I just brought home a shiny new CRV and of course now want to keep it as clean as possible for at least the first little while!
I have a kurgo hammock and bridge from my old SUV but I know from experience that it still allows for lots of dog hair and mess to contaminate the vehicle My old vehicle was well-loved and not exactly the cleanest by the end of it’s life.
I take the dogs to the farm with me fairly regularly so protecting the seats/doors, minimizing hair getting embedded into crevices and carpets, and generally keeping the vehicle as clean as possible are top priorities at least for the first few months until I resign myself to the fact that I basically live in dust/dirt/mud/shavings/hay situations.
What do you use? I have been reading lots of reviews and it looks like I can spend anywhere from $50-500+ on this little endeavour. Recommendations welcome!
I swear by almost 15 years of kurgo. With a heavy-shedder lab. To my surprise, labs are considered one of the highest shedding dogs. Labs eject quantities of hair all day, every day, and at night, too. The house floors had to be vacuumed once every day or three.
However, once the kurgo was a few years in and worn, it became rather porous to hair, and I did have to replace it. The new one was as effective as the old one had been the first few years. So that was two or three kurgos over 15 years. Satisfied customer.
Another thing that might help is to put a second, seat-only, flat cushion, liner or dog bed on top of the kurgo. I initially did this to encourage my dog to settle on the one spot. It turned out to be easy to remove, vacuum, return, and I think it cut down on alot on spreading dog hair.
How timely. I too am looking for a back seat protector.
We have always had Orvis products and our current one is really too big for the our 2016 Pruis. It was originally purchased to fit in our subbie, (where it fits great).
I have Rough Country seat protectors (they are like a wetsuit material) in the truck and love them but was sad to find they don’t make them for our SUV (RAV4). I found a company that uses the same material that offers all vehicles via special order but it was about $500+ I believe for just the back seat so that was a pass. Instead we have all weather mats on the floor + cargo + line the back side of the rear seats. It was under $100 for those liners and they have held up extremely well. I’ve linked the Amazon listing below for the ones we bought, I bet they make them for your car too.
We have a dog hammock for the backseat that I love as well. Originally, we had the standard nylon lined one but my senior dog, who likes to sit up by the window in the corner, started to slip on the material so I went shopping for a new one. We got a faux leather lined one that I LOVE there is no more slipping and it’s way easier to clean than the nylon. It has side flaps (we don’t use them because of how senior doggo likes to sit) to protect doors and control mess. The boards are strong and hold up well to our two 60lb dogs and it folds up nicely in the rare event we need to take it out or have a person in the back seat. It looks like it’s no longer available on Amazon but I’ll link it below incase it’s helpful to find one like it. I’d still like to have some sort of form fitting cover on the rear seats under the dog hammock for better coverage but the current set up does a good job.
I’ve had them both since July and they are holding up well so far. Mostly my GSD comes along with me to the farm, but sometimes I have both my lab-x and GSD and they both do fine together in the backseat in this set-up too.
The bridge is the real MVP for the set-up for me because the barrier between the front seats is solid. With just the hammock my GSD decided that was basically an invitation to use her paw to unzip it down the middle and climb into the front seat with me. It also is great for my old boy (lab-x) because he likes the much more solid feel under his paws between the seats as opposed to the wobbly feel of the hammock over the great abyss of the footwell.
I probably should have gotten one that goes up the sides of the car door, because I find the most leakage of fur happens at the doors.
Also with the hammock it has an orange elastic cord on the bottom side that you’re supposed to anchor under the back seats but I can never make it stay. That might be user error but… I see it as a bit of a design flaw. I’ve tried all sorts of tightness/positioning and it always just slips free when my dog jumps into the vehicle.
Overall I’m happy with the set-up for my old vehicle, but I’m hoping for something even more “covered” for my new vehicle.
For fun, not that I would spend this much (esp because I’m in Canada and the exchange rate is killer right now), this looks super bougie:
I ordered this to see if gets better coverage to keep the dog hair from sliding down the sides to embed in the carpet:
I also ordered a moving blanket to drape over the back seat to cover the headrests. My vehicle has all-weather mats already so I have that bit covered!
Once those two items arrive I’ll do some trial-and-error.
Oh, and if anyone has recommendations for a good window cleaner - to clean up the dog-nose artwork - I will try to get on top of that for the first little while too!
That handmade liner is super boogie! I went through the steps to see what it would be,… nearly $700.00!!
I pulled the trigger on the Orvis Trail Grip Tight hammock.
What turns me off on the Kurgo, is the plastic D rings. They look like they could snap easily from UV via the sun over time. Yes, I know nothing lasts forever, but I would like to get a few years of use out of it.
My old vehicle was well-loved and not exactly the cleanest by the end of it’s life.
