Dog Car Seat vs. Carrier: What Crash Tests Say for Small Dogs

Frank rides in the car in a basket-style seat that clips to the seat belt. That is probably the most common way small dogs travel, and it is the setup that independent crash tests have been hardest on.

This article goes through what those tests found, how a carrier compares, and what you can do to make a booster seat safer if you keep using one.

Two different jobs

A car restraint for a dog can do two things:

1. Prevent distraction. Keep the dog in one place so it doesn't climb onto the driver's lap or move around the car.
2. Protect in a crash. Keep the dog restrained and in one piece if the car brakes hard or hits something.

Most booster seats do the first job well. The second is the problem.

There are no government safety standards for pet car restraints in the US. The closest thing is the Center for Pet Safety (CPS), an independent nonprofit that crash-tests pet products and certifies the ones that pass.

What the crash tests found

In 2015, CPS crash-tested four popular pet seats with high sales or claims of crash testing, using weighted test dogs. All four had serious failures. Seats rotated or rolled over, a connector broke, and in one test the dog ended up completely unrestrained while the seat stayed put. At the time, CPS did not recommend any of the pet booster seats it had tested.

That study is more than ten years old, and products change. It is still the most recent independent crash test of booster seats we could find. If a seat claims to be crash-tested, check whether the test was independent and whether the product appears on the CPS certified list.

Where carriers come in

CPS also tested carriers and later started certifying the ones that passed. CPS lists the full line of Sleepypod carriers as having passed its certification testing. CPS designs its carrier tests for small pets in the rear seat, with the carrier secured by the seat belt or the car's anchor points.

	Booster seat	Crash-tested carrier
Stops distraction	Yes	Yes
Independent crash results	Failed in 2015 tests	Certified models available
Your dog can see out	Yes	Limited
Getting in and out	Easy, dog is lifted in	Dog has to go into the carrier
Where it goes	Back seat	Back seat, secured

The trade-off is plain. A booster seat is comfortable and lets a small dog look out. A certified carrier is the option with the better crash results.

If you keep using a booster seat

Plenty of people will keep the seat they have. These steps reduce the risk:

• Back seat only. Never in the front, where an airbag can seriously hurt a small dog.
• Attach to a harness, never a collar. In a sudden stop, all the force goes to wherever the tether is clipped.
• Consider a crash-tested harness. CPS has advised replacing the tether or harness that comes with a booster seat with a crash-tested harness connected to the seat belt, because the included parts have likely not been tested. CPS lists the Sleepypod Clickit range as certified.
• Keep the tether short. Long enough for your dog to sit and lie down, not so long that they can reach the edge of the seat or the footwell.
• Check the connection points. A broken buckle connector was one of the failures in the crash tests. Replace worn or cracked parts.

Senior dogs and the car

Getting in and out is part of car safety for an older dog. Jumping down from a car seat is a hard landing for small front legs. Lift your dog in and out, supporting both the chest and the back end. If your dog already hesitates at jumps, read why a senior dog may hesitate on the stairs.

The short version

• Booster seats stop distraction but did poorly in independent crash tests.
• A crash-tested carrier in the back seat has the best independent results.
• If you use a booster seat: back seat, harness not collar, short tether, and ideally a crash-tested harness.
• Check the current list of certified products on the Center for Pet Safety website before you buy, since the list changes.