“…I don’t want to be too graphic, but I do want to convince you that securing your dog to the car and limiting her range of motion is important not only for your dog’s safety, but for yours. Even a 2 lb. dog becomes a missile in an accident: At 50 mph, little Fluff will hit you with the force of 40 lbs. At the same speed, a 20 lb. dog will hit with the force of 440 lbs. Fluff won’t survive, and neither will you. Other hazards? A small, active dog may distract you, or even dart under your brake pedal, at a crucial moment.

Our dog, Chloe, is a 13 lb. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We drive with her around town and on road trips that depart from our driveway, but we also fly with her to distant destinations and then drive with her in rental cars. We’ve had the chance to consider and try a variety of solutions for those situations, and here are my favorites.”

The rest of this article — describing my favorite dog booster seat, for car trips that leave from our driveway, and my favorite system for keeping Chloe safe in rental cars — appeared today on Will My Dog Hate Me?, my friend Edie Jarolim’s blog. Edie is the author of Am I Boring My Dog? And 99 Other Things Every Dog Wishes You Knew, reviewed (ecstatically) in an earlier Dog Jaunt post. She is also, among many other things, Pet Travel Correspondent for KVOA-TV in Tucson. Please check out my guest post, which is part of a series of posts Edie’s published over the past few weeks about making car rides safe and comfortable for your dog, even an anxious traveler like her dog Frankie.