This may be a ridiculous question, but I need to ask it anyway as i can't find any relevant information on searching the web.

Is it possible to transport a dog of this size in a car, such as a Honda Civic or Toyota Yaris(4 door vehicles)?

Does one need a SUV, minivan, truck, etc?

Any info you can provide is great. Thanks.

Hi, and welcome to BernerTalk! Thats not a ridiculous question at all. We have an SUV now, but we used to have a VW Jetta. Our Berner fit in the back seat fine. Now dont expect for be able to put anyone else back there, but the dog had plenty of room. Do you have plans to get a Bernese soon? I can promise you wont regret it!

It's entirely possible. Getting a dog is a big commitment though, so we are doing a lot of research first, such as figuring out if a big dog can be expected to ride in our car!

Thanks for the info!

I drive a Nissan Versa (which is a small hatchback) and my berner jumps right into the hatch. It is a tight fit but he does not seem to mind because he loves to travel. He has enough room to sit and lay down.

My bernese, Barkley, jumps into my hatch very easily but I have recently bought a ramp because I do not want this continous motion to hurt his hips. Barkley will not use the ramp. We have tried everything. He seems to be terrified of it. Does anyone have any suggestions (we have tried treats, toys, praising... everything)? Also will his jumping into the hatch hurt him? He is about 1 year old.

I have seen those ramps and thought about getting one, but had wondered about how to get him to go up it. We have an X-terra now and while there is plenty of room for him, its a chore to get him up that far.( he's not very good at jumping ). Is it an actually ramp, or is it the kind with steps? We used to have a ramp on our deck that was for my chow when she was pregnant. She was scared of it at first too, until we realized her feet were sliding when she tried to walk on it. We used some of those sticky things that you can put in your bath tub, and then she was fine going up and down. I am always at a loss too when a treat wont work, maybe if he sees you going up an down it, he will follow??

Hi,

We have three cars, and we transport the dogs (three, a total of about 300 lbs) in all of them. I put the back seat down in my VW Beetle, and they fit fine in the hatch. All three sit in the back seat of our sedan. Close quarters, but fine for short trips. Also, they fit fine on the back seat or in the cargo area of my SUV. For long trips, I put the seat down and they have the whole back seat and cargo area.

My grandmother used to say there's always plenty of room for those you love.

I like your Grandmothers thinking.. I used to have 2 chows and a Miata! That was fun lol

I use to have a Volvo 850 estate which was fine for Ollie up until recently he has not much room to turn and his shoulders are stooped when he sits up.
He now travels in a Chrysler Grand Voyager with the back seat turned round to face the hatch window he didn't like the back without the seats too much room I think. He loves to sit on the back seat watching all the cars following.

Haha that's an awesome question because I've wondered the same thing! I have a Toyota Corolla... and we don't have any kids. So right now I'm totally keeping my car. In a few years we are going to look into something a little bigger when we decide to have kids. I got our pup a doggie seatbelt, it's just a harness that attaches to the seatbelt clip. I don't want potentially 100lbs of dog coming at me in case of an accident :P