Travelling With a Dog and Luggage: Who Gets the Boot?
If you travel with a dog, the boot is not really storage space. It is where the dog spends the journey. That works fine until you also need to pack for the trip.
The problem is that both things want the same space
A crate that lets the dog stand up, turn around and lie flat is the difference between a dog that settles in the first twenty minutes and one that shifts around for four hours. Most owners get the crate size right when they buy it. The trouble starts when the luggage arrives and the crate has to move forward a bit to make room.
And the trips you take the dog on are rarely the light ones. A week away, a cottage, Christmas at family. Bags for everyone in the car, plus the dog's own kit: food, bowls, bed, towels, a lead, walking boots. That is a full boot before the crate is in it.
So the boot ends up doing two jobs at once and does neither well. The dog gets less space than it should have, the bags get stacked in whatever order they fit rather than the order you need them, and whatever does not fit goes in the cabin with you.
Giving the luggage its own space
The simplest fix is to stop packing the luggage in the boot at all.
An IXTAbox rear cargo box mounts on the towbar and holds up to 100kg and as much as 420 litres depending on the size. Suitcases, boots, the dog's bed and food, anything wet or muddy. It loads at waist height, so you are not lifting bags above your head the way you would with a roof box.
With that done, the boot goes back to being the dog's. The crate sits at full size, nothing is stacked against the door, and you can open the tailgate at a service station to check on the dog without moving three bags first.
Worth knowing before you order
Sizes matter more than most people expect, since a rear cargo box has to suit both the car and how much you actually carry. The five models are compared here.
If you are still working out the crate side of things, we have a longer piece on carrying dogs and pets in the car, including securing the crate properly.
Delivery runs roughly a month, so if this is for an autumn trip, it is worth deciding sooner rather than later.
