I have two pretty big dogs (65-poound lab/boxer and 50 pound beagle/border collie) that regularly travel in the MINI. The best tips:

1) Harnesses are good for safety. Pretty much any Petco/Petsmart/whatever will sell them.

2) Some people don't do harnesses. For them, there are tons of barricades available. Again, Petco/whatever will sell them, there are also tons of online vendors.

3) MINI sells a rubber boot tray with an extender mat for the cargo area when the seats are folded down.

4) PoochStyles.com (a vendor here) sells pillows that are specifically for the rear cargo with the seats folded down. They include a pillow to fill the boot area that's lower than the seats when the seats are down. Handy, this is on my "to do" list.

5) Lint rollers are your friend.

 

I would prefer her in the back seat...so I can put groceries in the boot, but it might be hard to get her in and out, and maybe hard on the mini. I think the back seat protector is pricy...but it looks very functional.

 

I'm impressed that you can get two dogs of that size in! We've got two labs...about 90 lbs & 50 lbs and I never thought that I'd be able to carry them both.

You mentioned harnesses...but what do you latch the harnesses to?

 

I guess there are grab handles on top, near the sides, or a place on the back of the seats. Wow, Beagle, Border collie mix. Interesting!

Poodles don't shed, but they breathe on the windows, and panels below them (thank you Hydro!), and bring in sand and stuff.

 

RECOMMANDED PET CARRIER.

 

Yeah??? and it's "recommended" in small letters, please.

 

For whatever it's worth, I DID find one of those slings that fits over the front and back seat headrests. It cost about $20 at Big Lots, and is vinyl backed nylon material. It works ok, but my dog still manages to jump it and into the passenger area while we are traveling and he is bored or lonely. That's why I like that between the front seats barrier that Kurgo offers, as it is more preventative towards my wayward pooch.

 

There's a cable that connects between the "oh crap" handles in the back area. This allows the harness to attach to it and the dog is able to move around a bit while still being protected from lunching forward during sudden stops.