I did a lot of searching before posting but all I found was people with dogs and an A6... None the less half the reason I bought my A3 was to have room for my dog in the back...

I wanted to see if anyone has any good seat protectors or dividers they are currently using. I would like to just fold down the rear seats and have him hang in the back but also want some protection if possible.

On my old car (it wasn't a hatchback) I used to have one of those seat hammocks which was great... but I feel like there should be something better now that I have the extra room in the back!

Let me know...

Now of course there's the other problem... dealing with the dam blindspot in the car!!



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Another option is going with a commercially-available pet "hammock" that goes over the front headrests and folds over the rear seat. These are seen in the pet catalogs, Orvis, and places like that. It could likely be used in conjunction with the chest pet restraint that clicks into the seatbelt recepticle. This is designed to keep the dog safely in place so they don't fly forward into the windshield in the event of an accident. I guess a gate could prevent injuries to both the pet and driver, too. The one reason the nylon restraint seems so nice is because it doesn't alter the appearance of the car and it would prevent the dog from becoming airborne.

 

nice to find another fellow dog owenr.
my husky-great dane mix (30 inches to the shoudler) fits the trunk just fine for the short trip to the dog park (there is a cool one in Santa Clara). the only caveat is that he has to sit or lay down, if he's standing on all four that my entire rear view mirror is a giant furry black thing. i sometimes fold the seats down to give him a little more room.
in my case a net in the back would acutally hinder Lynx. he's just to big and tall and the net would make the trunk space too small. i dont know about a tarp over the seat. how about one that you can use when you fold the back seat down and attaches to the headrest of the front seat? i would be interested in that. If you have the tarp, would you mind trying it with the seat folded and let me know how it works?

robert,
what dog do you have?

 

I got a generic divider from petsmart. I have (sorry, had...Hunter just passed away last week) a 110# dog. I would remove the rear seat bench so the rear seat backs will lay flat. and the divider is a "fits all" type of device. It worked pretty good for me

 

I have a American Bulldog (basically a large pit) and my girlfriend has an Italian Greyhound... Quite the pair as one's 10lbs... the other 110lbs!

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I do have one of the hammocks which worked great in my old car as it was a traditional 4-door sedan... but I was just hoping to come up with a better solution now that I have the extra space of a hatchback!

I think I am going to see if I can figure out a way to use the hammock with the rear seats folded down... I haven't had a chance to see what really works best yet... but after a quick exam I think I am going to try attaching the hammock to the front headrests and then to some of the anchors in the trunk, prob with a bungee cord.

Hopefully I will have a chance to come up with something this weekend...
If it works out well, I will take some pics to share... If not, I am going to spare myself the embarrassment!

 

I use the rear parcel shelf vertically between the folded rear seats and the front seats as a divider. It isn't very tall, but provides some division.

 

So I've found exactly what I want!! They just don't list it for an A3...
http://www.autoanything.com/seat-cov...A2325A0A0.aspx

It would be perfect for me... If I want I can put the dog in the back/trunk for s short trip and its protected... and if its a long journey I can throw the seats down and I'm still protected and he's got some room to lounge!!

The problem is they don't list the A3... what does everyone think is the closest size car??
They do list both an A4 wagon and a Passat wagon... but no other Audi's or VW's...

Can someone help recommend a car of similar size??
I also checked for the Mazda 3 hatch but it wasn't listed...
They do list a Saab 9-2x... would that be best??

Thanks!

 

Given that the product you are looking at is basically a duvet/padded blanket with some tie downs on it, any of the smalller hatch backs would do. Arguably a larger one would enable you to fold it up the sides of the car as well to provide even more protection for the car,

I have a large black labrador that used to fit in my old A3 and I have just bought a new one as a new dog transporter

 

I put this in another thread as well...

Pull out the back seat bench, flip down the back seats, pull out the shelf, throw down a cheap blanket in the back (and/or a big dog bed), get a $50 - $75 1 size fits most cargo area divider and you are set. This worked perfect for my 110# wannabelapdog.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 8312&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032883&am p;ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUI D=1178050212476&itemNo=12&In=Dog&N=203 2883&Ne=2

Sorry, I have no idea how to make that a short link to a long url....

 

I think it's worth giving your animals everything they need. For example, you can read a lot of useful information about https://pawfectpawprint.com/the-ulti...lotl-morphing/. This will be extremely useful information, especially for those who are looking for guides for pets. It helped me a lot.