters are quite large so I am thinking you will definitely need to fill the center of the seat bottom. Can you do without the LWB entirely for the trip? Simply remove it? That will give more fore and aft room plus a more level base to work with.

Let us know how it works out please.
Just remembered this would be helpful, she weighed 65lbs. I will see if I can attach a photo so you can see her size.

sanderabernathy

I often had my brittany spaniel or both brittany spaniels in my 981s and 987. They both had the two way seats. One dog was fine but they weigh 40 pounds Two dogs was fine for about 10 minutes. I wouldn't want to try it with the LWBs. I just don't think there's enough space between the seat bolsters. If I was going to do it, I would get some very firm foam that is as think as the bolsters are high. Cut the foam to fit the seat. That will elevate the dog enough that he can curl up and sit comfortably above the bolsters. Otherwise, I would think he would be very uncomfortable wedged between the bolsters.

You might also put foam in the passenger footwell to raise it to the same level as the foam in the seat so the dog would have a bigger platform to sit on.

Greg Fishman

Golden Retriever? You will never get all of the hair out of the car after a road trip. good luck!

TXshaggy

Take another car.

Don’t you have another thread asking about selling your GT4? Putting a dog in it for an extended road trip ain’t going to help that resale.

smilin

seems like a terrible idea. nice in spirit, but i think the dog would be very uncomfortable. i tried many configurations trying to get my 65lb belgian in my 986 and the car is just too small for such a big dog

BoxKing

From someone who uses my current M4 Comp. as a daily driver, with a 45lb Australian Shepard, I'd advise the following:

-Get a lower seat cover off amazon

-Buy a set of seat belt clips to disable any chimes that may go off with your pup on the seat.

-Get your pup a proper groom prior to your trip.
-Interior detail spray/microfiber cloths.
-Puppy wipes
-Towel to dry off your dog if you encounter in-climate weather

My 23 GT4 will be here in 6-8 weeks, and I plan to daily this car with the pup (2 Way seats) - she doesn't jump all over, and has been my road dawg for over a year. I might be nuts, but this is just how it is. I didn't buy this car with thoughts on how the possible next owner would have liked my car spec'd or treated.
All I do is hit the interior up with a quick wipe, vacuum, and you'd never know I had a pup riding shotty on a day-2-day.

Enjoy your trip with your K9!

smilin

thanks for making me think on this again. i’m going to take out the passenger seat of my 986 and see if she likes that. i can just plug in a dummy seatbelt buckle to avoid the airbag light. unsure if that’s possible on the modern cars.

BoxKing

The dummy seat belt buckle has worked like a charm for me.
I have found that my pup will lay in the foot-well 75% of the time, so maybe think about a set of all season floor mats; this will help keep the pet hair cleaning to a minimum.

As much as you can think about, and plan your dogs overall comfort... at the end of the day, she will get comfortable where and when she can. My guess is she will plop herself in the foot-well like mine does... one of the main reasons I didnt opt for the fire-extinguisher option (remove this if you have one installed).

smilin

i think this is going to work! i’ve got to dig out an extra seatbelt buckle before reconnecting the battery. my wife doesn’t enjoy riding in this car, so it’s now my dedicated dog car. can’t wait to put the top down. gotta find some goggles. sorry, i still think that getting your big dog in your 718 w/bucket seat for a long trip is a bad idea.

pjmcgnns

Took my female 11 month old Golden to Martha's Vineyard in my 2022 Cayman GTS 4.0 for 4 days in October and it was a non issue. She just curled up in the passenger seat for the entire trip both ways and was not a problem. I took my other Golden to Florida in 2021 stopping in Greensboro on the way down and Wilcox on the way back again issue free.

kor446

Been carting around my 2 mini/toy Aussies since I got the car. No problem whatsoever. While they are small (total weight 30#) they certainly take up the same or more "floor space" as your Golden. I recommend the following:

1. The first and most important thing is to get a fully tested and approved car safety harness. Many say "tested", few have actually passed formal crash tests. I use the E-Z Dog "Drive Harness". Also, SleepyPod has a couple of options that are highly rated.
2. Seat cover. I've tried a couple and this is the winner. It's hemmed around the seat pad which holds it in place and is easy on/off.
3. Seat belt cover. You need 2, one for the lap and one for the shoulder. You might need a 3rd to cover more of the shoulder strap given your dog's size.

The final piece of the puzzle is a black microfiber towel that I use to cover the center console. That blue one is absolutely, positively unacceptable.

Final advice, while almost all the hair will be contained by this stuff there'll be plenty on the carpet. Vacuuming just won't get it all. I use strips of duct tape to pull off the stubborn strands. You can also buy hair removal tape rollers at any Petsmart etc (or Amazon).......

cbracerx

As was demonstrated, take out the passenger seat. That's about as good as it will get.

BoxKing

My 45Lb Aussie. She rides shotgun on the daily, and will continue to do so in the 718.


Amazon special lower seat cover wrapped perfectly over the Comp Bucket seat. Stitching even matches the interior.




Bigger question, how the hell am I going to get my clubs back and forth from the course?! Im definitely not taking out the seat.