Great question. I’m not terribly well versed in doggie seatbelts as I have always (unwisely) just let my dogs have free roam of the backseat. Having read your question I took a look through some of the options that are out there and found that there are some dog harneses for the car that don’t require you to attach anything to to your car’s seatbelt.

You may want to try Orvis’s Dog Crash Safety Harness. This model buckles into the seatbelt receptical.

I also found this great site for a company that specialized in dog seatbelt harnesses, RuffRider.com. They have “Rodie Basic” model of harness that utilizes your car’s seatbelt to secure your pup and suggests how to secure your dog without using the seatbelt. The video shown is for SUV’s or vans that have cargo hooks. There’s even an instructional video.

My last recommendation is to use a seatbelt protector. This should allow you to use your favorite harness and let the fleece seatbelt cover take a beating, instead of the seatbelt itself.

First let me just say that I love your website! I have a question about doggie seatbelts. I have always put my pup, Indy, in the backseat with a harness dog seatbelt. Over the course of the last couple of years I guess the dog seatbelt wore away at the car seatbelt and the other day it just tore almost completely in two! I wondered if you all might have some recommendations on dog seatbelts that don’t have this problem. Replacing the seatbelt is not going to be inexpensive and I don’t want the same thing to happen again. Thanks!