Luxembourg is a country where almost everybody drives across a border sooner or later, and most dogs here spend more time in a car than dogs in bigger countries do. A loose dog on the back seat is the norm, and it is the arrangement that fails in the two situations that matter: a sudden stop, and a dog that decides to climb into the front at a roundabout.
Restraint, properly
Two arrangements work.
A crate secured in the boot, ideally a purpose-built travel crate, wedged or strapped so it cannot move. This is the option most professionals use: it protects the dog, protects the people, and gives an anxious dog a den. It also keeps a dog contained if a door is opened by a stranger after an accident.
A crash-tested harness attached to the seat belt or to an anchor point. Note the phrase: a cheap harness with a clip sold as a car restraint is not a crash restraint, and in a collision it can fail or injure the dog. Look for one that has been tested and says so.
What does not work: a lead clipped to a collar, which risks a broken neck in a sudden stop; a dog loose on a seat; a dog in a footwell; a dog with its head out of the window, which causes eye injuries and is how dogs fall out.
Check also what your insurer and the traffic rules in the countries you drive through require. Rules on transporting animals differ between France, Belgium and Germany, and the practical standard, a restrained animal that cannot interfere with the driver, satisfies all of them.
In a collision at 50 km/h an unrestrained dog is thrown forward with a force many times its own body weight. That is the argument, not tidiness.
Travel sickness
Puppies are worse than adults, and many grow out of it. What owners read as motion sickness is frequently anxiety: a dog whose only car journeys end at the vet has learned exactly what the car predicts.
The approach that works is the same as for any fear. Feed meals in a stationary car with the engine off. Then with the engine running. Then a one-minute drive that ends somewhere excellent, a favourite walk rather than a waiting room. Build up over weeks, and make sure most journeys end somewhere good.
Practical measures alongside: travel on an empty-ish stomach, keep the car cool with fresh air, face the dog forwards, use a crate or cover to reduce visual movement, and stop every couple of hours. If sickness persists, ask your vet: effective anti-nausea medication for dogs exists, and it is far better than the folk remedies circulating online.
Heat, which is the dangerous part
Never leave a dog in a parked car, not for five minutes, not with the windows cracked, not in the shade, and not in an underground car park in the belief that it is cool down there. Interior temperatures rise far faster than people expect, and heatstroke develops quickly and kills.
On summer journeys, travel early or late, keep air conditioning directed towards the dog rather than at the windscreen alone, carry water and a bowl, and plan stops in shade. A crate in a boot with a closed tailgate at a service station is not a cool place to leave a dog while you queue for coffee.
If you see a dog in distress in a locked car, call the police. That is the correct number, and this is one of the few situations where hesitating is worse than being wrong.
Longer journeys
- Stop every two hours for water and a short lead walk, never off lead at a motorway service area
- Two leads or a harness plus collar at every stop: a dog that slips a harness at a service station on the A31 is a nightmare
- Identification tag with a mobile number that works abroad, and chip details up to date before you leave
- Carry the passport, vaccination record and your insurance details in the car, not in a suitcase in the boot
- Know where the emergency vets are along the route, at least approximately
- Do not feed a large meal before setting off, and avoid feeding immediately after arrival while the dog is still wound up
The short trips, which are most of them
Most car journeys in a dog's life are five minutes long: to the park, to the vet, to a friend's house. Those short trips are where the habits are formed, good and bad.
Get in and out calmly rather than letting the dog launch itself from the boot into a car park. Teach a wait at the tailgate until released, which takes a fortnight and prevents a dog jumping out into traffic. And for older dogs or long-backed breeds, use a ramp rather than letting them jump down repeatedly: the landing impact on the front legs and spine adds up over years.
If somebody else drives your dog
Ask directly how dogs are transported, and expect a specific answer: a crate, secured, or a crash-tested harness. Ask how many dogs travel at once, whether they are separated, and what happens if one becomes unwell.
It is also fair to ask whether transport is included in the time you are paying for. A sixty-minute walk that includes twenty-five minutes of driving is a thirty-five minute walk, and you are entitled to know that before you book.
At PAWLY the answer is simpler: walks happen from your door, on foot, in your own neighbourhood. Your dog is driven only when you have specifically agreed it, for example a forest outing at the weekend, and then in a secured crate.
General information for dog owners in Luxembourg, not veterinary or legal advice. For your own dog, ask your vet, a qualified behaviourist or your commune. How this journal is written and checked.
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