Keeps cars clean & dogs safe

Supplier: Sherpashaw
Reviewed by: Soraya Porter

Description: The Doggie Cradle is a pet blanket, car seat protection, and, as they say in their advertisement, a ‘luxury dog safety zone!' It covers the whole of the rear seat area and attaches quickly to the front and rear seat headrests. It can also attach to the seat belt safety fasteners with the Velcro fitting straps provided. 

About the Doggie Cradle

• Fastens in minutes to front and rear headrests
• Prevents your pet from falling into the rear foot-well
• Turns any rear car seat into a safety zone
• Easy Velcro fasteners
• Protective waterproof blanket can be attached within minutes to the headrest or seat belt fixings
• Prevents your dog from sliding forward into the foot-well in the event of sudden braking of the vehicle
• No more muddy car seats, stubborn dog hairs or lingering odours
• Stain resistant fabric with sponge-clean waterproof backing
• Rug measures 1.5m x 1.30m (59in. x 51in.)
• Also suitable as a car boot liner or picnic mat

Best features: The cradle looks very smart. Attention had been paid to properly finishing and binding the edges. It is quite lightweight and easy to fit. Thought has gone into giving protection to the sides of the seats, and the whole thing seemed to stay put.

One of the points that the manufacturer makes is that it prevents your pet from falling into the rear seat footwell which it certainly does. The product can also double as a handy car boot liner or a waterproof picnic mat. From the point of view of keeping your rear car seat clean, it works beautifully and my dog seemed happy to lie on it.

Could be improved: Improvements? Well, it really depends what you are looking for. I'm afraid I took the advertisement at its word when it described it as ‘a luxury dog safety zone’. If this is what you are looking for, then I’m afraid you will be disappointed. Certainly it stopped the dog from falling into the rear seat footwell. However, I think this would only be the case if you had a small to medium-sized dog. A large or heavy dog would probably put a strain on, or break the straps attaching it to the seats.

Equally, although the cradle attaches to the front and rear headrests or seatbelt anchors, it does not stop an agile dog, such as mine, from either hopping over into the front of the car or on to the rear parcel shelf. If it is your intention to have your dog on the back seat of the car, but secured by a seat belt 'dog adaptation thingy,' be aware that it does not have holes in the blanket to thread the seat belt through. If you have a grubby dog, you don’t want it bouncing all over the car, and this is without taking the safety aspects into consideration.

The cradle comfortably covered my rear car seat, but I drive a Daewoo Matiz, not a particularly wide car. I wonder how much of the rear seat it would cover in a bigger vehicle.

Production: The blanket is in a quite pleasant, green-ish tartan fabric with a waterproof backing. Having a mostly white dog, I must say that it was covered in dog hair in five seconds flat. The cradle does have a waterproof backing which makes it a sponge clean only item. Again, I wonder how much use that is when you are regularly using this to protect your car seats from dirty dogs. Also, how happy would you be to use it as a picnic mat, after having ‘sponged’ it clean a few times?

Directions how to use etc. (as relevant): The item is fairly self explanatory, but does come with easy to follow instructions.

Price: £24.99 plus P&P

Value for Money: I feel that this product is based on a  good idea that perhaps could do with being developed a little further.

Overall rating: 6/10. Whilst this is nicely made and finished, I can’t help feeling an old fashioned large picnic blanket would do the same job for less money. Or if you really want to push the boat out, why not get a rear seat cover for the car and a blanket for the picnic!?

About the supplier...
Sherpashaw distributes golf, leisure and outdoor products.
 

About the Reviewer...
Soraya Porter works as a civil servant in order to fund her firmly established addiction to agility. Currently she have one dog, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendee X Jack Russell. He works at Advanced level. They are off to Crufts2006 for their third consecutive year for the Eukanuba Agility Challenge Final.

As a result of having so much fun running her lad, Soraya has become an Agility Club Approved Instructor (ACAI), a dog first aider and she is currently putting together her portfolio for the Kennel Club Approved Instructor.

Soraya trains at Valley Farm Agility Club in Wickham Market, Suffolk, and at Colchester DAC in Colchester, Essex. As well as being one of the instructors at Colchester club, she also does some freelance instruction.

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