Dogs, donât ya just love em, as well as his tinned and dried food, my dog will eat just about anything, itâs like feeding a crocodile, chilli con carne, Madras curry , you name it, althought he can be very flatulent after a curry 
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Blame the dog, that old chestnut 
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He gets blamed even when heâs in the garden
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Our dog used to fart and then look at his b*m then look at us, it was though he was saying âit doesnât look like itâs come from me, it must be one of you twoâ even though it smelt of PAL or Chum. 
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If your neighbours dog is 12" wide he should cut back on its food intake now. 12" is far too wide for a golden retriever.
Yes thatâs true, but he is 14+ years old and on all sorts of medication, lovely old fellow though! 
A straightforward option, requiring no modifications, would be let the missus drive and you have the dog on your lap 
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The good lady will not drive a manual. Will not learn, I even bought a new car once that she promised to learn to drive - and then wouldnât but said she knew I wanted it and she didnât want to be the reason I didnât get it. She is nice that way. Too nice to park underneath a seven foot long Irish Wolfhound.
So dog size is being reviewed⌠Watched Benji last night on Netflix, and reckon he could fit in an mx5 boot.
Wolfie or Benji?
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That Wolfhound looks rather guilty, he hasnât recently eaten some curry ?
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Many years ago a friend had an Irish Wolfhound (lovely dog, gentle as a lamb) whoâs pedigree name was about 6 words in Gaelic.
So he called it Sean (itâs pronounced âshawnâ in case somebody doesnât know).
The expression on his face âDo I really have to do this? It had better be worth itâŚâ
No way in an MX5.
On a serious note it would seem to be wrong from the dogs welfare point of view and I also would worry about being rear ended or even braking hard, I think at the most a small dog that can be located on the seat or possibly parcel shelf, for me it would have to be safely and securely restrained in a humane way.
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I used to commute around the M25, and one day I noticed a smart white SLK, top-down about five cars ahead in the lane to my right; the driver had superb long blonde hair and the passengerâs hairstyle reminded me of Dilbertâs boss, on the right below.
However my queue was moving faster. I soon drew alongside, and the big Alsatian sitting in the passenger seat gave me a very happy contented look. He was wearing a harness, but seemed totally at ease with the world. So would have I been in his situation.
Wouldnât a better option be to get a boot rack and a suitable dog carrier/basket. You could weather proof most the carrier (to keep the dog comfortable) and strap the carrier very firmly to the rack. Canât see that being much different from having a dog in a carrier basket in the back of the car. Your boot space will also be still useable. A magnetically secured port in your boot lid would make your boot contents very easy to steal.
I think at the end of the day if you want to transport a dog about in your car, itâs either on one of the seats with a harness, or in the back of an estate/ large hatchback with a cage or dog grill, putting it in the boot or on the back externally is bit dodgy to say the least, but a small dog sitting on a lap with a harness sounds ok, âŚjust my personal opinion 
and a good quality dog seat cover doesnât cost too much .
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Gotâa love Dilbert!
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Just to comment on some of the safety related questions on carrying a dog.
Yes, clearly safety first, and a dog should be restrained to prevent any unexpected squirrel chasing or injury (to dog or driver/passenger) resulting from sudden braking or direction change.
Front seat, or harnessed to a passenger is a not the best idea as an airbag deploying bump will likely kill or injure both dog and passenger.
Harnessed to a motorcycle rider is kind of half safe - probably legal as long as it does not interfere with the operation of the machine - but the dog is likely to be sacrificial padding in the event of an accident.
A cage in the boot area - suitably sized which obviously then restricts the size of dog, I see as a working solution. Yes in the event of a rear end collision pooch may end up in the crumple zone which is obviously not ideal - but the risk here is surely less than the risk any human takes on a bicycle or motorbike, or even as a pedestrian, when on the roads. The risk exists, but it is a question of how big a risk is it acceptable to take.
Personally, I also think creating a padded bed area occupying much of the boot area, with a decently fabricated wire caged roof allowing pooch to see out may be ok - depending on the temperament of the animal.
Size wise, clearly we are not talking Wolfhound, but maybe we are talking fox terrier or similar size.
Luggage is obviously compromised to the point of maybe just a picnic in a bag at the passengerâs feet - but that would be all we would need for a day out in the Highlands, maybe bagging a Munro.
Yes, we could buy an SUV (we already have a CX5) - but that misses the point of what can be done in the MX5 with top down.
Anyway - I donât have a dog and donât live in the highlands. Yet⌠
Years ago a friend had a MK2 Cortina with 2 holes in the bootlid for his 2 Afghan hounds. When he hit 70mph they ducked down, up to that ears and hair blowing in the wind
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I spoke to Maggie the Border Collie this morning about this and she says its simple.
First you need a Border Collie. The Collie can then do the driving â we all know Collies are smart.
Having got the Collie to do the driving you and your wife can then take turns travelling âpremierâ class in the boot.
Mags said if you donât think that sounds much like fun because itâll be a bit of a squash, dark, uncomfortable, noisy, scary, hot, cold, etc, then you probably need to rethink your plan as the prospective pooch will most likely feel the same.
Mag is available next week to solve Brexit if needed.
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