Two big dogs in a Prius v (pictures)

I finally let my Golden Retriever (Buddy) and Great Pyrenees (Fred) in my Prius v (wagon). I was ready to concede that there was not any more "new car smell" left in my Prius.

They were eager to go and jumped up before I was ready. They made it up and in with no scratches (maybe that bumper applique worked?), but I did notice that 2 inches of weather seal popped out and pushed right back in. I'll be posting about the weather seal here: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-v-main-forum/105132-hatchback-weather-seal.html




I had taken out the middle head rest on the way to the park, and that gave the dogs too much room to stick their noses over the rear seat backs. As we got close to the park, Fred decided to come over the seat back and had two front paws on the back seat and two rear paws in the cargo area. No damage to the synthetic leather. I made sure to put the middle head rest back for the return trip.

After lots of fun at the dog park we were more organized for dog loading and no weather seal was disturbed. The new threat was dog drool. My little girl was there to wipe any slobber she saw. I wiped the head rests with damp paper towel and dried them as good as new.



And with that trip my Prius v fulfilled its last test. I wanted a vehicle that could hold my family with two big dogs; mission accomplished. Other requirements were;

Get good MPG - check

Be able to drive like my previous 2000 RX 300 vehicle, up hill at 75 passing others - check I got 34.5 MPG for that tank in the dead of winter so I'm OK with that. I have more fun now driving closer to speed limits and playing the MPG game aggressively instead of driving aggressively.

Have lots of gadgets - check ATP took care of that and any cost requirements I might have been thinking about.