Crates for the car

Two side-by-side crates and a smaller one for Ms. Abbie may work. I have crates around the globe at this point -- two in the house, one in the car (since I usually only have one out at a time), and two at the family beach house.

It really is a pain to haul them in and out of the car/house all the time. My car set up is a crate with the long side facing the back door of the car, it sits on a wood shim so that it's level, has a horse stall mat as the base for comfort (no tray) and blankets, and a water bucket clipped in. In the summer I run a ventilation hose from the front passenger seat vent to the crate for max AC. (Learn that trick from a lady at the kennel club.)

I really want to get two side-by-sides for my Pilot since we have Rosco and Luna in Rally class together, but it's not in the budget at the moment. (Darn home repairs!) 

Let us know what you go with, I am curious what other people do.
 

I have Vari-Kennel crates in the house and the collapsible cloth crates in the car.  I have a tough time squeezing my two into my Rav4 and thus am at my dog limit presently, I don't know how you'd manage 3 in an Escape unless you have 2 that could crate together without fighting in a larger one maybe.

Here's how I get my two into my Rav4.

 This smaller crate is where Woobie goes.  He loads first.  Luckily, the crates are lightweight and I can lift them in and out of the car easily and slide to the sideways position once the dog is loaded.

 Then the big one is turned sideways for Indie to jump in.

It's nice that I can collapse them flat and leave them in the car to go shopping without having to schlep them in and out of the car.

Kaiser's crate is left in the car.  He has a crate in the house that he just graduated out of, so now that's just his show/travel crate and is in the spare room.  He also has a crate in my office, but he outgrew it and it needs to disappear now.  When I first got him I also had a crate for him at the dog training center where I worked, so he had four crates in different places!!

Luke is not crated in the car or at home, so I keep his crate folded up in the spare room until it's needed for agility trials.  When I first got him he had a crate in the car, a crate at home and a crate at the office.  I'm too lazy to move crates around.

 I don't think the collapsable soft crates would work too well. I don't trust the dogs not to try to go through the screened areas. You've never had a problem though, eh?

I know for a fact that at least the bc, if not all three, would eat their way out of a soft crate on a long car ride. I currently have one extra in the garage that I put in the car if needed, and I bring one from the house. The shelties share a large crate in the car, and Shiner gets a smaller one, smaller than his crate in the house anyway.

 Sorry, I just have to post this.  It changed how I view transporting my pets forever.

Pet Crash Test

 Cars and Dogs

 There's a video out there of German crash tests that shows how even having a cat crated but sitting on the seat is dangerous (better to have the crate on the floor between the back of the front seat and the back seat) but I can't find the link, maybe later.

My crates aren't the *best* solution, but I know they won't be impaled by a crushed wire crate (something I read about on another forum) and the seatbelts never worked for either of them, so at least this way they won't be thrown around the interior or out a window or break free if a window pops out or a door opens. 

Jewlieee

 I don't think the collapsable soft crates would work too well. I don't trust the dogs not to try to go through the screened areas. You've never had a problem though, eh?

Nope.  Woobie is NOT a fan either.  At first he would dig at the sides (which are really pretty strong) and whine but after a few sharp "NO!"s he does fine now.  He pants alot and wants out as quickly as possible but doesn't scratch anymore.  Indie, aka MR. DESTRUCTO, has never had a problem in there remarkably.  He's chewed up leashes (my bad) and has managed to chew off his harness (again, my bad) but has never tried to chew the crate, even on a 3+ hour ride to VA Tech each way.  Now I take off his harness and the leash and put a bone or a rope to chew and he does great.

Aha, found the German Video, you can't understand the narrative unless you speak German, but the images speak for themselves!  Eek!   

Julie, the other option might be to get one of those barriers, so you can have the dogs in the way back and crates folded up, etc in back seat for traveling to trials. You could put some padding up on the sides if you wanted to make it softer/safer in an accident.

We have inside crates and car crates (all Varikennel type). We have a Dodge Caravan; we took the third row of seats out and can fit two 32x22.5x24 crates back there. They are plenty big enough for a Lab and a Golden for safe transport purposes. I feel so much better now that we have this setup and it is so much easier to transport both at the same time (they used to be seat belt leashed on the back seat of a medium sedan with me in the middle... hello hair, slobber and not-safe feeling).

If need be we could probably add a third crate of the same size on the second row of seats (leveled and strapped down somehow) facing the sliding door or even two smaller ones if we took the second row of seats away. I am not sure how you would fit three crates in the Explorer because the cargo space looks way smaller.

The inside crates are bigger and are still set up even though they do not use them every day anymore. The car crates are put in and taken out as need be and we have the girls use a ramp to get in.

As it is I can only fit one crate in my car, and yes I move it in and out when I need it.  If/when I get my dogmobile (Subaru Outback) I will drop big bucks for two dog boxes fitted in the back, and then probably continue to use my current 36 crate on the back seat for the third dog, if needed.

 Well, I have 3 crates in the back of my escape, plus a little room for Dakota. I have a large vari-kennel, a medium wire crate and a small vari kennel. I will probably switch to 3 intermediate vari-kennels if I can find them on craigslist or at garage sales, so Dakota will have more room.

I have.... (are you ready?) 2 36" wire crates in the house. I have one 30" and one 24" crate on  the back seat of my Accord. I have 2 small carriers in the back seat of my show buddy's big truck. I have 2, 24"  wire crates in her travel trailer. I also have 2 pop up crates for ringside at obedience and rally. I also need a small, wire crate with castors or a crate dolly, and a grooming table top for conformation ringside.

*sigh* Showing dogs has it's costs. The good side is, I always, always have a crate if I need one, LOL. Emma isn't even crated at home! I definitely crate in the car, though, because it's safer, and because someone small and hairless has had an accident (sick tummy poop) in the car before.

We don't crate ours in the car...we should, but we don't. Taz sit's on Mom's lap. It'f funny cuz he'll just sit there, between her arms whiles shes driving, or he'll laydown under her arms. Very cute. Sam is scared of the car when it moves. He gets on the car's floor and lays very still, we did crate him when we went for his rabies shot. He didn't like it, but he got a hambuger for being a good boy at the vet...LOL

Jewlieee

 Well, I have 3 crates in the back of my escape, plus a little room for Dakota. I have a large vari-kennel, a medium wire crate and a small vari kennel. I will probably switch to 3 intermediate vari-kennels if I can find them on craigslist or at garage sales, so Dakota will have more room.

Wow, really?  Can you post a pic of your set up?  An Escape is slightly larger than a RAV4, I'd love to see how you manage it.