We live for road trips. Once we finish one trip we immediately start planning the next one and our whole family counts down the days to when we can get back on the road. Spetsna has this superpower where he can sense if we are going somewhere. Even before I bring out suitcases or have anything road trip-ish out visually, he can tell. He gets all sulky and sad until he is 100% percent sure he is coming with us. I’m sure English is his second language so I try to assure him with words like, “Don’t worry, you are coming with on the trip to Kentucky” or “Look Spetsna I’m going to pack your leash in the car so its apparent you are coming with”. Hopefully I’m not the only one who talks to their dogs?
Anyway, we bring him on every road trip as long as it’s remotely possible. I can not emphasize enough, he LOVES road trips. Even if its just a day trip and where he ends up sitting in the car for 12 hours straight (he gets pee and stretch breaks, no worries people) he is happy as a clam just being with us.
We literally bought a new (used) Dodge Journey this year to have more room for road trips – we are hardcore ya’ll 😉 Our first trip in this new SUV was down to Florida where we’d be gone for one month so we were packed to the brim. If Spetsna’s superpower is sensing road trips, mine is packing. I’m addicted to getting everything we might need into the smallest area possible. The one thing I didn’t account for on this trip was a cargo cover for the back of the SUV. Our previous road trip vehicle was a HHR which has a plastic covered cargo area. The Journey does not. Do you see where I am going with this? White German shepherd hair ended up stuck in every little area of that cargo area. If you have had a Shepherd or a dog with a similar coat you already know that type of hair sticks and clings and refuses to be removed. We vacuumed and brushed to no avail.
I’d like to say this is where I got smart and immediately bought a cargo cover for the back. Nope, I tried a blanket first. Just a regular ol quilted blanket. This is a step up from having nothing to protect the back BUT we ran into two problems. The blanket would get wet and start to smell. Oh how lovely it is to be trapped inside a car with two adults, two kids, a dog and a smelly blanket. So I ended up washing it more frequently than I liked. Secondly the blanket wouldn’t stay in one place so it’d end up a in ball in one corner. Any guesses where Spetsna would be curled up? On the non blanketed corner of course! And even if it did stay in place the hair was still sticking everywhere.
Now enters the cargo cover! Trusty Amazon provided many options (I also looked on Sierra Trading Post and Chewy). After reading all the reviews I settled on the one you see here. Let me tell you, it is perfect. It fit the back area to a T and doesn’t shift around at all. It is crazy easy to put in and out. It even includes sitcky velcro so you can attach the sides securely. Most importantly, drum roll please, the hair doesn’t stick!!! We can just sweep it out when we let Spetnsa out. If I’m honest, I’m usually too lazy to brush it out and I let my the wind take care of it for me. With the back open for a min or two most of the hair just flitters away on the breeze like a butterfly on a summers day (sorry, got carried away). The cargo cover is also super water resistant so I can just grab the dog towel and dry it off after an wet adventure with no need to remove and wash it.
FYI: Here is the link so you can get direct access to the product. I earn a small commission if you buy from this link (the price is same through my link or searching amazon so you wont pay any extra) That being said, I literally bought this like a normal person and ended up loving it so I wanted to share in case any of you were in the same messy car situation as myself.
Happy road tripping!
My Thoughts:
Pros –
Dog hair doesn’t stick! It slides right off.
Super water resistant so it never smells
Easy to wipe clean
Installs & uninstalls in less than a minute
Stays in place
Looks cute
Cons:
Nothing so far!
Spetsna’s Thoughts:
Pros –
Not too slippery to stand on
No strong plastic smell (not on ours at least)
Lets everyone know I own the cargo area – domain claimed!
Allows more time for car rides since hoomans spend less time cleaning
Cons:
Even though its not too slippery to stand on, it took me a couple min to get my footing
