I did not ever find a solution for side loading a 60 pound collie to the rear seats of a Tesla Model Y.
Because of that, my wife will NOT ever be getting a Model Y to replace her Honda Pilot.
There are two aspects to the problem, a stable ramp or stair, and training the dog.
In search of a stable ramp or stair
I have tried:
- Searching the Tesla forums
- Searching the internet
- I ordered and returned a conventional ramp from Amazon,
- I ordered and returned folding dog stairs.
- I even ordered and returned an RV stair.
The basic problems are:
- The rear doors do not open as wide as the front doors, nowhere near 90 degrees.
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- Great for keeping kids from scratching the car next to you in a parking lot, but a problem for ramps and stairs.
- The lower bins on the rear doors protrude into the door opening enough to impact a ramp or stair.
- Great for storage, but a problem for ramps and stairs.
- The rear seats are set farther back relative to the fixed body portion of the car than many other cars.
- Probably improves occupant safety, but does not extend far enough forward to support enough of a ramp or stair for a stable solution.
- Might also makes wheelchair transfers difficult.
- Unlike the front doors, the lower sill of the back door is curved, not flat, so a ramp does not have a stable place to rest.
Some sort of custom solution that has a support leg for the portion of the ramp in front of the rear seat, or a curved support to match the lower sill seems theoretically possible, but is not something I am currently interested in building. I certainly have not found such a design available online.
Regarding the training aspect.
In my household's experience, dogs need to be trained to use and like a ramp. However, once they get the hang of it, assuming they take way more FUN trips than VET trips, they are happy to use a stable ramp.
Our current dog came to us terrified of the car. My wife started the ramp training with lots of patience, lots of treats, a clicker, and the ramp flat on the driveway. I don't recall how many weeks she spent getting the dog excited about using the ramp before she tried it with a slight incline. I know she went back to flat on the ground, and lower inclines during the progression to a full vehicle entry. Once the dog would get into her Honda Pilot, there were additional weeks of training giving it treats in the Pilot with the engine off, then engine on but in park, then moving the Pilot just a few feet. Again the training was not a ratchet. Sometimes my wife would progress too fast, then have to take two or more steps back to something the dog was still happy to tolerate, and then slowly work back up. Nowadays, every morning and afternoon, weather permitting, my wife normally drives the dog to conservation land for walks. However, I'm pretty sure it took at least three months of nearly daily training to get to that point.
Even after many months of twice daily conservation land walks, once I incorrectly placed the ramp on the seat instead of the sill of her car. The dog barely made it up, but was terrified for at least the next week about going up the ramp. So my wife had to perform remedial training after my mistake.
The prior dog we lost last year did not come to us afraid of the car, but did require some ramp training. He did prefer to run down ramps and stairs in his prime. However, in his final years, even when he couldn't take more than one stair anymore, and needed help standing up, with the help of a mobility harness for balance, he could walk up and down a modest incline ramp, and still loved twice daily walks in the conservation land.
Unfortunately, with the Model Y, unless our current dog is willing to jump into the back seat, I have to pickup all 60 pounds of unhappy dog flesh. I'm getting too old for that kind of exercise. So I still dream of finding a stable ramp for the back seat of the Model Y.
I did find a rear seat hammock style seat cover that was acceptable, so the dog would not fall between the front and rear seats.
Though side loading is a problem I have not solved, loading through the rear hatch might be practical, if acceptable to the dog and owner. When my wife tried it, the dog tried to exit the car while the hatch was closing. We have not tried it since.
P.S.
Our girl is not afraid of heights, she just loves to jump up on big rocks.
