Car Travel and Road Trips With a Dog Trailer: Getting There and Back
The trailer that transformed your local rides becomes a packing problem the moment you want to take it somewhere. Here’s how to move it without wrecking it.
Here’s the main point: the awkward part of a road trip isn’t the driving. It’s that a folded dog trailer is bulky, oddly shaped, and competes for exactly the space your dog needs.
Most people discover this in a car park at 6am, trying to fit a trailer, a bike, a dog crate and a weekend’s luggage into a hatchback. It doesn’t fit, and something gets left behind.
The fix is mostly planning: know your folded dimensions, take the wheels off, and decide in advance whether the trailer goes inside, on a rack, or on the roof. This guide covers all three, plus securing loads properly, dog safety in the car itself, and the trip-planning that makes arriving actually pleasant. 🐾
📋 What’s In This Guide
The Space Problem
Folded isn’t as small as you hoped
Trailers fold flat, but “flat” still means a large rigid rectangle. A folded trailer is typically about as awkward as a folded travel cot — thin in one dimension, big in the other two.
And the wheels are the real issue. Left on, they add substantial width and make the whole thing an irregular shape that won’t stack.
Everything competes for the same space
A road trip with a dog and a trailer means fitting:
- The folded trailer
- At least one bike
- Your dog, safely restrained
- Their bedding, food, bowls and water
- Your luggage
- The bits you always forget — pump, tools, spare tube, towels
In a hatchback that’s genuinely tight. In an estate or SUV it’s manageable with planning.
Measure before you plan anything
Two numbers decide everything: your trailer’s folded dimensions with the wheels off, and your car’s boot opening and load bay.
Measure both properly once, write them down, and you’ll never have the car-park moment again.
Roughly what fits where
Every car and every trailer is different, so treat this as a starting point rather than a promise. But it’ll tell you which of the three carrying methods to look at first.
| Your Car | Trailer Inside? | Plus a Bike? | Plus Dog + Luggage? | What to Do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small hatchback | Small trailer only, wheels off, seats down | No | No | You need a rack — towbar or roof |
| Large hatchback | Yes, wheels off, seats down | Front wheel off, very tight | Rarely | A towbar rack transforms it |
| Estate / wagon | Yes, on its edge, seats up | Usually, wheel off | Manageable with planning | Inside works; add a boot guard |
| Mid-size SUV | Yes, comfortably | Yes, wheel off | Yes | Inside is simplest |
| Large SUV / MPV | Yes, easily | Yes, sometimes whole | Yes, with room spare | Inside; strap it down anyway |
| Van / camper | Yes, occasionally assembled | Two or more | Yes | Easiest of all — just secure the load |
The pattern is clear enough: hatchback owners should budget for a rack, and everyone else can usually make inside work if they take the wheels off.
If your trailer has quick-release wheels, this is the single biggest space saving available and it takes about twenty seconds per wheel. It turns an awkward irregular object into a flat panel you can slide down one side of the boot. If your wheels aren’t quick-release, it’s worth checking whether an upgrade kit exists for your model.
Three Ways to Carry It
| Method | Best For | Pros | Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside the boot | Estates, SUVs, vans | Free; secure; weatherproof; nothing to fit | Eats the space your dog needs; muddy trailer in the cabin |
| Towbar bike rack (platform) | Regular trips, multiple bikes | Frees the whole boot; easy loading height | Needs a towbar; check the rack’s weight limit; may obscure plates |
| Roof bars | Cars without a towbar | Boot stays free; works on most cars | Awkward lifting; wind noise; height limits; fuel cost |
| Rear-door / boot-lid rack | Occasional use, no towbar | Cheaper than a towbar | Lower weight limits; blocks boot access; can damage paint |
| Two trips | Short distances only | No kit needed | Doubles the driving; rarely worth it |
Which should you choose?
If you have an estate, SUV or van, inside is usually simplest — free, secure, and nothing to buy. Take the wheels off and slide it down one side.
If you’re travelling often, or you have a hatchback and a dog who needs proper space, a towbar platform rack is the answer that actually solves it. It frees the whole boot.
Roof bars work but the lifting is genuinely awkward with a trailer, and you’ll notice the fuel consumption and the wind noise.
Important: check what your rack is rated for
Bike racks are designed for bikes, and a loaded rack has a stated maximum weight and often a maximum number of items. A dog trailer is heavier and shaped differently to a bike.
Don’t assume a two-bike rack will take a bike plus a trailer. Check the rating and whether the manufacturer permits non-bike loads at all.
Packing It Inside
The order that works
- Wheels off the trailer and set aside.
- Trailer flat against one side of the load bay, upright on its edge rather than lying flat — it takes less floor area that way.
- Wheels in the footwells or flat under the trailer. They’re the easiest thing to slot into gaps.
- Heavy luggage low and forward, against the back of the seats.
- Your dog’s space last — and protect it. Decide how much room they need first, then pack around it.
- Soft bags in the gaps. Bedding and towels fill irregular spaces better than cases.
Protect the interior
A trailer that’s been on gravel or a beach is filthy, and it’ll be pressed against your car’s trim for three hours. A boot liner or an old blanket between the trailer and the interior saves a lot of cleaning.
If it’s actually wet, put it in a large bag or a tarp — damp fabric plus a warm car equals a smell you’ll remember.
Secure it properly
This matters more than people think. An unsecured trailer is a heavy object behind your dog. In a hard stop it moves forward.
Use the boot tie-down points and a ratchet strap or two. It takes a minute and it means the trailer can’t shift into your dog’s space.
Loose items in a load bay become projectiles in a hard stop. Keep heavy items low and strapped, and put a boot divider or guard between the cargo area and your dog if they’re travelling in the back. This is the most commonly overlooked car-safety issue on dog road trips.
Racks and Roof Options
Towbar platform racks
The best solution if you travel regularly. The trailer sits low, loading is at waist height, and your boot stays completely free.
Things to check:
- Weight rating — total, and per position
- Whether non-bike loads are permitted by the rack manufacturer
- Your towbar’s nose weight limit
- Lighting board and number plate — most jurisdictions require both to remain visible or be duplicated
- Boot access — tilting racks let you open the boot without unloading
Roof bars
Workable, with caveats. The trailer goes up flat, wheels off, strapped down.
Realities to accept:
- Lifting is awkward. Two people is much easier, and a folded trailer is not a light or convenient shape.
- Height. Note your new total height — car parks, drive-throughs and low bridges become relevant.
- Fuel and noise. Both noticeably worse.
- Roof load limit. Every car has one; check it.
- Weather. A trailer on the roof in rain arrives soaked.
Securing anything on the outside
Two independent straps minimum, and a check after the first fifteen minutes of driving — straps settle and loosen. Then check again at every stop.
Tuck or tape loose strap ends. A flapping strap at 60mph is both irritating and a genuine hazard.
“Measure your folded trailer and your boot once, write both numbers down, and you’ll never repack the car in a lay-by again.” 🚗
Alt text: “Estate car boot packed with a folded dog trailer stood on edge with wheels removed and dog space preserved”
Your Dog in the Car
Different job from riding, and easy to get casual about after the effort of packing.
Restraint is not optional
In many places an unrestrained dog in a car is a legal issue as well as a safety one. Regardless of the law, an unrestrained dog in a collision is dangerous to itself and to everyone in the car.
The options, roughly best to worst:
- Crash-tested travel crate — the gold standard, if you have space
- Boot with a proper guard or divider — good for larger dogs in estates
- Crash-tested harness with a seatbelt tether — practical, less protective
- Ordinary harness clipped to a belt — better than nothing, not crash-rated
Note that a walking harness is not the same as a crash-tested one. If you’re doing long trips regularly, it’s worth having the proper item.
Don’t use the trailer as a car crate
Worth stating plainly, because people try it. A bike trailer is not designed or tested for vehicle impacts. It won’t restrain your dog in a collision and it isn’t a substitute for a proper travel crate.
Motion sickness
Common, especially in younger dogs. What helps:
- Forward-facing where possible
- A view of the horizon, if they can see out safely
- Fresh air — a window slightly open, not blasting
- Empty-ish stomach — feed a few hours before, not just before
- Frequent short trips to build tolerance before a long one
If it’s severe, your vet can help — there are effective medications and it’s worth asking rather than enduring it.
Heat in a parked car
The same rule as trailers, more urgently: never leave your dog in a parked car. Temperatures rise faster than most people believe, and shade moves.
Breaks
Every two hours minimum. Toilet, water, a short walk, and a chance to stretch. A dog who’s been in a crate for four hours and then goes straight into a trailer has had a long day of confinement.
Recommended Gear
Ratchet Straps & Tie-Down Set
Cheap, and the thing that turns a boot full of loose objects into a secured load. An unsecured trailer is a heavy item that moves forward in a hard stop — straps stop that.
- ✅ Stops the trailer shifting into your dog’s space under braking
- ✅ Two independent straps for anything carried outside the car
- ✅ Cam straps for delicate loads, ratchets where you need real tension
- ✅ Same set does duty on racks, roof bars and inside the boot
- ⚠️ Recheck after fifteen minutes of driving — straps settle and loosen
- ⚠️ Tuck or tape loose ends; a flapping strap at speed is a hazard
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Crash-Tested Travel Harness or Crate
Your bike trailer is not a car restraint — it isn’t designed or tested for vehicle impacts. For the car journey your dog needs proper restraint, and a walking harness isn’t the same thing.
- ✅ Restraint is legally required in many places, and protective everywhere
- ✅ Crash-tested is genuinely different from a walking harness with a clip
- ✅ A crate is the best option if you have the space for it
- ✅ Protects the people in the car as well as the dog
- ⚠️ Never use the bike trailer as a car crate — it will not restrain your dog in a collision
- ⚠️ Check restraint requirements where you’re driving; rules vary
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Boot Liner & Large Storage Bag
A trailer that’s been on gravel or a beach will be pressed against your car’s trim for hours. A liner takes the mud, and a big bag contains a wet trailer so it doesn’t scent the whole car.
- ✅ Contains the mud — a folded trailer transfers a surprising amount
- ✅ Bag for a wet trailer stops damp fabric scenting a warm car
- ✅ Handy for the wheels, which are the dirtiest part
- ✅ Raised-edge liners contain water rather than letting it spread
- ⚠️ Don’t leave the trailer bagged when you get home — dry it out, or you’ll grow mould
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Compact Tool Roll & Spare Tube
A puncture at home is a nuisance. A puncture two hundred miles away, on a weekend, is a ruined trip. This is the kit that means it isn’t.
- ✅ Trailer tubes are often a different size to your bike’s — carry the right one
- ✅ Spare hitch pin — they’re tiny and they vanish, and improvising is unsafe
- ✅ Gauge lets you re-set pressure after the trailer’s been strapped down
- ✅ Lives in the car permanently and gets forgotten about until needed
- ⚠️ Practise a tube change at home first, not in a car park in the rain
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Planning the Trip
Check the rules where you’re going
Easy to forget when you’re focused on packing. Path access, dog restrictions and cycling rules all differ by area, and beaches in particular have seasonal dog bans. See Rules and Laws.
Also check dog restraint requirements if you’re driving across a border — they vary.
Research routes before you leave
Unfamiliar area, unknown surfaces, unknown gates. Do the satellite-view work at home rather than hoping. Our route-finding guide covers the method.
Pick a route with bail-outs for your first ride somewhere new. You don’t know the area and neither does your dog.
Find the vet before you need one
Save the address and number of an emergency vet near your destination before you set off. Five minutes at home, potentially very valuable later.
Take a photo of your dog’s vaccination record and any medication details too.
Accommodation
Confirm dog-friendly in writing, and ask two specific questions people forget: is there somewhere secure to store a bike and trailer, and is there somewhere to rinse muddy kit?
Pack your dog’s normal routine
Their own food — changing diet on a trip is how you get an upset stomach two hundred miles from home. Their own bedding, unwashed. Their usual bowls. Familiarity does a lot of work in an unfamiliar place.
Don’t plan a big ride for arrival day. Your dog has been confined in a car for hours and everything smells new. A short, easy outing to stretch and explore beats a long one, and it sets up a much better second day.
Arriving and Setting Up
Dog first, always
- Out on a lead — unfamiliar area, however good their recall usually is
- Toilet break before anything else
- Water, generously
- Short walk to stretch and orient
- Then deal with the car and the trailer
Reassemble properly
Don’t rush this because you’re keen to ride:
- Wheels back on and properly tightened
- Tyre pressure checked — it changes with temperature and after being strapped down
- Hitch fitted and tug-tested
- Safety strap looped round the frame
- Fold locked positively
- Nothing rattling — things loosen in transit
Check the trailer survived the journey
Strapped-down loads chafe. Look for rubbed fabric, a bent flag pole, and — if it travelled outside — road grime or salt on the bearings.
If it went on a roof or rack in wet weather, rinse and dry it before use.
First ride somewhere new
Shorter than you’d do at home. Familiar-feeling surface if you can find one. Out-and-back rather than a loop. Your dog is processing a lot of new information alongside the ride itself.
Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Mistake 1: Not measuring before the trip
You find out in the car park that it doesn’t fit.
Fix: measure folded trailer (wheels off) and your load bay once, write both down.
Mistake 2: Leaving the wheels on
Turns a flat panel into an awkward irregular object.
Fix: quick-release wheels off, into footwells or gaps.
Mistake 3: Not securing the trailer inside the car
It’s a heavy object that moves forward in a hard stop — possibly into your dog.
Fix: ratchet strap to the boot tie-down points.
Mistake 4: Using the bike trailer as a car crate
It isn’t designed or tested for vehicle impacts.
Fix: crash-tested crate or harness for the car journey.
Mistake 5: Overloading a bike rack
A trailer is heavier and shaped differently to a bike.
Fix: check the rack’s weight rating and whether non-bike loads are permitted.
Mistake 6: Big ride on arrival day
Your dog has been confined for hours and everything is new.
Fix: short easy outing first; save the proper ride for day two.
Mistake 7: Not finding the local vet in advance
You don’t want to be searching in an emergency in an unfamiliar area.
Fix: save an emergency vet near your destination before leaving.
Pro Tips
- 💡 Photograph your packed boot the first time you get it right. Repacking to the same layout on the way home is much faster.
- 💡 Keep a permanent car kit — straps, boot liner, tool roll, spare tube, towel. Living in the car means never forgetting it.
- 💡 Stand the trailer on its edge, not flat. Same volume, far less floor area.
- 💡 Wheels in the footwells. Dead space you’re not otherwise using.
- 💡 Recheck external straps after fifteen minutes. They settle, and that’s when they loosen.
- 💡 Note your new height if anything’s on the roof. Car park barriers are unforgiving.
- 💡 Bring your dog’s own water for the first day. Different water occasionally upsets sensitive stomachs.
Two consistent lessons. First, taking the wheels off changes everything — people describe it as the difference between “doesn’t fit” and “fits easily”. Second, almost everyone who travels regularly ends up fitting a towbar rack, because freeing the entire boot is what makes the trip comfortable rather than a packing exercise.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I transport a dog bike trailer in a car?
Take the wheels off — that’s the single biggest space saving and takes seconds with quick-release hubs. Then stand the folded trailer on its edge against one side of the load bay rather than lying flat, put the wheels in footwells, and strap it down to the boot tie-down points. If it won’t fit, a towbar platform rack frees the whole boot.
Can I put a dog trailer on a bike rack?
Sometimes, but check first. Bike racks have a stated maximum weight and are designed around bike shapes — a trailer is heavier and shaped differently. Confirm the rack’s rating, whether the manufacturer permits non-bike loads, and your towbar’s nose weight limit. Also check that your number plate and lights remain visible, or duplicate them on a lighting board.
Can my dog travel in the bike trailer inside the car?
No. A bike trailer is not designed or crash-tested for vehicle impacts and won’t restrain your dog in a collision. Use a crash-tested travel crate or a crash-tested harness with a seatbelt tether — and note that an ordinary walking harness isn’t the same thing. Dog restraint in cars is also a legal requirement in many places.
How often should I stop on a long drive?
Every two hours minimum — toilet, water, and a short walk to stretch. Bear in mind the whole day: a dog who spends four hours in a car crate and then goes into a trailer has had a very long stretch of confinement. Plan the arrival-day ride to be short and easy for that reason.
What should I check after the journey?
Reassemble carefully: wheels tightened, tyre pressure checked (it shifts with temperature and after being strapped), hitch tug-tested, safety strap looped, fold locked positively, and nothing rattling loose. Also look for chafed fabric where straps sat, and if the trailer travelled outside in wet weather, rinse and dry it before using it.
What should I book or check before a trip?
Confirm accommodation is dog-friendly in writing, and ask specifically about secure bike and trailer storage and somewhere to rinse muddy kit. Save an emergency vet near your destination. Check local path, dog and cycling rules, plus dog restraint requirements if you’re crossing a border. And research routes at home rather than improvising on arrival.
Road Trip Checklist
✅ Before You Book
- ☐ Folded trailer measured with wheels off
- ☐ Car boot opening and load bay measured
- ☐ Carrying method decided: inside / towbar rack / roof
- ☐ Rack weight rating and non-bike-load policy checked, if using one
- ☐ Accommodation confirmed dog-friendly in writing
- ☐ Asked about secure storage and somewhere to rinse kit
- ☐ Local path, dog and cycling rules checked at destination
- ☐ Emergency vet near destination saved
- ☐ Routes researched on satellite view
✅ Packing
- ☐ Trailer wheels off, stood on edge, strapped down
- ☐ Boot liner or blanket protecting the interior
- ☐ Heavy luggage low and forward
- ☐ Dog’s space decided first and protected
- ☐ Boot guard or divider fitted if dog travels in the back
- ☐ Crash-tested crate or harness ready
- ☐ Their own food, bedding (unwashed), bowls and water
- ☐ Tool roll, spare tube (trailer size), pump with gauge, spare hitch pin
- ☐ Towels and a large bag for a wet trailer
✅ On the Road
- ☐ External straps rechecked after 15 minutes, then at every stop
- ☐ New vehicle height noted if anything’s on the roof
- ☐ Breaks every two hours — toilet, water, short walk
- ☐ Dog never left in the parked car
✅ On Arrival
- ☐ Dog out on a lead first, toilet, water, short walk
- ☐ Wheels refitted and tightened
- ☐ Tyre pressure checked
- ☐ Hitch tug-tested; safety strap looped; fold locked
- ☐ Trailer checked for chafing; rinsed if it travelled outside in wet
- ☐ First ride kept short and out-and-back
Final Thoughts
Taking the trailer away with you is what turns it from local transport into part of your holidays — proper rides in new places, with your dog fully included.
The whole thing hinges on unglamorous preparation: measure once, take the wheels off, strap it down, and restrain your dog properly for the car. None of that is difficult, and it’s the difference between a smooth departure and an hour of repacking.
Then go easy on arrival day. Your dog has done a long stretch of confinement and everything smells unfamiliar. Save the big ride for day two — it’ll be a much better one. 🚗🐾
Research your destination routes with Finding Dog-Friendly Routes, and check local rules using Rules and Laws. Heading to the coast? Beach and Coastal Riding — and rinse the salt off. Camping instead of a hotel? See Bikepacking and Camping. Trailer been strapped to a roof? Give it the once-over from our maintenance guide.