Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Dig-Man, The New Houdini

Well Digory has managed to do something quite amazing--escape from his seatbelt. We should have been forwarned when he easily escaped from his Halti leader No, it's not a muzzle. It's like a bridle for a horse that guides the dog gently without pulling on a neck collar. In theory.

So Digory makes short work of the Halti, no matter how much we tighten it. So much for that. So then we get to Sunday. We're off to a dinner at my parents and decided to bring Dig along (he's never been there before). For some reason Digory hates the car (so does Scout). He can't be trusted to be loose in the car because he basically wants to help you drive by stepping on the gear shift (in a stick shift car), putting his paws on the steering wheel, and sitting on your lap. And there's also the safety issue of his either getting hurt in an accident (sad) or the more callous issue of him becoming a flying projectile in an accident.

So enter the Doggie Seatbelt:

It's a harness with a strap in the back through which you put the car seatbelt, and all are safe. The one pictured above is the same model as Scout's. Digory's is slightly different but the design is basically the same--strap around the neck, one behind the front legs, connected in back.

So Kevin gets Dig's seatbelt on, then comes back into the house to get something else. We go outside to see Digory sticking his head out the window looking very happy, sans seatbelt. Okay, so maybe Kevin didn't tighten the straps enough. Put it on again, Digory squirms his way out, big proud grin on his face. Tighten it up again, put it on, watch Houdini escape. What to do next? How about using Scout's smaller seatbelt? Houdini escapes again. And again. Now what? How about both seatbelts at the same time? Once again, Digory makes short work of those and is soon free, proud as can be.

Well we just ended up going to Torrance without him. But what to do next time? We're still brainstorming options. Temporarily we could put Scout's smaller crate in the car (his is too big to fit) but where does that leave us when we get rid of the Contour? My personal favorite solution is the Doggie Duffel bag--buy a duffel bag, cut holes for his head, legs, and tail, zip him up and strap him in. We're still bouncing some other ideas around but all suggestions are welcome.