A note before you start: This post is meant to help educate dog owners and point you toward good resources for traveling safely with a pet in the car. It isn’t exhaustive, and it shouldn’t be your only source of information on the subject. Every dog is different, so please talk with a licensed veterinarian about what’s right for your dog’s breed, age, size, and health before your next car ride.
Most of the miles a dog logs in a car aren’t road trips. They’re the five-minute run to the vet, the drive to the groomer, a Saturday trip to the dog park, or picking the kids up with the dog along for the ride. Because these trips feel routine, it’s easy to skip the same precautions you’d take before a long drive — the dog jumps in loose, rides in a lap, or sits up front. Local trips are exactly where the risk hides, because familiarity breeds shortcuts. Here’s what actually matters for keeping a dog safe on the short drives that make up most of their time in the car, including the one decision — the harness — that most owners get wrong without ever knowing it.
Why Temperature Is the Biggest Risk on “Just a Quick Trip”
Nearly every case of a dog dying in a hot car starts the same way: someone thought it would only take a minute. A parked car heats up far faster than most people expect. On a 70°F day, the interior of a car can climb to 100°F in about 20 minutes, and on hotter days, cabin temperatures can reach 140°F in under an hour1. The American Veterinary Medical Association puts similar numbers on it: roughly 20°F of increase in the first 10 minutes and nearly 30°F within 20 minutes, with interiors on a 70°F day exceeding 110°F within an hour.
Cracking a window doesn’t meaningfully change this. Both the AKC and AVMA note that a partially open window heats up at almost the same rate as a fully closed car . Heatstroke in dogs can set in within minutes, and hundreds of pets die from car-related heatstroke every year in the U.S. — a toll significant enough that 31 states now have laws addressing pets left in vehicles. The AVMA’s guidance is blunt on this point: never leave a pet alone in a parked vehicle, regardless of the outdoor temperature or how quick the errand is supposed to be 2. Cold weather carries its own version of this risk — a parked car can also get dangerously cold, so the same rule applies in January as it does in July.
Where in the Car Your Dog Is Actually Safest
The front seat is the wrong seat. Airbags are engineered around the size and position of an adult human, and a deploying airbag can seriously injure or kill a dog riding up front. The AVMA and ASPCA both recommend the back seat as the default, with a dog secured either in a crash-tested harness clipped to the seat belt buckle or in a crate or carrier.
Positioning matters within the back seat, too. Progressive’s guidance on pet car safety recommends placing a crate, carrier, or harnessed dog as close to the center of the vehicle as possible, since the center rear position is generally the furthest from a point of impact in the most common types of collisions3. If you use a crate or carrier, it should be secured so it can’t slide or tip, and it needs to be large enough for your dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably — a requirement the AVMA also builds into its own recommendations. Skip wire or collapsible crates for car travel; they’re not built to stay intact in a crash and can fail exactly when your dog needs them most.
Size and Breed Change the Equation
A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t really exist here. A few factors worth thinking through before you decide how your dog rides:
Larger dogs generally do best in a secured crate made of sturdier plastic or metal, since these hold up better structurally than fabric carriers or a harness alone.
Smaller dogs and cats are usually well suited to a soft-sided carrier, which is lighter and easier to secure than a full crate, provided it still meets the stand-turn-around-lie-down space requirement.
Flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds — Bulldogs, Pugs, French Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, and similar breeds — overheat and develop heat exhaustion faster than other dogs because their airways are naturally more restricted. They need extra caution around car temperature and ventilation, even on trips that feel short4.
Puppies, senior dogs, and dogs with anxiety or motion sickness often need a training period before they’re truly comfortable, which is worth planning for rather than expecting to solve on the first trip (more on this below).
A harness sized and fitted for your specific dog matters more than the brand name on the packaging — a harness that’s too loose can allow a dog to be thrown forward in a sudden stop, defeating the purpose entirely.
Choosing a Safety Harness (or Crate) That Actually Works in a Crash
This is the part most dog owners get wrong, often without realizing it. Buying any harness labeled for car use feels like a safety upgrade, but there’s currently no federal safety standard that pet travel harnesses are required to meet — which means a manufacturer can market a product as a “car harness” without it having been crash-tested at all5.
Independent testing has shown just how big that gap can be. The nonprofit Center for Pet Safety (CPS) crash-tested a range of popular dog harnesses against the same standard used for child safety restraints. “We tested them to the child safety restraint standard and we experienced a 100-percent failure rate to protect either the consumer or the dog,” said CPS founder and CEO Lindsey Wolko6. In some tests, the crash-test dog dummies became projectiles inside the vehicle — the opposite of what a safety harness is supposed to prevent.
The takeaway isn’t that harnesses are useless — it’s that certification matters. Look specifically for a harness that has passed independent CPS crash testing rather than one that simply claims to be “crash-tested” in its own marketing. As of the most recent published testing, the Sleepypod Clickit Sport and Clickit Terrain harnesses were among the few models to earn CPS certification; new products are tested over time, so it’s worth checking CPS’s current list before you buy7. A properly secured, correctly sized crate remains a strong alternative to a harness, particularly for larger or younger dogs who might chew through or wriggle out of a harness.
Whichever you choose, the goal is the same: keep your dog from becoming a projectile, and keep them upright rather than lying down, since an upright position offers better protection for the spine in a sudden stop.
Arrow’s Story
I’ll admit this section is personal, but it’s exactly the kind of thing I wish someone had told me sooner. Our dog, Arrow, struggled with car rides from the day we brought her home. She didn’t hate the car not did she get “nervous about it. From the day we brought her home, every car ride meant nonstop drooling before we’d even left the driveway, followed by her throwing up before we made it a mile. Trips to the vet were dreaded by both of us before they even started.
While we wanted to bring her to the beach, the office, and the park; we knew that before the car was put into gear the bottom of her jaw would be soaked. If felt cruel to try to bring her anywhere outside of absolutely necessary trips.
We tried a lot of things, and not all of it worked right away. We started with ginger, which some owners and veterinarians use to help settle a dog’s stomach, though the evidence behind it is limited and it’s not a substitute for a real conversation with your vet before giving your dog any supplement8.
We talked to our veterinarian about medication, and used a prescription anti-nausea medication for a while to get through necessary trips. We also tried crate training her for car rides, on the theory that a solid-sided crate limits how much motion a dog sees and feels, which can reduce the visual triggers behind motion sickness.
None of it was an overnight fix, and it genuinely took time — not a bad car seat or the wrong harness, just time. It wasn’t until Arrow was about 11 months old that something clicked and she could finally ride in the car without the constant drooling and throwing up. It turns out there was a real, physical reason for that timeline: veterinarians note that motion sickness in young dogs is often tied to the inner ear’s balance system, which isn’t fully developed in puppies, and many dogs “outgrow” motion sickness by around a year of age as that system matures9. Arrow’s timeline landed almost exactly on that pattern. If your dog is struggling with car rides right now, it doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong with your setup — it might just mean they need more time, the right combination of support, and a veterinarian who can rule out anything else going on.
Protect Every Ride — and Every Vet Visit — With Pet Insurance from Avanti
Even with the right harness, the right seat, and a lot of patience, life with a dog comes with surprises — car sickness that needs a vet visit, an unexpected illness, or an accident that has nothing to do with the car at all. Pet insurance from Avanti Insurance Agency is there for those moments, helping you say yes to the care your dog needs without the bill being the first thing you worry about.
Ready to talk about coverage for your dog? Contact Avanti Insurance Agency today for a free, no-obligation pet insurance quote.
Building a Local-Trip Routine That Sets Your Dog Up for Success
Use the same harness or crate every time, and check the fit periodically — dogs’ weight and body shape can change enough over months to loosen a harness that used to fit well.
Keep short practice trips in the routine even after your dog seems comfortable, so the car doesn’t only mean “vet” or “groomer” in your dog’s mind.
Bring water for anything longer than a quick errand, and never leave your dog alone in the car while you run in somewhere — even for “just a minute.”
Watch your dog for drooling, panting, whining, or stiffness on early rides; these are common early signs of motion sickness or anxiety worth mentioning to your vet.
One More Reminder Before You Head Out!
As mentioned at the start: this article is designed to help educate pet owners and point you toward credible resources on traveling safely with a dog by car. It is not a complete guide, and it isn’t a substitute for professional veterinary advice. Please consult a licensed veterinarian about the safest way to travel with your specific dog, especially if they have a health condition, are very young or very old, or have never been properly evaluated for motion sickness or travel anxiety.
If your dog has a flat face, is a senior, or has a health condition, loop your veterinarian in before you assume any harness or travel routine is the right fit for them specifically.
Sources
All facts, statistics, and quotes above are drawn from the sources below. Please re-verify current figures, product certifications, and links before publishing, as testing results and product lines can change over time.
- American Kennel Club (AKC) — “Can I Leave My Dog in the Car If I Crack a Window?”: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/dogs-in-hot-cars/ ↩︎
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) — “Pet safety in vehicles”: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/pets-vehicles ↩︎
- Progressive — “Car Safety for Dogs and Cats”: https://www.progressive.com/lifelanes/pet-safety-in-cars/ ↩︎
- ASPCA — “Traveling With Pets? Follow These Expert Dos and Don’ts to Keep Them Safe”: https://www.aspca.org/news/traveling-pets-follow-these-expert-dos-and-donts-keep-them-safe ↩︎
- Center for Pet Safety — Harness Crash Test Results: https://www.centerforpetsafety.org/test-results/harnesses/ ↩︎
- CBS News Miami — “Tests On Dog Harnesses Show 100 Percent Failure Rate” (Center for Pet Safety findings, comments from founder Lindsey Wolko): https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/tests-on-dog-harnesses-show-100-percent-failure-rate ↩︎
- GoPetFriendly — “Best Crash-Tested Dog Harnesses For The Car”: https://www.gopetfriendly.com/blog/crash-tested-dog-harnesses/ ↩︎
- GoodRx — “10 Ways to Prevent Dog Car (Motion) Sickness”: https://www.goodrx.com/pet-health/dog/dog-car-motion-sickness ↩︎
- VCA Animal Hospitals — “Motion Sickness in Dogs”: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/motion-sickness-in-dogs ↩︎