We’re barking about dogs here at MINI. And with more UK families than ever welcoming dogs into their lives this past year, we thought what better time to explore how to help them travel happier.
So, we teamed up with the canine behaviour experts at Dogs Trust to understand what makes dogs’ bums wiggle when it comes to cars. Together we developed a questionnaire, which we took to our drivers to complete.
First things first. What defines a happy dog? Before we could ask MINI owners if their dogs were happy or not, we needed to know which behaviours to watch out for.
Dogs Trust helped us identify which positive signs and signals you should look out for when on the road with your pooch. We asked survey respondents to quantify ‘happy dogs’ as ones who:
Our drivers were eager to send their doggy tales to us, with hundreds responding to the survey. We analysed 1,000 of the responses to discover that 91% of drivers said their dog was happy in a MINI. With more than half reporting all three happy travelling behaviours.
It’s not just little dogs who love MINIs. Over half of the large and extra-large dog owners who responded said they chose their car because it was big enough for their dog.
We discovered most MINI owners drive with their dogs on the back seat. Larger dog owners opted for the boot – in fact, the spacious boot was large dog owner’s favourite feature about their car.
If you frequently journey with your dog in tow, then be sure to check out our helpful guide to make sure you’re travelling safely and, importantly, legally –using the right restraints.
