German Shephard + Front Seat

Hello everyone, I thought I'd crowd source the best solution to what I'm trying to solve. I have an awesome German Shephard puppy that is growing quickly.. 7 months/71 pounds. We both love driving around with the top down. However, as he is growing (11 pounds per month so far), I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for ways to make it more comfortable for him. I was thinking of maybe creating a structure for the passenger wheel well so he has more space but don't know if anyone else has any other ideas.

Beautiful dog and beautiful car, is that a wrap? No real idea on how best to allow the dog to ride up front. Best of luck.

Thank you. Yup, its a wrap

My GSD rode in my front seat. I put a seat cover over the seat and used one of those harness belts for dogs that clips into the seat belt. She just sat there. I don't have back seats, so I stuffed foam in the seat wells with a thin wooden platform on top for long journeys and when I needed the passenger seat for someone. We now have a Rough Collie, but she doesn't like the noise of the car. Can't you put the back seats down and just use one of those dog harnesses that clip into the seat belt receptacle?

Love the dog! Beautiful. Is he a good boy? I ask because I'm curious how he behaves in the car and if you like to have him on the front seat or in the back. My guess is that the back might be a bit tight as he gets bigger. I don't know of any solutions but I'd definitely look into some sort of seat cover and lay down a dog bed on the seat for him to sit on. You might need to make a small platform for the foot area to support the dog bed.

I drive the 996 a lot less since my standard poodle just doesnt fit. Although he weighs less than a typical shepard, he is vey long. Stands at 5�3�. I miss driving the 996 to the cottage but my boy just doesnt fit.

Beautiful shep

I think you are on the right track, filling in the front passenger area and cover the seat. Use the seatbelt harness please! My guy has a gumption to jump out once in a while when he sees another dog to play with. Scared the heck out of me when he did that on a busy road and we were at a stop light. Good looking friend! Mine goes everywhere with me. If he was any bigger, I'd have to do the same with the passenger area.

Beautiful dog! I took our new puppy for a ride today; he threw up in it. At least it was in the Cayenne and not 996

My 50 lb pitbull sits in the back. I used the interlocking exercise mats cut to size of the foot well to fill in the foot well and then I put a towel over that. She likes to sit with her rear against the back of the seat so she doesn't shift around during braking. I tried doing the front seat thing but couldn't get her comfortable with it. Sitting in the seat she wasn't confident in being able to brace herself and she didn't want to go into the foot well.

Serious question: how often do you use the passenger seat ? If rarely/never how about removing it ? That would open up a large flat space for a dog bed . Would just have to figure out a leash/harness latch . Good looking pup 👍

i tried filling the footwell and making a flat platform on top of the seat, but the dog kept getting higher and higher, so�

I built something along those lines for my golden a couple years ago. Only used it a few times. Primary issue being that he slid around too much.

very cool. I'm thinking along those lines.

Thanks to Craigslist "Free Stuff". Found someone throwing away a couch and was able to grab some sofa cushions. Here is version 1 of a potential solutions.

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Option #1: Move the pass seat all the way forward and recline it until it hits the rear seat. Then add a seat cover/bed and a bag/etc in the footwell. He seems to like this the most, but he sits too high when hanging out the window and I worry he could nudge my arms if excited and cause a wreck. seat reclined all the way seat reclined - too tall for window down ------------- Option # 2: pass seat all the way forward, tilted forward (like to get in the back seat). He puts his front paws in the rear footwell, butt on the rear seat, and can stick his head out the window safe'ishly. Keeps him out of the driver area and sitting low. I stuff a small dogbed and/or a plastic bin in the rear footwell so he doesn't get his paw stuck in the seat rails. Mine won't lay atop the transmission hump in this config, so I have to build up enough height with dogbeds to so he can sit 'flat'. With option1 the front upper seat fills in the gap nicely and he'll sprawl out. He rides along 99% of the time. Fur everywhere but worth it. Nice dogs

I love dogs, and had a great Akita until 2020� He never rode in or even entered my 911. He was probably too big to begin with, but he was relegated to the GMC Acadia or VW Passat wagon regardless� Those two vehicles still has some of his hair in the carpeting�😏😉

As you can see by my Profile Photo our "Porsche Dog" traveled many miles on PNWR Tours in the Northwest with us, Sadly she is now in Dog Heaven. She was over 90 pounds and loved riding in the back of our 2000 Coupe. My solution was to extend the flat space in the back with the seat folded down so she had full use of the space behind the front seat backs. This also prevented her from sliding forward into the foot wells if we stopped suddenly... and allowed my wife her preferred location in the passenger seat! I took a plywood sheet and sized it to fit the space - covered it with Black vinyl to match the interior and attached two hinged (folding Table) legs cut to a height to raise the front up a bit..The folding legs allow easy installation and removal when not needed. The total space was the same as her Dog Bed from the back of our VW Sport wagon, which we moved to the Carrera and gave her more padding. And as was noted we install a harness locked on the back seat belt to assure safe travels. As we are retired and not traveling with a pet anymore the platform is not getting use anymore. So if you are interested... I would be happy to send it on to you (?), and make that beautiful friend of your a true Porsche Dog. P.S. you need to get him a Porsche Key Fob for his collar! Regards, Jack in Seattle

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Thank you for sharing that. I'd love to be able to use it. I'll connect with you directly.