Travelling w/ "Scared Vicious" dog?

[PicOlio]

Let's pretend I pass the home check and they say I can come pick up Polo from the shelter.....

Knowing that we don't KNOW Polo and we have no clue whether or not he "likes car rides" or if he'll be scared.... let's pretend that he becomes scared and vicious and a total tyrant upon trying to get him into the vehicle and during the ride home. I'm highly doubting this will be the case but I do want to "expect the worst" so we can have the safest least stressful outcome if that were to be the case...

In the worst case scenerio....

I fear I wouldn't be able to get him into the backseat of my truck (it's a full fledged full sized back seat btw). It's pretty high up and if he isn't able to "jump up" there or "doesn't want to", we will have a HUGE LUG to deal with..... For this reason I like to travel in the car more oft than not because the backseat is MUCH LOWER and easier for them to hop into....

Either way I've got to travel with him "hopefully staying" in the backseat lol.

I can't use a crate because a crate big enough for him likely would not fit in the back seat of either vehicle. I could put a crate in the bed of the truck but I've never traveled with my dogs in the bed of the truck so it's a bit scary to me...esp since I'll be taking him on the freeway.... Not to mention still having to get him into the crate way up on the bed of the truck lol

I've also never muzzled a dog.... but I assume a muzzle would be an option? However, Polo has a muzzle about the size of a pug lol. He truly is a big-head rott with a very very short muzzle lol

Again, I'm "assuming" none of this will be an issue..but since they've forced me to have to think about his homecoming for so many days I can't help but to think up all of these things lol.

If you had to travel with a 120+ lb rottweiler that you didn't know and who "may have never traveled before" how would you do it to ensure safety of the dog and yourself considering the fact that he "could" get violent/scared/ or just be the type to romp around and get "excited" in the vehicle?

You'll have a driver and one passenger to assist to complete the task....

If I have to pick him up with my son then I'll be driving and my son assisting... if with my hubby then he'll be driving and I'll likely just sit in the backseat with Polo. Not that Polo knows any of us WELL..he does know me the most and even in our short time together appears to be most comfortable and "clingy" with me....

[Chrisanne]

that's a toughy Deb. Since we don't really know how he will act, if he acts out at all. I'd probably start with a muzzle just to be safe. Then if he seems comfortable you can remove it.

[DirtySouthChins]

As you have clearly stated, you are not sure how he would react to being in the car, for precautions I would get a nylon muzzle, and if your seats don't fold down than you obviously couldn't get a crate in your car, so I would buy the seat belt attachment thingie, it is like a harness that goes around the dog and attaches to the seatbelt, not sure how well they work though, but with the seatbelt attachement and nylon muzzle for extra precaution you should have no worries
I must have missed a thread didn't realize you were adopting a rottie

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I second the harness seat belt. We have 2 of them and whenever I take Kali and/or Orion in the car, I harness them with the seat belt harness for a few reasons. One, they can't roam around, two, if they step on the window switch, they can't jump out the window, three, they don't faceplant into the dashboard when we have to stop suddenly, and four, if we are in an accident, paramedics can get to the kids or myself without worry of being attacked or bit by dogs not understanding that they are there to help. I would definetly go the harness seatbelt route and you shouldn't need a muzzle for that.

[cute_HA]

Good Luck!!