Driving with your dog, are you within the law?

Did you know that it is a criminal offence to drive with an unrestrained dog in your car? I will be honest and say that I didn’t and when we first brought our new dog home (a 200-mile drive) he was just on my lap in the passenger seat. I had never owned a dog as a grown up and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision but after some research, we settled on a suitable harness.

As a new dog owner and someone who travels a lot it never occurred to me to not take my dog with us in the car. Below is an infographic created and shared by All Car Leasing where they asked 1216 dog owners in the UK on their car habits.

I am really surprised that 21% of the owners questioned didn’t let their dogs in their cars but I do completely understand what they mean about the dog smell. It is the one thing that I absolutely hate about owning a dog. Thankfully my husband hates it as well so he is good and cleaning out the car and spraying the fabric to stop it smelling.

The other thing that surprised me is the fact that 69% of people who own a small/toy breed actually allow them to travel on the front seat. Even restrained I find that this is far too much of a distraction as Sonny would just love to be sitting on my knee whilst I am driving.
Homeward Hound - Dog Owners And Their Cars

Homeward Hound by All Car Leasing

At the moment our dog only has a harness for the car but I am actually considering a more substantial car seat for him as we do lots of long journeys to visit family members and he comes with us. If we had an estate I would pop him in his cage in the boot but we have a saloon so he needs to be on the back seat with my daughters.

Do you have a dog that you travel with? How is your dog restrained in your car?