A few months ago our Lhasa Apso, Poppy, was gifted the Easy Riser Car Seat from PetzMotion. With the help of Poppy, we’ve spent the last few weeks putting the Easy Riser to the test and thought we’d share our feedback.
Dogs should be safely secured in the car
Travelling in the car with our dogs is sometimes unavoidable. Not all dogs particularly enjoy long car journeys and it can be unsettling for them. Most dog owners will want their dog to be comfortable in the car and safely secured.
According to research by Confused.com, more than half of pet-owning drivers don’t realise that having an unsecured pet in a car may result in a substantial fine and also invalidate their insurance. The Highway Code, Rule 57 states:
“When in a vehicle make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly.”
Reviewing the Easy Riser Car Seat
Over the last four years, Poppy, our own Lhasa Apso dog, frequently travels with us on our various journeys. Owning a car seat has always been absolutely essential. The basic function of any car seat is to ensure the safety of pets and the safety of other passengers in the vehicle.
Car journeys can be a challenge for nervous dogs
Previous car seats, whilst providing a good level of comfort, allowed Poppy to get out of the seat on either side and sometimes at the front. It became a challenge to keep her still. Poppy is also a nervous traveller and she has always taken quite a while to settle down.
She tends to prefer sitting on somebody else’s lap, and we think this is because she’s high enough to peer out the window to be nosy. In October this year, we travelled more than two hundred miles from our home in Essex to Poole in Dorset. This gave us the perfect opportunity to try out the Easy Riser car seat.
It’s raised off the car seats with soft walled edges
The Easy Riser Car Seat is much larger than previous car seats we have used. The unit is positioned much higher, allowing Poppy to look out of the windows on all sides of the car. The sides of the seat are also raised, which makes for a cosy experience . The front of the seat has a soft u-shaped section, where Poppy found it most comfortable resting her head over the edge.
The seat is made from soft lambswool and is easy to clean
In terms of comfort levels, the material is a soft lambs wool finish and it is easily removable. This means you can wash it without too much effort between car trips. The key selling point here (for us anyway) is that the seat enables Poppy to sit up. She can see everything that’s going on, which probably reduces her anxiety levels.
We found that on the trip to Dorset, she remained quietly in place and even slept for much of the journey. This created a far more relaxing journey for Poppy and put our minds at ease.
Assembling the seat and securing your dog is easy
The seat is placed in your preferred rear seat position and is secured by running the lap section of the seat belt through the channel at the back of the Easy Riser which keeps it in place. This is really straightforward to set up. The security strap is then attached to either the lap belt or the diagonal of the seat belt.
Finally you connect the clip of the security strap to your pet’s harness. This gives your dog freedom to move around in the seat. Crucially, they will be restricted from causing any driver hazard because they’ll be safely secured into the seat.
For safety reasons, connect to a suitable harness and not to the collar.
It’s at the premium end but the quality is good
The seat does start at £59.99 and increases up to £99.99 depending on what options you choose. It’s certainly at the pricier end of the scale for this type of product, but the quality is very good. If you are making very regular long journeys then it’s definitely worth considering. If your dog is difficult when it comes to car journeys, paying that bit extra for comfort and security might be worthwhile.
All that’s left for us to say is feel free to go check out the Easy Riser Car Seat for yourself, especially if you have a nervous traveler!
Disclaimer: The product was provided free of charge by PetzMotion for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed in this review are our own and based on our experience of using the product.
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