As I write this blog, I have two large dogs firmly seated on either side of me, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’d like to drive these bad boys out to a nice trail and take them for a walk. The main problem is, I have never actually transported a dog in a vehicle before, and I can’t say my experiences with seeing other people do so in the past have been model examples.

My brother occasionally takes cross-country road trips with his dog, Tar. He turns the backseat of his Crown Victoria into a little dog haven, with toys and blankets and a little emergency pad in case he needs to pee (which sometimes happens when Tar gets very excited). He seems comfortable enough.

And then you have Squish. Squish is my mom’s dog, and Squish is normally the more well-behaved of the two. But when you put Squish in an equally lush play zone in the back of my mom’s Armada, she rockets up to the front because she’s gotta be where the action is. Someone has to sit with her in the second row because she has to be with the people.

My husband’s dogs are Ultra-Large. Harley, I am quite sure, weighs more than I do because he’s the size of a small horse. Boomer is a little smaller, but I firmly believe he must be made of lead because he’s just dense and very far from graceful. I love them and want to take them on a short little adventure.

The more I look into pets in cars, though, the more it seems that people are really picky about the kind of things they do with their dogs when the pups are in the car. Some people buy fancy seats just for the dogs, and some people are really picky about building a comfy dog haven. Some people just don’t care. And then some people have cats, and I don’t even know how you folks go about that.

My goal in life is to own a tidy little party of animals the moment I get a place that’ll actually give them space to run around. For the folks who have been driving their pets around for years, teach me your ways. How do you make your sweet critters comfortable?