I remember years ago when our older neighbors used to help us out with our beagle Kobi. Kobi needed companions after our Lab mix Maggie died (there were no daycares back then), and the neighbors no longer had dogs of their own so they were happy to help. They would care for Kobi during the day when we were at work. They loved to take him for rides in their Subaru station wagon. They had a pet barrier going across the back and Kobi always seemed happy about riding back there.
When we had four dogs we didn’t take them a lot of places, but now that our numbers are reduced a little, and Luke loves to ride so much, they’ve been going on rides more and more lately. I know that we need to be more concerned about their safety in our vehicles. So when we were given the opportunity to try out a Travall Pet Barrier in my Rav 4, I thought we should.
As it turned out, we got it at just the right time. We had a group of realtors wanting to come and view our house which is for sale, and Sheba had recently had surgery. We always get the dogs out of the house when having showings. Sheba is fine getting in and out of the vehicle, and she just lies down and relaxes once in there. I was more concerned about the other two dogs bothering her. So we wanted to keep them separated and this barrier made that super easy.
All of this was kind of last minute so as I left for work and left my hubby to deal with all of that, he said he would install the barrier and use it if it was easy to do. Travall’s website tells you that installation takes only 10-15 minutes, and an installation guide was included. It was just that easy, he was able to separate the dogs, and all went smoothly.
Afterwards, my hubby showed me how easy it was to remove and re-install the barrier. I was impressed with the quality of it, and I’m pretty sure even I could do it!
The above photo shows how it attaches to the windows. The same hardware (shown bottom left) is on each side, but once it is installed you can leave one side intact when removing, so you only have to re-install for one window. The center photo shows him attaching the nuts, and the right photo shows how it sits in the window.
It actually sits in there pretty secure just with attaching to the windows. But anchors are also included which attach to the rod behind our back seat on the floor. All you do is attach the anchor under the floor rod, then slide it over and secure the top on to the barrier (bottom right).
This barrier is constructed with mild steel and is scratch resistant. Each barrier is designed for your specific vehicle so there should be no issues with fit (we certainly did not have any – it fit perfectly). The company also provides a Lifetime Warranty.
Travall has been in business for over 30 years and are best known as the world’s largest producer of vehicle-specific pet barriers and dividers. If you visit their website Travall.com you can find other products specifically made for your vehicle. They are based in the UK, so you have to be aware (and their website clearly states it) that your shipment may be subject to local import duties when being shipped outside the EU and that is your responsibility. However, they are in the process of expanding into North American markets, so this will change. Once they open their planned warehouse in the United States that will no longer be an issue. We look forward to trying more of their products made just for our vehicles.
Disclaimer: We received a Travall Pet Barrier in exchange for our honest review. We were in no other way compensated for this post and Wag ‘n Woof Pets only shares products we believe will be of interest to our readers. Travall is not responsible for the content of this article.
What year is your Rav4? I have a 2015 Rav4 and this is the only gate I’ve seen (and I have done a LOT of searching!!!) that looks like it would work for my dog. He’s 75 pounds and has already destroyed a $100 universal barrier (he bent the tubular extension bars, and he also pushes on them with his paws until they slide down—those plastic screw-snaps designed to hold the bars in position are no match for a strong and determined dog).
Another problem with any universal barrier in the Rav4 is the bulge in one side of the vehicle’s ceiling—which prevents you from centering the posts and having them at the same height. You have to make the posts really tight to keep the barrier in position, but that creates dents in the headliner and flooring. And even with the posts as tight as possible, I still have to bungee them to the seat anchors and/or headrests, or my dog will pull the whole contraption down.
Does the Travall gate extend far enough to the sides to keep seat belts safely out of dog reach? (The center seatbelt is fully retracted into the ceiling, so it’s only the left and right ones that I’m worried about.) My dog chewed through both rear belts on my Rav4 and it cost me $275 to replace them.
Until last year, I owned a Honda CRV and had a gate that worked really well with it. It was a half-height gate that attached to the back of the headrests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with my Rav4 headrests because they don’t slide up far enough to make room for the attachment hardware and still stay locked onto their posts.
Count yourself lucky if you have a dog that doesn’t mind being confined to a cargo area by a cheapo barrier! My last dog was so well behaved that he would stay put with no gate at all. But my current dog would be in the passenger seat in three seconds if I loaded him into the cargo area without a gate.
Hi Dawn! My Rav4 is a 2015 as well. This barrier fits in there very well and it seems extremely heavy duty. It hasn’t left dents anywhere that I’ve seen. I’d be surprised if a dog could do any damage to it (though Luke has never tried).
There is a bit of a gap on the sides, but I still don’t think it would be easy for a dog to reach through to get at the seat belts (maybe with their paws if they were clever but definitely not their head).
I know what it’s like to have a challenging dog, even if in different ways. Luke barks at everything and everyone he sees when riding. I had hoped this barrier would make him feel more safe so he stopped that, but it hasn’t. So we’re going to need to try some other things as far as that goes, but at least he is secure back there!
Let me know if you decide to give this barrier a try, and how you make out!
Can your rear head rests go up with it installed? They are flipped forward, so I’m just curious if it’s because the barrier only work with them that way or just by chance in the photos? I just got a Rav4 and am debating this product. 🙂 Thanks!
I will have to check with my hubby, I’m not sure if he just put them that way to get them out of the way or if they have to be like that. I will get back to you.
Great, thanks!
Hi Liz, I checked with my hubby and he said that yes, the rear head rests can go up when it is installed. He only left them down for visibility purposes (I’m not sure if he meant for the driver, or for the dogs…LOL).
Those head rests can also just be removed completely too, if you wanted to.
Thank you so much! Mine are removed right now, but if I were to periodically have people in the back it’d be safest to keep them on. I wouldn’t want to get a barrier that would prevent it. I appreciate you checking. This while blog post was really helpful for me as someone considering the barrier for my 2013 Rav4. 🙂 I never thought my two big dogs could comfortably travel in the cargo of a crossover but shockingly they do have enough room in this vehicle. If we took a long trip I would lay things down, but it may be safer day to day to get the Travall and contain them.
I’m glad I could help, Liz! I hope if you decide to get one it works out well for you. When we got up to 4 dogs, we got a huge Nissan Pathfinder, and we discovered it was way bigger than what we needed! The Rav 4 really seems to be perfect with the seats down for 3 dogs. Even with the barrier in, there’s plenty of room in the back for at least two of the dogs. Plus I’m hoping our beagle, who doesn’t like riding, will feel more secure back there.
That looks like a great way to keep pets where they are supposed to be. Glad to hear it was easy to install.
Janet,
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! We are so pleased you liked the barrier, enjoy! For those shopping from Canada check out our Canadian store at Travall.ca!
This is really good. Cocoa does not like her harness seatbelt very well and I wonder if she would rather have something like this carrier. Have a good weekend!!
I think it might be worth a try for Cocoa! With 3 dogs especially, it’s easier to use this than to have to strap 3 of them in!
This is a terrific solution to the problem of dogs becoming back seat drivers! Our boys ride in their kennel in the back of the SUV.
That looks like a great solution to keep you dogs safe in the car. But are they loose behind it or secured? If we go for long drives we have to wear a harness that’s attached to the back seat. We hope that Sheba is recovering well and are keeping our paws crossed! Love Dolly
They are loose behind it. I’m not sure if there is still a place back there where a harness could be attached. I feel like it’s a small enough area back there that they would be safe with not a lot of space to move around in.
Sheba is healing well and feeling good, and I’ll have an update on Wednesday, but long term it is not good news. 🙁 Thank you for thinking of her.
That is a cool barrier. I wonder if Phod would be less stress if he had that in the back with him.
I will let you know if it calms Luke down, which is what we’re hoping for.
Oh what a fantastic idea!!! I will have to check them out!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Sounds like a great product! But it would never work in my Impala. In some ways, I wish I had a small SUV; but I love my car and it has served me well these last nine years. And with only the two dogs now, I don’t really need an SUV any more.
I’m pretty hooked on my SUV, with 3 dogs it works great. Plus we need it for our girls’ Christmas shopping trip. 5 women shopping, you can imagine we need lots of room for packages! LOL
I have a barrier somewhat like that we use in our truck, I love it. We don’t use it much anymore since we now have the dog boxes in the back of the truck we can use.
I’ve considered crates in the car too, but we’ll be lucky if we can get Luke in his crate in the house! LOL
Oh boy! Our friend Benji needs that gate
Lily & Edward
In Germany, our SUV’s had nets you could pull up to keep dogs in one spot. They were nothing super strong like this, but it kept dogs from moving around. We never jump around since we are seatbelted in, but a lot of people could really use these barriers.
that’s a cool thing! we have a common cheap one, it makes loud noises and Easy better should wear a helmet because it sometimes furls :o(