Winter Car Prep With a Dog: Road Kit
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Road salt does not stay on the road. It comes into the car on four feet and a wet coat, and by February it has worked into the seat seams where nothing gets it out. This kit covers the ten minutes between the sidewalk and the seat: a hammock seat cover, a shammy that works damp, a flat pad for the cargo floor, and a treat that makes getting back in the car the fastest part of the walk. All of our kits are listed on the Bundle Guides hub.
Winter driving, not winter walking
Plenty has been written about cold weather walks. This is about what happens after one, in a car that has to stay usable for people too. Our guide to winter car prep with a dog covers the wider routine, and this kit is the four objects that routine assumes you already own.
It is more than you need for a dog that rides twice a month. One towel and a blanket would do. The case for the full kit is a daily commute to a trailhead or a dog that goes everywhere with you from December through March.
Cover, towel, pad, payment
The 4Knines Rear Seat Cover with Hammock is the piece that does the most work. The Regular is 54 inches wide, made in Oklahoma City for cars, trucks and SUVs, in black, tan or grey. The hammock section closes off the footwell, so slush that comes off a coat lands on fabric rather than down between the seat and the door sill. 4Knines describes a non-quilted K9-Shield laminate on the seat bottom that it calls waterproof, with a non-slip backing, and is upfront that the seams are not watertight. The cover leaves seat belts and LATCH points reachable, which matters if the back seat has a child in it on alternate days. It is not chew proof, and 4Knines asks that you never leave a dog in a parked vehicle unsupervised.
The Rubyloo shammy is what stops the cover from having to do all of it. Take the 1 Pack for this job, 34 by 26 inches, trimmable for a smaller dog. Rubyloo describes it as used damp, wringing out easily and machine washable for repeat use, with Rapid Dry Technology that dries dogs faster than a cotton towel. Working damp is the part that counts in winter, since a cotton towel gets heavy after one leg and then just moves water around. Keep it in the trunk and use it at the door, not at home.
Crate Pads Armor gives the dog something better than a cold metal cargo floor to lie on. American Dog builds it flat and low profile with a 1680D nylon ballistic outer cover that is removable, machine washable and quick dry, over a 420D inner liner with poly fiber filling. Corner ties hold it in place instead of letting it slide forward under braking. Six sizes run from 22 up to 48 inches. Match it to the crate or the cargo area you actually have, not to the length of the dog.
Our Freeze-Dried Beef Liver is the last piece and the cheapest lever in the kit. One ingredient, beef liver, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, in 1.5, 3 and 6 ounce bags. It is lightweight and non-greasy, which is why a bag lives in a door pocket without anyone regretting it. A dog that gets paid for jumping straight in is a dog that stops lingering at the curb in the dark while you hold a door open and lose all the heat in the car.
No coat in the kit
Most winter lists lead with a jacket, and this one does not include it. Fit is the reason. A coat has to match a chest measurement and a body shape, which is a decision to make with a tape measure rather than from a kit page, and a lot of short trips do not need one at all. The All Weather Dog Jacket sits in the addons if your dog is thin coated or you are out for longer than a walk around the block. We also left out a heated bed, since anything drawing power from a car is a different kind of purchase with different rules.
Setting the car up before the first cold morning
Fit the cover on a dry afternoon rather than in a dark driveway at seven in the morning. Straps, buckles and the hammock section all take longer the first time, and you want to find out then whether your seat belts still come through where you need them.
Put the pad down in the cargo area and leave it there. It works better as a fixture the dog recognizes than as something you drag out when the weather turns.
Build the routine at the door of the car, in one order, every time. Wipe the paws, wipe the legs and belly, then let the dog in and pay immediately. Doing it in that order is the difference between a wipe down and a wrestling match.
Once a month through the winter, wash both covers on the same weekend. Salt left sitting in fabric for a whole season is far harder to shift than salt dealt with in January, and doing the two together means neither gets forgotten.
What it saves over one winter
The version most people run is an old duvet on the back seat, a bath towel that never dries, and a professional interior clean in April. The cover and the hammock take the load that would otherwise end up in the upholstery. The shammy replaces the towel and goes in the machine with everything else. The pad moves into a crate or a hotel room in the summer and does not go to waste. Treats are the only recurring line, and a 1.5 ounce bag is the right size to test whether liver is the currency this dog works for.
Questions
The ones we get asked once the first frost arrives.
Will the cover fit my car?
The Regular is 54 inches wide, which covers most sedans and mid size SUVs. Measure the bench from door to door before ordering, since a three row SUV usually wants the wider version instead.
Do I need to wipe the paws every single time?
After a salted sidewalk, yes, and it takes about twenty seconds with the shammy. The post drive paw check goes through what to look at while you are down there.
Can the pad go straight on the cargo floor?
Yes, and that is where most people use it. It is flat and low profile with corner ties, so it stays where you put it rather than bunching against the back of the seats on the first corner.
How it ships
Three of the four pieces come from three different makers, in Oklahoma City, Santa Barbara and Denver, so order in November rather than the week you need it. 4Knines® items are sold and shipped by 4Knines® through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. Rubyloo items are sold and shipped by Rubyloo through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. American Dog items are sold and shipped by American Dog through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. Only the liver leaves Malvern. To pick a different reward for the car door, Explore sorts our treats by protein, life stage and format, and the other road trip kits cover the rest of the driving year. Fit the cover this weekend, while it is still light at four.
