Dog Car Seat for Medium Dogs: Sizing by kg, and What to Do Over 18 kg
A 14 kg spoodle on a bare back seat has nothing to lean on. Brake hard at the lights and she's in the footwell. Take the roundabout a bit quick and she skates across the seat into the door, then climbs back up and gives you a look like you did it on purpose.
Finding a dog car seat for medium dogs is harder than it should be. A lot of what turns up is sized for a Maltese or built for a labrador, and the dogs in between end up spilling over a small seat or sliding around on a full-width cover. The way through is simple enough. Weigh the dog, measure the seat, then choose.
Sizing a dog car seat for medium dogs by kg
"Medium" on a label means different things to different sellers. Kilograms don't. If you're not sure what your dog weighs, hop on the bathroom scales holding them, then weigh yourself alone and take the difference. The walk-on scales at your vet clinic work too.
| Your dog's weight | What suits | Base or width | Breeds that often fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to about 9 kg | Small pod | 56 × 56 cm base | Maltese, Shih Tzu, toy poodle, Jack Russell |
| About 9 kg to 18 kg | Large pod | 73 × 56 cm base | Cavoodle, spoodle, beagle, French bulldog |
| Over about 18 kg | Back Seat Deck | Flat platform about 132 cm wide | Labs, kelpies, staffies, goldens, shepherds |
Breed gets you close, but the scales decide it. A toy cavoodle and a standard cavoodle can land on opposite sides of the 9 kg line, and weights vary a fair bit within any breed.
A 15 kg dog
A 15 kg dog sits well inside the Large pod's range, so you're not squeezing them in. The base is 73 × 56 cm and the front and side walls are 40 cm high, which gives them something to lean into on corners instead of skating across the seat.
An 18 kg dog, right on the line
Shopping for a car seat for an 18 kg dog is where it gets fiddly, because that's the top of what the Large pod is sized for. Look at the dog as well as the number. A compact dog that sleeps curled nose to tail is a good match for a walled pod. A long-legged dog that likes to stretch flat out on its side, or a young dog that's still filling out, will want more room than one side of the seat gives them. For those dogs, skip ahead to the deck.
Measure your back seat before you buy
Weight tells you the size. A tape measure tells you whether it works in your car. Two minutes with the back door open is all it takes.
- Seat width. The Dog Car Seat Pod sits on one side of the back seat. The Small takes about 56 cm of width and the Large about 73 cm. Measure from the door across to wherever your passenger or child seat will sit.
- Rear headrests. The pod's tall back wall stands against the rear backrest, and two buckle straps loop around the rear headrest. If your back seat has no headrests, it probably won't work.
- Your car. It fits hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and dual-cab utes with rear headrests. Nothing attaches to the front seats, and it installs in about a minute with no tools.
Because the pod takes only one side, the other half of the back seat stays free. That's the part that matters on the school run.
If a child seat is going in beside it, measure the child seat at its widest point, add 56 or 73 cm, and check that against the width of your back seat. Our guide to fitting a dog and a child seat in the same back seat goes into the details.
Breeds that usually suit the Large pod
The Large is the small to medium dog car seat in the range, sized for dogs up to about 18 kg. These breeds usually fall in that band, though your scales still get the final say.
Cavoodles and spoodles
The curly coat is the issue. After a beach run it holds wet sand like a doormat, and every shake on the back seat works it deeper into the seams. The pod's waterproof base catches it and wipes clean. For a proper clean, unclip the pod, lift out the base board, fold it flat and hand-wash the cover. Toy cavoodles can come in under 9 kg, so weigh yours before you choose. Our cavoodle car seat guide goes through toy, mini and standard sizes.
Beagles
A beagle wants to know what's happening outside. The front and side walls have a mesh band, so they can see out and air moves through. Worth knowing before you buy: the base sits on the seat cushion. It's not a raised booster, so it won't lift them up to window height.
French bulldogs
Frenchies are compact and solid, and plenty of them would rather sleep than sightsee. A walled spot on one side suits that. Put their own blanket in and it becomes their bed for the drive home, one that stays strapped to the headrest instead of sliding around the seat.
Over 18 kg: the Back Seat Deck
Past about 18 kg, one side of the seat isn't enough. Labs, kelpies, staffies, goldens and shepherds need the width of the car. The trouble with giving them the bare bench is the gap in front of it. A kelpie who stands up at the lights and steps forward has nothing under her front paws, which is how dogs end up sliding into the footwell.
The Back Seat Deck for big dogs closes that gap. It's a hard-base back seat extender that bridges the rear seat and the footwell into one flat platform about 132 cm wide. The quilted cover is waterproof, side flaps cover the doors, and a mesh window lets your dog see you. It comes with two seatbelt tethers, and one side folds back when you need room for a passenger.
It fits most sedans, SUVs and dual-cab utes, but it needs both front and rear headrests. If you're deciding between it and a soft hammock, our comparison of hard bottom and soft dog hammocks covers the difference.
Clip in every trip
A walled seat gives your dog a spot of their own. The clip is what keeps them in it. Put a harness on, lift them in, and clip the harness to the pod's inside leash clip before the engine starts. Every trip, including the five minutes to the park. Clip to the harness, not the collar. On the deck, use one of the two seatbelt tethers the same way.
Keep the order the same each time: harness, in, clip, door. Once it's habit, you won't skip it when you're running late.
It's worth being straight about what these are. The pod and the deck are comfort and containment gear, not crash-tested restraints. They keep your dog in their own spot, stop the sliding and keep mud and fur off your seats. If you've got a sizing or fit question we haven't covered, the dog car seat FAQ on sizing, headrests and cleaning answers the common ones.
The short version
- Up to about 9 kg: the Small pod.
- About 9 kg to 18 kg: the Large pod.
- Over about 18 kg, or a long, sprawly dog right on the line: the Back Seat Deck.
- Check for rear headrests and measure your seat width before you order.
- Clip the harness in, every trip.
You can see the pod and the deck side by side in our dog car seats collection.