I’m sure we’ve all seen cars that have shades suctioned on their backseat windows to hide their babies from the sun. Well, dog owners can also partake in this activity, on behalf of the sun shades by Bamboo.

As far as I can see, nothing about this particular item is made of bamboo (a bit misleading, right?!), but it does still include some nifty functions, such as an indicator that lets you know when it’s too hot in the car for your dog to get in, and of course, sun-blocking abilities.

The red indicator turns white to let you know that the temperature inside the car is too hot for your dog, and boy, does it turn white fast!

Even when you start out your drive with the indicator at its normal red, it’ll turn white after driving a little bit in the sun.

I guess it just shows you how fast it can get too hot for your pets in the car…so please, fellow dog owners, DON’T LEAVE YOUR DOGS IN THE CAR WHILE YOU’RE OUT!

Okay, ranting aside, the shades are also nice because you can pull them down to whichever length you want them to go, so if your dog wants to look out the window you can still pull it down halfway to get the best of both worlds.

Some downsides to the shades are that they suction onto the window, which isn’t always dependable – when it gets too hot the suctions don’t work as well, and seeing as how these are made to be used in the sun, this can be problematic.  Also, they are fairly narrow so it may not cover as well on larger, wider windows.

From personal experience, I would say that we have not used these shades as much as I originally envisioned we would when we made the purchase.  A big reason is that Pom Pom refuses to sit in the backseat, and while I have used them when my cat is in his carrier in the back, I have stopped because he enjoys looking out the window (it’s about the only thing he enjoys about car rides).

It has been a while since we’ve needed to use these shades – you just don’t see much sun driving in Oregon  – but I still keep them handy in the car just in case we come across the need for them.

The shades may not be used often, but are definitely useful to have around for the moments in life you find them necessary.  For about 10 bucks or so, why not keep them around?

Pros: Affordable, functional and practical.

Cons: Doesn’t always stay on window, more useful depending on where you live (e.g. Phoenix vs. Seattle).

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