As I mentioned in my other post, the other dog-related purchase to go with my car was a seat cover. I have tried several seat covers over the years (as I’m sure you all have as well), and needed some special features for my big tripawd puppy. I wanted one that had a non-slip bottom, and one that had a better way of attaching the bottom to the corners of the seat. This last feature was a problem with every other seat cover I’ve had. In some cases, these problems made the seat cover entirely worthless.
Bottom line? Highly recommended. I’ll talk first about some of the general features and then about these two issues. First up, the seat cover is a very sturdy canvas-like material. I was genuinely surprised at the quality of the material. It is thick and somewhat stiff; it seems like it could take a beating, although I have not tested it with dirty, wet dogs yet. It has the standard attachments to the back headrests, but these can also be looped over the corner of the seat and attach on the side if you don’t have rear headrests or want to hook it up that way. I’m not sure how well that would keep the seat cover back up, but I think most cars have headrests these days in the back. It’s pretty big; I have a Ford Flex and it covers the entire back (bench) seat. It also has a (slightly) padded, quilted bottom. I really liked this feature as a little extra.
Now to the good stuff. The underside of the bottom has some sort of non-skid mesh material attached to it. It’s similar to those non-slip things you put under rugs, but more industrial looking and much thicker. I have leather seats in my car, and the bottom of the seat cover *does not* move. This is the best non-slip seat cover solution I’ve found, hands down. The other thing that was amazeballs is the way the seat cover attaches to the outside corners of the seats. There are large neoprene (think wetsuit) “straps” (they are very wide, so not really a strap, I just can’t find the right word for them) that grip the corners of the leather seats and stay there. Between the non-skid bottom and these straps, the bottom of this car seat isn’t going anywhere. It also has a nice “curtain” that comes down the sides and front of the seat cover, so it ends up actually covering all the leather. Lastly, there are two small cylindrical foam attachments to the underside of the seat cover that wedge in between the seat back and seat bottom, which helps to keep the cover nestled into the seats. There are slits for seat belts for 3 back seat passengers (canine or hominid).
I paid $73 for this from amazon (use the Tripawds link!), and it was worth it. I can’t see myself buying another car seat cover, to be honest, and I can’t think of any downsides, except that it’s pretty big and may not fit smaller SUVs or cars. I have a Ford Flex and it’s just a teeny bit (like 1/2″) too deep for the seats (which are big to begin with). It comes in the usual tan, grey and charcoal colors as well as a couple of striped combos if you’re into a little flair. Please feel free to ask me any questions if you have them. Below are some photos with the whole set-up, and a couple of slots with the seat protector and seat extender. Jennifer
See more at: http://tripawds.com/forums/hopping-around/review-of-petego-rear-car-seat-protector/#sthash.pEltt2qx.dpuf
OOOOh thanks Dieter! I asked you about photos in the Forums but here they are. So cool. Hope you don’t mind that we’ll re-publish this in the Tripawds Gear or Amazon blogs. stay tuned!
Jerry’s pack: you have my blanket permission to re-post anything I post that you think may be helpful to the community. 😀
Update: 3 months on and this thing is still wonderful. Easy in and out for when I have human passengers, and has really stood up to two big dogs moving around on it. It looks just like new, and I think it will last a long time. Does a great job protecting my leather seats and the bottom does not shift at all. The poly bands keep it secure even when both of them are jostling to get out at the same time. Money well spent!