"No Pet Left Behind" - a guest post by Rin
Keeping a vehicle clean in the Pacific Northwest is an almost impossible task, especially if your “children” are of the four-legged variety. Finding any product that can help ease the stress of pet transportation is a welcome breath of fresh air. The Waterproof Hammock Seat Cover by Solvit Products, is definitely one of the things top on our list and something any pet owner should have if transportation by sedan or backseat is the way they roll.
The Waterproof Hammock Seat Cover is made of a khaki colored heavy duty fabric with a practical waterproof backing. The Solvit Hammock was clean and crisp looking straight out of the package, and actually looked quite nice once installed. We were incredibly surprised at how easy the installation of the Solvit Pet Hammock was, as anyone that has known us more than a few minutes knows we are not big on rolling out the instructions and going step by step. It installs in mere minutes, but saves you hours of cleaning your backseat which just so happens to be one of my least favorite tasks. We were very impressed with how easily we could remove the cover from the backseat if we need to cart around friends and family, and then just as quickly reinstall.
The cover is adjustable in a number of ways, starting with the width of seat to fit anywhere from a smaller to larger backseat. It is complete with 4 additional strap adjustments that slip over the headrests and allow for height adjustment of the cover. Each side of the cover resting against the driver and passenger seats has pockets for leashes, gear or puppy snacks with a button down flap to prevent things falling out. The cover comes with “Sta-Put” anchors that you place in between the seat and the seatback to help hold the Solvit Pet Hammock in place on the ride and keep your back seat as clean as possible.
Which is good, because playtime at the dog park means pups can get rather dirty and you will need all the help you can get keeping your car clean. But, even if the pups are filthy dirty, they can lie on the Solvit Seat Cover in the backseat without causing damage to the leather seats or upholstery. Being waterproof is another huge bonus because the pups can drink from a water bowl and spill a little (or a lot of) water without it soaking through to the leather below.
We don’t have the pleasure right now of having a station wagon or SUV to support the dogs in the rear of the vehicle so we rely solely on the backseat to transport the pups. With the Solvit Waterproof Hammock Seat Cover, we don’t have to worry about the pups making their way into the front seat or floor of the backseat while driving since the cover blocks the passage to the off limit areas and makes us far more relaxed when transporting. Another bonus was that when the Waterproof Pet Hammock is installed, you can still use the foot area of the backseat for storage without worrying that the pups will get at whatever you store there.
We found the “Sta-Put” anchors hold the majority of the Waterproof Pet Hammock in place even when the pups are most active, however the sides of the backseat can suffer a little as the cover doesn’t securely fasten to hold down the sides where the doors open. Such is the nature of a one size fits all product, and really didn’t end up limiting our use of the Solvit Hammock, especially with the generous 56 x 59 size. The only other downfall is the straps that wrap around the headrests can slip if the pups are extremely active, so you may find that adjustment is necessary on a long road trip or for frequent use. All in all, pretty minor complaints considering the Solvit Seat Cover saves you having to detail (and then re-detail) your car after every pet trip.
My husband and I are thrilled with this product and would recommend it to anyone who travels with pets, whether that is around town or cross country. Any problems we had with the product were extremely minor considering that it is saving our backseat from being destroyed by our pups.
http://www.solvitproducts.com/and available at numerous online retailers sunch as Amazon and Americas Pet Store
Price: $39.99
Looks: Khaki and clean and far superior to torn and dirty backseats
Overall: A safe and easy way to protect your car and your pup.
