Like many owners of large and giant breed dogs we have used an aid for them to access the car for a number of years. When we were car hunting for something suitable for two fast growing Newfoundlands we decided on a Citroen Berlingo as the rear was high inside and the tailgate pretty low. Despite this we still bought a small ramp to help protect their joints from the wear and tear of jumping up and down from the back of the car.

As time has passed this has become even more crucial as Monty at 10 suffers with his back and Cookie has arthritis from her Cruciate surgery a few years ago. The ramp we have is ok but it is a little short which means that the entry angle is pretty steep and Cookie in particular attacks it with the same enthusiasm that she tackles life in general - At full speed.

This has resulted in a couple of slips and I have been looking at changing the ramp for a while but was unable to find anything that would suit us better. I had looked at steps but neither Monty or Cookie are great with them and for around £300 they were a bit over budget for me.

When we were offered the chance to test a mobility product from Petsafe I immediately chose the ramp as I knew we could do the review justice as it’s actually something we use on a daily basis.

I chose the Happy Ride Extra-Long Telescoping Dog Ramp as I felt this would give us that extra length to lower the angle of entry. The first thing I noticed was how slim the ramp was when closed. This obviously helps when storing the ramp either at home (pictured below) or in the car which is really important for us as storage is always a premium. It’s also important that we can take the ramp out, and after use it can be easily stored behind the driver and passenger seats.

The real test though would be to see how the dogs take to it and how easy it was to operate. In terms of extending the ramp it couldn’t be easier. There is a small push button fastening at one end which you unclip and then the ramp can be extended to the length you require. The picture below is the ramp at it’s longest length but if you need it shorter for any reason you just pull the top section out as far as required.

At the top of the ramp are two small feet which either hook over a lip in the tailgate area or if you have no raised area to use it just sits very sturdily in place.

In terms of the actual use I have posted a video below of Monty using the ramp for the first time. He is ten and has a few mature dog mobility issues but he found it fine to use and I found it very easy to set up and get him aboard. For your information Monty is around 86kg (190lb) so that gives you an idea of how sturdy this ramp is.

My overall rating of this ramp is definetly excellent. It is perfect for us and the dogs and gives them that kinder angle of entry which I’m sure will be perfect as they get older. I’m sure there will come a time where they just amble up the ramp, and I’m very happy this is going to be perfect for them going forward.

Like all of the products we’ve seen from PetSafe this is really well made, well designed and very sturdy. It feels like a really expensive piece of kit but at around £150 personally I think it’s a bargain.

It is easy to use and to store and the extending design makes it very versatile for all breeds and sizes of dog. You can check out this and all the other products on their UK website at PetSafe® Brand Official Website - PetSafe® UK where you can also change the information to the country of your choice.