Doggone it: Car companies’ pet accessories to keep animals safe

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The giant purse means well, sure. It’s a practical way of keeping those tiny pups safe between shopping and brunch without the annoyance of a leash or of strangers stopping for a pat ... as long as you’re not worried about shedding. And lest we forget, some of us have a best friend that weighs more than a Big Gulp.

Either way, all bets are off when the dog could roam free in the car. As one commenter said another time when Up to Speed broached the subject of in-car pet restraints, “I doubt anybody would want to get hit in the head by a dog of any size.”

Programs like Bark Buckle Up, which works with 15 auto manufacturers, teach the importance of pet safety, such as latching animals to seats for drives. And car companies have come to our aid with lines of pet accessories for both safety and messes.

Toyota’s pet safety campaign centers on its new Venza crossover with ‘more than a dozen Venza-friendly creature comforts, the most ever available through Toyota dealers.’ Of these, options include hammock-style bench seat covers like the one shown at right, leash tethers, pet booster seats with harnesses, pet barriers and pet seatbelt buckles.

The Nissan Xterra Pet Guard Divider keeps Fido and friends in the cargo area. As for messes, Nissan’s first Pet Blanket will launch exclusively for the Cube in 2009. The blanket fits into both the front and rear seats and has supportive sides to keep the car fur-free.

There are also cargo partitions for Volkswagen’s Tiguan, Touareg, Jetta SportWagen and Passat wagons. They can be combined with the brand’s heavy-duty Gorilla Gear trunk liners. VW also has leashes and a Pet Lovers Travel Kit, which has two collapsible bowls, detachable cases for storing treats and a D-ring for attaching a leash.

BMW offers dog harnesses in small, medium and large that secure to the back seats (see top photo). To protect from paw prints and pet debris, the automaker also has a Protective Rear Seat Cover. There’s also a protective luggage compartment cover for the X6 coupe.

Porsche offers a travel safety cage that fits in the back of the Cayenne SUV.

Jeep‘s Compass and Patriot have a cargo-area dog bed as well as a Vertical Cargo Net, which partitions the rear passenger seat from the cargo area.

Drivers can add a metal or nylon cargo net as well as a cage for the rear of many of Volvo’s models.

-- Whitney Friedlander