Dogs and ATVs

A friend of mine used to have a St. Bernard that would run and jump up behind him on his motorcycle when he rode it around his house as a teen. The dog would then put its paws on his shoulders and ride until the bike stopped. Not suggesting this, but it can be done.

I would not attach them to the quads. If things go south for any reason, they need to be able to get away from it just the same as you.

I had a Jack Russel that liked to ride on dirt/street bikes. The dirt bike had a smaller fuel tank so I took a small plastic bucket and flipped it upside down, with a hole in the 'bottom', and used the filler cap to hold the modified bucket in place. The bottom of the bucket now facing upward gave him a flat spot to place his front legs and then he stood/sat on the seat. On faster runs I would use an animal harness and attach him to me in case we hit a bump or quick maneuver for road debris so I didn't lose him at 70+ on the interstate.

boogie_4wheel wrote:
I would not attach them to the quads. If things go south for any reason, they need to be able to get away from it just the same as you.

I have considered this too. My only worry about not attaching them in some way is that they could fall if we hit a bump. I'm also worried about our young dog jumping off as she has done that once already on a short ride from one lot to another. We don't have to worry about our older dog jumping off but she could fall off if not attached somehow.

How did you attach your dog to you?

Maybe build a 4 sided wooden "bed", add some rubber matting and call it a day!

How big are your dogs?

My (big Aussie LOVED to ride on our SeaDoo - he'd sit in front of me, with his butt wedged between my legs and his feet on the storage compartment in front of the seat. No matter how bumpy/wavy, or how fast I turned, he seemed very secure and never fell off.....LOL! The drawback to this: a facefull of dog spit from time to time from that lolling tongue and open-mouthed dog grin.....

I don't recommend attaching your dog to your ATV, if you roll or anything like that your dog will be hung up and unable to escape. The only way I'd consider attaching is with an extendable leash say 20-25' but I still don't recommend it.

Our Golden Retriever aka Box of Rocks loved to ride on our Quads. The pad in the back may help, I've seen others just attach carpet for them to lay on and dig into a bit.

In our case we had a hard box that she would ride in which kept her from moving around to much. Do put something down over the seat, once nervous their claws can dig in more then you want.

Our dogs are 12 lbs. and 25 lbs. The younger one is the bigger of the two. Our smaller dog will stick to me like velcro so I don't see her being a problem except for losing footing.

I'll look around and see what kind of box contraption I can think of. I've seen a dog ATV seat online but $$$$.

I used to carry a large dog (occasionally 2) on the quad with a wooden box I built. About 48" wide and 24" front to rear and 16" or so high. Rear opened on hinges like a truck tailgate. Worked well. It was bolted through the rear rack so securely mounted.

Google ATV dog and you'll see all sorts of nice carriers.

I have googled it. Was hoping to figure out a way to use what we have. Thank you all for the help!