Alinex Wheatens generally love travelling in a car. They really deeply love it. Occasionally a puppy has a bit of car sickness which is most commonly caused by teething. We commit to not breeding from dogs that have carsickness so by and large our puppy families can travel as much as they want to with their dog.

The most important thing to get sorted before you travel is how to keep your Wheaten safe in the car. There are three options.

1. A seatbelt which clips onto their collar.

Perhaps the simplest and cheapest option; set belts are available from only a few dollars to something more highly priced that better immitates safety gear. This arrangement helps minimize the chance that your dog will go flying through the car in a bad crash. It protects the dog a little from falling off the set and injuring itself if you are slightly reckless in your driving style (or even just brake suddenly.) A simple seatbelt like this will do almost nothing to protect your dog in really bad smash.

2. A Padded Harness which clips onto the same sort of Seatbelt.

This is perhaps the safest option. It is a hassle to get your dog sorted when you get in and out of the car but once they are in the safety harness wraps around their chest and keeps them snug and secure in the car seat. This arrangement will protect the dog and will also protect all the people in the vehicle in the case of an accident. This kind of arrangement is most highly recommended.

The only downside is that these harnesses are typically very warm for the dog. This is fine in the car with the airconditioning on, but most families also try to keep the harness on when they get to the destination. Please don’t. These harnesses are very likely to overheat your dog and in Australia that will often get your dog to the early stages of heat stress.

3. A Crate or Cage in the Back of the Vehicle.

Well built crates or cages are the most expensive option. Some may protect the dog quite well. Unless the dog is actually harnessed inside the crate or cage, they can still get badly thrown and injured. Unless the crates or cages are fized into the vehicle properly they too can go flying in a smash and bady harm the dog and other occupants of the vehicle. The other downside of having Wheatens in crates is that they are separated away from their people. Wheatens LOVE to be right with you. Most of them would stand on the centre console and ask when they can have a turn of driving. Most do not want to be shoved in a crate at the back of the vehicle.

In our view, a well fitted safety harness and a setbelt are the way to go. If the dog has enough freedom to lie down and relax across the back seat so much the better. Our strong suggestion is that you revert back to a collar and lead when you get to your destination, or put them in a front-ring harness which is built in a way that is cooler around the ribcage than the average car safety harness.