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Dogmobiles: Can’t I have dogs and a fun ride, too?
By Gina Spadafori
November 18, 2006
The test vehicle I was supposed to get this week didn’t get delivered to the media pool, so they took away the FJ Cruiser and left me with my own vehicle to drive for a few days. I haven’t driven my own van in so long that I couldn’t remember where the controls for the windshield wipers were.
The break-in period was swift, though, and I now remember everything about my van, including the two reasons I want to replace it, one frivolous, the other legitimate. As is the norm with me, I use the legitimate reason to rationalize what really is motivating my desire for the perfect new dogmobile.
The legitimate: These days, I often find myself in places where the need for all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive is for more than the coolness factor. I do field training with my retrievers, and the whole idea for getting a different vehicle started with the problems my van was having on the rutted roads and soggy fields of various training areas.
The frivolous: Vans are boring, and I want something that’s fun to drive.
The truth is, I have had no complaints about my aging Plymouth Voyager. It fits all the dogs, all the gear and had taken me almost everythere (including to Florida and back) for the better part of 10 years. Its limitations with off-road conditions are not the fault of the vehicle, and other vans do indeed have the drive trains and ground clearance to handle the demands of my training hobby. All the vans ride pleasantly, and are equipped with more features (including those for safety) than was the case when I bought my van.
But I want something good-looking and responsive. I don’t want something that screams “soccer mom.” I want … a sports car, with room for dogs.
Of course, I’ll be compromising.
So far, the vans don’t thrill me. The big SUVs, although comfortable and roomy, handle like ocean liners (and of course, there’s the matter of fuel economy!). What I keep coming back to are the “cute utes” and the midsize SUVs, although I remain open to a fair dogmobile evaluation of every vehicle that comes my way. After all, everyone isn’t going through the midlife crisis I am, and for those people, a sensible, roomy and well-equipped minivan is probably still going to be the best choice as a dogmobile.
In the meantime, I keep looking, driving and writing. Next up: I think it’s a Land Rover.
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I’m heading out the door to speak to the 
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