Do dogs need car seats?

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When watching the news segments of Britney Spears driving with an unrestrained child in her lap, I, like many, shouted expletives at the TV that are too strong to mention here. But today I was careening 75 mph down the freeway with my child (a 22-pound terrier) riding Britney-style in my lap. ‘Normies’ will read this and wonder how I can liken a dog to a child. But since normies don’t read pet blogs and pet owners think of our critters as children, I’m in safe company.

As I approached my exit, the cars ahead stopped faster than K-Fed’s career. Brakes locked. I clutched Petey with all my might. All was safe. Petey gave me a lick and seconds later we were speeding again. That’s it, I thought, I’m buying a dog car seat. By the time we arrived home, I had changed my mind.

The benefits of restraining your dog in the car are obvious: Loose dogs in cars are projectiles that can not only hurt themselves, but also other passengers -- in an instant they can jostle the steering wheel and send you barreling into the other lane (while still managing to look cute doing it). What’s more, riding with a dog in your lap will soon be prohibited, with costly fines attached for having Fido at the helm (hanging out the passenger window will still be legal).

But there’s such a lame stigma attached to dog car seats. You’ll find them in those cheesy pet catalogs that come in the mail selling wood carved urns with a custom bust of your pet and doggie rain ponchos. Dog car seats are so ... uncool.

The idea just seems to run counter to the spirit of dog, whose happiest moments are when his head is out the passenger window, jowls flapping in the wind, ears outstretched like the wings of a plane before liftoff. Sure, strapping him into a car seat may make him live longer, but at that point, is he really living?

Besides, when I was a pup, I was anything but cool and I want things to be different for Petey. Does that make me a bad parent?

-- Graham McCann