Dogs + Cars = natural combination
So I outfitted my car for canine transportation. Behold.
A couple weekends ago was the maiden voyage of the dog-fortified Matrix:
But before I get ahead of myself, here’s the back of the Matrix without any royal treatment:
As you can see, it’s nicely flat and the backs of the rear seats are made of plastic. Perfect, you might say, for carting small animals around. But first, there was a need for a more non-slip surface. Enter the cargo liner:
The liner is a polypropylene fiber, very carpet like. It’s stuck to the seat backs with velcro and gives Royal (my new step-dog) the traction he needs, especially with my lurching driving. Then add the adjustable pet barrier and we’re off for a drive!
Royal loves riding in my Matrix as much as I thought he would. See, until now, he’d been riding in the back of Sarah’s Passat, a fine car by most soccer-mom standards. She’s quite fond of the automobile and I admit it has some snazzy features — butt warming seats, hydraulic hood props, and the like. And yet it has a hard time turning off an iPod when parked, let alone accommodating a medium sized dog’s simple desire to stick his head out of the window.
Tell me, I dare you, this is not adorable.
The cool part is that turning my Matrix into a dog mobile has been mutually beneficial. For one, I’ve learned just how bad of a driver I was. Some people close to me have noted my tendency to stop suddenly and accelerate a tad too fast. Maybe she they were right!
