A Pet Auto Restraint Can Save Your Dog's Life

Safeguard your pet with the comfortable safety tested Bergan canine seat belts.

A Bergan dog safety car harness not only protects your dog, but will also keep you and your loved ones riding in the car safe.

How a Dog Seat Belt for Cars Can Save Your Pet
If safety belts protect the lives of people, then a pet car harness could also save your dog's life. But canine seat belts not only protect your pet, they provide safety for people in the vehicle as well. For one, your pet won't turn into a harmful projectile. Also, if your dog is buckled into his dog vehicle harness he won't be able to harass the driver. Other situations on why your dog should make use of a dog safety car harness include an abrupt halt will not send your dog flying to smash into the dashboard with his muzzle or get thrown onto the floor, he won't have the ability to stick his head out the window (a pleasurable but hazardous activity which may result in your pet being harmed with flying debris from the road or being choked in an abrupt stop), he will not have the ability to jump out of an open window, and if you get into an automobile collision your pet won't have the ability to escape the car and will likely be easier to handle by emergency personnel.

How Bergan Dog Safety Belts Work
Most car restraints for dogs consist of two parts - the harness part and the tether part. Each pet auto restraint style works differently. This particular style from Bergan has these two parts - the harness part and the adjustable-length tangle-free tether which uses a carabiner to clip onto any seat belt system.

How to Put On the Bergan Dog Seatbelts
Here are photos of us putting the Bergan dog safety car harness on our dog Maya. For the text written details of how to do this, click "How to Put on and Adjust the Size of the Bergan Dog Car Harness" article on our Pet Auto Safety Blog. You can also watch the below video.

Bergan Dog Seatbelt Reviews
Check out these dog seatbelt reviews from our customers.
-Click HERE to read about Dougie the UK.
-Cheryl in Portland, Oregon - "... The piece of mind I feel knowing they and my passengers are safe is worth every penny and I kick myself for not getting these sooner. My one negative thing to say would be the harness doesn't stay put very evenly on our boxer mix since he has such a deep chest. It fits him well, though it shifts from side to side which I think annoys him a bit. Other than that, I like the design and think they look really nice."

For the full dog seatbelt reviews, click HERE to visit The Preventive Vet article.

If you have purchased the Bergan pet car harness, whether it be from us or not, please email us at naturebydawn@aol.com with your opinion.

Not all dog seatbelt reviews are positive. Some negative criticism to consider include the buckles on these doggie seatbelts are plastic, the straps tighten but may come loose over time, the tether is too long or too short for a particular dog, or the padding is too bulky for the dog. Our customer service department is happy provide you with a refund or exchange should you have any concerns with our pet seat belts.

Colors Available
We only have the Bergan car restraints for dogs in standard black with aqua at this time.

Sizes Available
The Bergan canine seat belts come in four sizes:  small, medium, large, and extra large dog seat belt for cars.

Guarantee Fit! - If the dog travel harness that you select does not fit your pet, return it to us in its original condition and box. Once the pet car harness is received, we will send you the next size up or down, depending on your needs (extra fees may apply for the extra large). Your return shipping cost will not be refunded.  Click HERE for more information.

• Bergan Small - for dogs 10-25 pounds.  $23.99 
• Bergan Medium - for dogs 25-50 pounds.  $24.99
• Bergan Large - for dogs 50-80 pounds.  $26.99
• Bergan Extra Large - for dogs 80+ pounds.  $34.99

Compare the Bergan Dog Safety Belts with Other Brands
The Bergan dog safety car harness is comparable to the Kurgo Tru-Fit pet car harness and the Pet Buckle pet auto restraint in regards to safety testing. While the Bergan dog seat belt for cars hasn't actually been crash tested, it has been strength tested to the same standards as Pet Buckle. The Bergan brand has more chest padding than most other brands. And it is easier to adjust for sizing. The carabiner clip on the tether of the Bergan dog vehicle harness is more apt to fit into any vehicle seat belt system. But it is not as versatile in use as the Pet Buckle. With the Kwik-Connect tether of the Pet Buckle, this particular crash-tested dog safety car harness will work with a seat belt system as well as in the back of an SUV by clipping onto a cargo ring.

For more detailed information on the difference between our pet car harness brands, read our article, "Compare the Dog Car Harness Brands".

Have the Bergan Dog Safety Belts Been Tested?
Yes. Bergan has done extensive strength testing on their car restraints for dogs. They use the V9DT Pet Safety Durability standard. To find out more about this standard click V9Dt Pet Safety Durability Testing.

Click V9DT Standards to find out their requirements for passing the safety test and V9DT Procedures to see what types of tests they perform.

If your dog is in a car accident, multiply his weight by how fast your car is going to see how many pounds of force your dog could exert in a car accident. For example, a dog weighing 50 pounds will exert 2,500 pounds of force in a 50 mile per hour car accident (50 x 50 = 2,500). While the testing of the Kurgo Tru-Fit smart dog seatbelts show they will withstand 2,000 pounds of force, the Bergan pet seat belts testing proves the small Bergan pet auto restraint will hold up to nearly 800 pounds, 1,500 pounds for the medium, 2,500 for the large, and 4,400 for the extra large.

So why haven't the Bergan doggie seatbelts been crash tested and are crash tested ones better? Crash testing costs millions of dollars. And crash testing is only one type of test. Other tests are needed in order to make sure a dog seat belt for cars will hold up. Does this mean that Pet Buckle is better than Bergan because it has been crash tested? No. For one, Pet Buckle has not published their crash testing results so we do not know how heavy the dog dummy was or how fast the car was going in the crash test. Nor do we know how many pounds of force the Pet Buckle canine seat belts are designed to withstand.

Bergan is the newest dog vehicle harness to be added to our website. So when one of our employees got a new dog, she tried it on her dog and loved it. Here is a photo of Pierson wearing the Bergan dog safety car harness.

Can Your Dog Sit, Stand, and Lie Down in Bergan Dog Safety Belts?
Yes. As with the Guardian Gear & Cruising Companion brand canine seat belts, the tethers of the Bergan brand are adjustable and allow your dog to do any of the three. The following article, "Can Your Dog Sit, Stand, and Lay Down in Their Dog Seat Belt" is about the Guardian Gear brand, but since the tethers are the same length, it would apply for the Bergan as well.

Why the Tethers of the Bergan Pet Car Harness are No Longer than Two Feet
You want the tether to be long enough for your dog to move around, but not so long that he gets thrown onto the floor in a sudden stop or car accident. For full information on the tether lengths, click HERE to read an article from our Pet Auto Safety Blog.

What If You Don't Think Your Dog Will Wear a Pet Auto Restraint?
Some dogs don't like wearing doggie seatbelts. But you can help them get used to it. Check out this article, "How to Get Your Dog Used to a Dog Car Harness" on our Pet Auto Safety Blog. We also enclose a tip sheet with your purchase.

People are not just distracted by mobile phones. They can be distracted by pets in the car too. With a dog seat belt for cars, your pet will not annoy the driver. He will stay in the back seat, even in a car collision. Car restraints for dogs also restrain your pet from becoming a deadly projectile in an auto collision. Think about how much your pet weighs, then take into account how fast you usually go. And finally, multiply the two numbers. This is how much of an impact force your dog could inflict on other passengers if he isn't wearing a dog vehicle harness. So, if your dog weighs 15 pounds and you're driving 30 miles per hour, it is going to be just like being hit with 450 pounds. Most dog seatbelts are intended to hold out against at least 2,000 pounds or more of force.

Something else to think about for pets not making use of their pet seat belts and caught up in an auto crash... What if your dog survives but flees from the car? Think about how frightened your pet will be if your vehicle goes out of control, crashes into another car or object, or flips. His fundamental instinct will probably be to get away from the situation, even if he is injured. If there is an open window or other means of escape, your dog will try to use it. Then he will run. He might get into the road or he might run off into the trees and be forever lost. This occurs more often than you think. If your pet is strapped in a pet auto restraint, his likelihood for survival is enhanced a great deal.  Not only can he not flee, but he will likely be less difficult for emergency personnel to attend to his medical needs. Dog seatbelts save lives in so many ways.