My Dog Now Has a Better Car Seat Than I Do — Lealchum Dog Booster Car Seat Review

My dog used to slide around the backseat like a furry hockey puck every time I took a turn. One hard brake and she’d end up wedged between the seats, looking at me like I’d personally betrayed her. Something had to change.

The Problem Nobody Talks About

Here’s the thing about driving with a small dog — they can’t see out the window. So they either whine nonstop, try to climb onto your lap while you’re doing 65 on the highway, or both. Neither option ends well. I tried the blanket-on-the-seat thing. I tried a regular dog bed. She treated both like suggestions.

What I actually needed was something that would lift her up and keep her in one place. Turns out, that exact thing exists.

The Product

I stumbled onto the Lealchum Dog Booster Car Seat while spiraling through Amazon at midnight (as one does). It’s an elevated car seat with 6 inches of memory foam, two clip-on safety leashes, and an anti-slip base. It basically looks like a tiny luxury throne that buckles into your car.

The whole thing is fully detachable and washable, which — if you’ve ever owned a dog — you know is not optional, it’s essential. My dog sheds like she’s getting paid by the fur clump. Being able to strip the cover off and throw it in the wash without disassembling the entire seat is a huge deal.

It comes in multiple sizes. I got the medium (fits dogs up to 30 lbs), and it’s 19 x 19 x 19 inches — which sounds big until you realize your dog is going to curl up in the exact center and take up about 40% of it. Dogs are inefficient like that.

My friend who also recently picked up a ROODO Pet Stroller for her pup says her dog basically lives in it now. I’m starting to think we’re all just buying our dogs increasingly fancy furniture and pretending it’s practical. (It is though. Mostly.)

Pros & Cons

What I Love

• Memory foam that actually works. This isn’t a thin layer of foam over hard plastic. It’s 6 inches of actual supportive cushioning. My dog fell asleep in it within 10 minutes of the first car ride.
• Two safety leashes, not one. One leash is fine until your dog figures out how to wriggle out of it. Two clips? That dog is going nowhere.
• The elevated design is genius. She can see out the window now. The whining has stopped. I cannot overstate how valuable this is.
• Fully washable cover. Machine washable, easy to put back on. Thank you to whoever designed this with pet owners in mind.
• Anti-slip bottom. The seat stays put on leather seats. My car interior is finally safe.

What Could Be Better

• $65 is not nothing. It’s not the most expensive dog car seat out there, but it’s also not an impulse buy. You have to really want your dog to have a nice ride.
• Takes up a decent chunk of the backseat. If you have two kids and a dog, something’s gotta give. (Spoiler: it’s the kids.)
• Only for small/medium dogs. If your dog is over 30 lbs for the medium, or 55 lbs for the large, this won’t work. My neighbor’s golden retriever looked at it with genuine disappointment.

Who This Is For (And Who It’s NOT)

This is for you if: You have a small or medium dog who gets anxious in the car, slides around on the seats, or can’t see out the window. It’s also for you if you’re tired of dog hair covering every surface of your car and want to contain the mess to one washable bucket.

Skip it if: You have a large breed dog, you never drive with your pet, or you’re one of those people who thinks dogs should just sit on the floor. (I respect your toughness, honestly.)

And hey, if you’re the type who tracks your dog’s every move like I do — I also reviewed the Tractive GPS Dog Tracker a while back and I’m still obsessed with it. Pair that with this car seat and you’ve basically got a fully equipped adventure dog.

The Verdict

Look, I know $65 for a dog car seat sounds ridiculous when you first say it out loud. But then you watch your anxious little gremlin finally relax in the car, fall asleep on actual memory foam, and stop trying to launch herself onto the center console — and suddenly it’s the best $65 you’ve spent all year.

3,100+ people have rated this thing 4.8 stars on Amazon, and honestly, they’re right. My dog has never been calmer in the car. I’ve never had a cleaner backseat. It’s a win-win that makes you look slightly unhinged to people who don’t have pets, but those people don’t get it anyway.

Grab yours on Amazon and give your dog the upgrade they deserve. Just don’t be surprised when they start refusing to get out of the car.