In the moment, it may seem like small potatoes to let your canine buddy roam the vehicle when you start the engine with your dog by your side, but as much you wouldn’t let a toddler hang with their face out the window with their tongue flapping in the wind (though the image is hysterically funny), you also want Fido to hop on his tablet with a pair of headphones and watch some YouTube while you focus on the road ahead. (Not literally. Fido will almost certainly eat your tablet.) Strapping your pet in has been studied to not only reduce your stress while driving, but your pupper is also more tense when he or she isn’t nestled in for a safe, contained journey.
Even harnessed or crated, bringing your dog instead of a relative is still far better because, let’s face it, not everybody can listen to hours of your pop hits car singalong performances. Or when you take a road trip with Aunt Rhonda, you can’t weather the imposing stench of her liverwurst and onion sandwiches on rye mixed with her trusty pack of Virginia Slims. There is no amount of air freshener on God’s green earth that can fully remove that combo. (Goodness, have you ever heard of a nice carryout Sweetgreen and a refreshing iced green tea instead? You’re on the bus next time we go to Rehobeth! And by the way, I’m turning up the Lizzo! I just took a DNA, turns out, I’m a hundred percent sick of Aunt Rhonda!).
So remember, as you zip off for your fall frolics to apple-picking, hikes, football games, and bonfires, be sure to bring your furry best pal along, but buckle him in alongside everyone else! Also, check out this Volvo Press Release for some other entertaining details, like millennial’s desire for “paw-ternity” leave when they add a pet to the family and how this generation is spearheading a new level of “pet pampering”, and Volvo is right there with them as they begin to unveil cutting-edge safety accessories for pets. Looks like everyone awesome is embracing one of life’s basic truths: stinky sandwiches drool, animal friends rule, and when you have a member of your family on the road with you, fuzzy or not, you need to stay un-distracted to keep them all safe so you can smoothly pull into your next exciting adventure.