At the behest of my daughter (who will be leaving for college in the fall), we, like millions of others, acquired a 'pandemic puppy' (see below). It would be some sort of moral crime to not drive around with the very springy English Springer Spaniel in the back of the XK8s, configured as if it was made for him alone.

Some foreshadowing, we had to change the front door handle on our house since he figured out how to open it himself. He has recently been working on turning the knob, but we're skeptical here.


Adorably Springy Springer

So to safely travel with him, we have a harness strap that fits into the seat belt buckle and to his harness that keeps the dog from springing from the car in motion in pursuit of whatever bird seems like the prey of the moment. Unfortunately, last week he managed to unbuckle the harness himself by pressing on the button while he and I were driving (I was doing the actual driving). Fortunately, I heard it happen, quickly reached back and grabbed the dog by the collar to prevent any unfortunate flights of fancy from the car.

One family member's' next thought was "I bet amazon has something for this", and they do. But it looks like the plastic piece below. It shields the buckle button from undesirable pushes, has a space for something to buckle through, and a slot to release the buckle with a key, but it alas clearly does not fit my elegantly curvy seat belt buckles.



If it does not fit, you must make it...

So, with 42 years of engineering education/research/teaching, I figured maybe I could borrow (steal) the ideas behind the 'Amazon design' and make a simple piece of plastic that actually shields the rear buckle from prying paws but fits the rear buckles on the later Jags.

(Actually the iphone scanner app and the 3D printer were essential, the 42 years of experience were completely superfluous here, as they are in most situations).

So, I scanned an old broken buckle I had with the iphone (Scandy Pro), made a simple drawing and printed it as below. The nice thing is that it now custom fits the harness I have (pictured on the left below) and releases with the Jag key that the dog does not have without a fight (release hole in the center, and I outweigh him 5:1).


Solution to avoid doggy road rash @100 km/hr.

Use in anger below.


Hand model releasing the buckle under the shield with the Jag key. Out of sight of the hound who might get ideas.

Since this is a fairly specialized application, unlikely a general issue like the shock mounts, send me a PM if you want one (white or black polycarbonate - no warranty, 2001-2006 I believe). It may fit existing dog car harnesses, or not. Our harness is



For posterity, you can print it yourself with

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zouiyfxi84...%20v6.zip?dl=0

I suggest ABS or polycarb or something other than PLA which will degrade in the sun and is brittle and your dog can easily chew through it if he/she/it so desires with likely nasty shards in his/her/their gullet. As noted above, I used polycarb.

 

Nice! We picked up our rescue pup on Saturday - six months old and full of himself. Haven't had a dog in years, and swore we'd never do it again; never say "never"...

Don't know if we'll take him in the Jag or the TF, but definitely will take him in the motor home.

 

Dale, the wife says you may have found a dog that was Houdini in a prior life.
We both enjoyed your efforts, thanks.

 

Well done....

Our female Irish Wolfhound is far too big to ride in my wife's XK8 (and like your Springer Spaniel, is smart enough to figure out how to unbuckle just about any harness). She rides in the cargo area of my Outback with the back seat in the fully down position and has on several occasions pressed the buttons to completely lower the rear windows so she can stick her massive head out to catch the breeze and scare the hell out of other motorists. We now have to enable the child window and door locks whenever she is in the vehicle. She also bumps her head up against the rear tailgate interior ceiling lamp and turns it on, so I have to remember to check it whenever she exits to keep the battery from running down. Ah, the things we have to do for our canine family members....

 

whenever the 4-legged members of my household overstep their boundaries I have to remind myself,

“at least I don’t have to send them to college”.

Knowing that calms me down considerably


Z

 

My dogs hate Jaguars. They never get to go. I however would never be without a couple dogs. They agree with everything I say. Unlike the WOLF of the house. Manchester Terriers.

 

Yes we have the stepping on the window button problem too in any car. Ours has to wear his seat belt or he's all over the place. When in the Jag he likes the passenger because well because it's for him. He will get in the back to make room for mom when she is with us. We go faster and the wind is too much he sits down I close the window. I slow down he looks at me like "Hey , window Pops".
And you know what they say about dogs and their owners looking alike.......


Bearded Collie

 

Seems to enjoy the Sunday ice cream run........

 

I have one too, got him the weekend before the shut down, luckily. Here is Sully in our Triumph; he's been in the Jaguar, but don't have a picture yet. He loves motors.