My Liberty and my dogs: Pooch advice

[smarkham]

Hello guys.

First time posting here because .......... I just bought my Jeep this past weekend. Every time I have to go out (take the trash out, take my dogs for a walk) I sneak around to the parking lot of my apt. building to take a look at it. I feel kind of dumb but I'm just so in love with it.

Gets even better. This is my frist real vehicle. I've always been an urban rat and I went to college and lived in DC since I've been 19 so I didn't need a car. Previously, in high school, I couldn't afford a car.

In April of last year I adopted my dog, Winston, from a rescue. I realized that I would need a car to take the pooch to the vet, dog park, etc. so I bought my friend's beat up 1998 Subaru Impreza. Okay...you can laugh.

Long story short I've been doing more volunteer work with the dog rescue and now I also have a foster dog so I decided to buy an SUV--I went straight to a Jeep Stealership (one of the worst experiences of my life...bunch of liars and thieves) and got a 2005 Liberty (sport, 4x4, 3.7) w/ 49K miles. Ever since I saw the first Liberty it was love at first sight. I rented one a few years back and I knew I would own one some day.

Okay...sorry for the long story. If you take your dogs around what pet stuff do you have in your jeep? I bought a gate to keep them from the cargo area and I ordered a divider to keep them from coming to the front seat. Winston came to the front seat and since it's so narrow he pushed the transmission from Drive to Neutral. Under certain conditions it could have caused an accident. So anything else I should have?

THANKS!!!

Steve in Mt. Rainier MD

PS Any other advice or links for a newbie owner would be much appreciated.

 

[2003KJ]

Welcome Steve, but one thing.....The Liberty KJ wasn't made in 1995....didn't come around until 2002 in fact. Sure you don't mean Cherokee?

 

[indianrefining]

Hello guys.

First time posting here because .......... I just bought my Jeep this past weekend. Every time I have to go out (take the trash out, take my dogs for a walk) I sneak around to the parking lot of my apt. building to take a look at it. I feel kind of dumb but I'm just so in love with it.

Gets even better. This is my frist real vehicle. I've always been an urban rat and I went to college and lived in DC since I've been 19. Previously, in high school, I couldn't afford a car.

In April of last year I adopted my dog, Winston, from a rescue. I realized that I would need a car to take the pooch to the vet, dog park, etc. so I bought my friend's beat up 1998 Subaru Impreza. Okay...you can laugh.

Long story short I've been doing more volunteer work with the dog rescue and now I also have a foster dog so I decided to buy an SUV--I went straight to a Jeep Stealership (one of the worst experiences of my life...bunch of liars and thieves) and got a 1995 Liberty w/ 49K miles. Ever since I saw the first Liberty it was love at first sight. I rented one a few years back and I knew I would own one day.

Okay...sorry for the long story. If you take your dogs around what pet stuff do you have in your jeep? I bought a gate to keep them from the cargo area and I ordered a divider to keep them from coming to the front seat. Winston came to the front seat and since it's so narrow pushed the transmission from Drive to Neutral. Under certain conditions it could have caused an accident. So anything else I should have?

THANKS!!!

Steve in Mt. Rainier MD

PS Any other advice or links for a newbie owner would be much appreciated.

I just explain to my Schnauzer that he's expected to sit quietly in the front passenger seat and to not change CDs in the player.

 

[smarkham]

Welcome Steve, but one thing.....The Liberty KJ wasn't made in 1995....didn't come around until 2002 in fact. Sure you don't mean Cherokee?

sorry...I meant 2005...I'll edit my original posting.

 

[smarkham]

Woot! you could be me! Thank you for stepping up to the plate Steve and do something for our furry friends, I too have two dogs (Pitbulls, they are just couch patatos, don't let the media fool you) from the rescue centre and with some of my friends am very active on the dog rescue thing here in Spain. Oh and I love my KJ.
( sometimes I hate it but that's due to part prices over here ).

Back to your KJ, you got a 3.7 or a diesel? Renegade? Sport? Limited?

Anyway, get the doggie rack. Mopar makes one, which I cannot advise you to buy because there's no way to take it out quick. I do not know if you can get an aftermarket one like I have over there in the US. Have a look at this, maybe you have a friend or you yourself are handy enough to convert the MOPAR one to mine. This will keep the doggies save in the trunk. And you can take it out in 30 secs. And I always keep gallon of water in the car when I go out with them. And a blanket for them to sit on and a towel to whipe their paws or to dry them of when we go to the beach.

Now for your KJ, is it a 3.7? Renegade? Sport? 4x4?

Hola Tio,

It's a sport 4x4 3.7 .....okay so what does having a 3.7 liter engine mean? Sorry but along the way I'm going to ask some ignorant questions.

Steve

PS I'm with you about pit bulls. Many people don't know that they were originally bred to be dogs for guarding children. If socialized correctly they are a GREAT breed

 

[smarkham]

Woot! you could be me! Thank you for stepping up to the plate Steve and do something for our furry friends, I too have two dogs (Pitbulls, they are just couch patatos, don't let the media fool you) from the rescue centre and with some of my friends am very active on the dog rescue thing here in Spain. Oh and I love my KJ.
( sometimes I hate it but that's due to part prices over here ).

Back to your KJ, you got a 3.7 or a diesel? Renegade? Sport? Limited?

Anyway, get the doggie rack. Mopar makes one, which I cannot advise you to buy because there's no way to take it out quick. I do not know if you can get an aftermarket one like I have over there in the US. Have a look at this, maybe you have a friend or you yourself are handy enough to convert the MOPAR one to mine. This will keep the doggies save in the trunk. And you can take it out in 30 secs. And I always keep gallon of water in the car when I go out with them. And a blanket for them to sit on and a towel to whipe their paws or to dry them of when we go to the beach.

Now for your KJ, is it a 3.7? Renegade? Sport? 4x4?

btw..I just finished ordering one of these for the KJ

 

[smarkham]

Why is Jeep Liberty called KJ

I googled this questions and didn't get a satisfactory answer. why is the Jeep Liberty called KJ?

Thanks!

 

[JeepJeepster]

Its just a two letter code give to a Jeep. They all have them.

3.7l is the size of the engine.

 

[kj924]

Hey Steve, great to see there are still soft hearted people in the world. I adopted a Black Lab from the shelter 4 years ago....sadly*sniff* I had to put him down in April of 2007. He was the best dog I had ever had. After he went, I can't bring myself to get another. He was my best friend.

Anyway, I had a seatbelt restraint for him. It was like a body harness, but you could clip it into the seatbelt clasp. I think we got it at a Pet Unlimited here in Canada. I'm sure there must be chain pet stores near you somewhere.

Captain was his name, and like your dog, he liked to stand with two feet on the console/armrest where he would like to try and get right into my lap if he could. Usually I got a wet nose in the ear, or eye most times.

Hope this helps...

Derick

 

[GoldDog53]

I only have one dog and she is my best traveling buddy. I have a cargo area cover from http://www.canvasback.com/ and it is great, I also throw a bunch of towels back there and Lily thinks it's great. She's about 80 lbs and is totally happy in the back with the seat up.

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You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[smarkham]

Hey Steve, great to see there are still soft hearted people in the world. I adopted a Black Lab from the shelter 4 years ago....sadly*sniff* I had to put him down in April of 2007. He was the best dog I had ever had. After he went, I can't bring myself to get another. He was my best friend.

Anyway, I had a seatbelt restraint for him. It was like a body harness, but you could clip it into the seatbelt clasp. I think we got it at a Pet Unlimited here in Canada. I'm sure there must be chain pet stores near you somewhere.

Captain was his name, and like your dog, he liked to stand with two feet on the console/armrest where he would like to try and get right into my lap if he could. Usually I got a wet nose in the ear, or eye most times.

Hope this helps...

Derick

Derick,

I'm sorry about Captain. I know it must have been just like losing a family member. When you are ready I'm sure there's a fur ball out there waiting for his/her human to take him everywhere in a Jeep

Wet nose is the best

 

[smarkham]

Welcome to the wonderfull world of the little JEEP that can (go ofroad) although along the way you may encounter some people who do not think so, don't take them serious, the KJ 4x4 can and will take you anywhere. And KJ stands for our model, like XJ was the 'code' for the previous cherokee or as you call it now 'liberty' back home in the US. The Grand Cherokee has a code as well, like ZJ or WJ and the wrangler now goes by the name of 'JK'. The new '08 Libby is named 'KK'.

The 3.7 stands for your engine's CI ( cubic inch ) in metric. In standard you have a V6 226 gasoline engine. So not a diesel, sigh...only other option in the US is a 2.4 / 4 ****** gasoline engine.

PS: thanks, they realy are a great breed. It all depends if they are in a loving home or in the hands of 'dog men' who teach them nothing but death in the pit. Anyone ever seen the movie 'of the chain'? PM me if you want a copy. It will change the way you think about pits forever.

Nah...I don't need to see that movie. I'm already sold on how great pits are plus I'd want to do something not very nice to some of those people. Friends and acquaintances have asked me if volunteering with a rescue has made me a better human being. I've responded that it's the opposite. After hearing some of the stories and meeting the dogs I've been tempted to go ape **** on peple who abuse them. I have to remind myself that I can't do violence bcse it only begetts more but it's tempting. Like our rescue pooch Mandy. Some AS()*)* put her in a plastic bag, tied it and threw her in a trash bin. Luckily someone heard her suffocating and screaming and got her in time. Their loss our gain

I"m so happy w/ my Jeep bcse I can now take several dogs to shows and it's going to be so much fun going to pick up dogs in rural drops offs. I can do something rewarding and have fun driving there

 

[offrovering]

get this back seat cover - orvis makes really good quality outdoor equipment, have a look at the site

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[4Factor]

Made a "U" shaped pillow and stuffed it with other throw pillows and sewed it shut. Turn the "U" shape upside down and it fits over the rear middle hump and takes up most of the footwells on either side. Then I cover the back seats with a blanket and tuck it in front of the pillow and at the rear edge of the seat bottoms. Makes a big blanketed area for my 2 labs to "roam" around on. Basically the back seat is theirs all the time. I use the body harnesses with the seatbelt plug in thing and they love it. Last summer while they were sitting on the pillow one of them managed to open the rear drivers window (I didn't have it locked out) and on our country drive as I rounded a corner, out the window she went. The harness saved her so I recommend those things... best insurance you can get for your baby(s). I'm still wondering if the one dog saw the corner coming and opened the window to "play a joke" on his sister!??!
Since I carry so much dog stuff with me all the time, it's really started getting on my nerves the pile of stuff all over the place in the vehicle and every time I want something (harness, leash, collar, etc) I'm always searching through a pile of stuff trying to untangle it. Over the past few weeks I've been building myself an elaborate trunk organizer. Basically it's a shelf (just off the floor of the trunk area) that can slide WAY out (slides out 40" total) and has locking drawers and a whole slew of storage areas. Plus once you slide it out, you have about 3-4" underneath to store flat items (like a bag of road salt, and all my emergency winter gear). I'll post pics as soon as I get it all finished. Right now I just have the shelf done. It works and looks beautiful. I came across a roll of auto carpet that is a perfect match to the stock carpet so I've carpeted every inch of the wood, it almost looks like a factory option. I've spent about $200 so far and now I just have to assemble all the parts (maybe $50 more, I might need a 4x4 section of ply and some cabinet locks)