URPOWER Dog Seat Cover Review: A Year of Muddy Paws in a Pickup

I bought the URPOWER Dog Car Seat Cover in March of last year, about a week after Tucker, my 70 pound shepherd mix, came home from the shelter with muddy paws and a total lack of respect for upholstery. My pickup has a back seat that folds up, and the first time Tucker rode back there he left a smear of wet dirt across the whole bench and enough hair to knit a second dog. Daisy, my 25 pound terrier mix, is older and neater, but she sheds constantly and she refuses to ride anywhere except the back seat. I needed something that would survive both of them, and I needed it before the next rainy day.

A year later, the URPOWER cover is still on the same seat, and it has been through muddy hikes, a wet spring, a hot Bakersfield summer, and more fast food spills than I want to admit. It is not a perfect product, and I will get to the things that annoyed me, but it has done the job I bought it for every single day. This is the long term review I wish I had found before I bought it.

How I've Used It

I installed the URPOWER cover on a Tuesday evening in the driveway, and the whole thing took maybe ten minutes. The cover is a hammock style, which means it clips to the front headrests and the rear headrests, with a flat panel that covers the seat and a vertical panel that hangs down behind the front seats. The idea is that the dog stands on the flat part and the vertical part catches the gap between the front seats, so dirt and hair and water do not fall through into the footwell.

My truck has a bench seat in the back, not two separate buckets, and the URPOWER cover fit it fine. The straps are adjustable, and there are two sets of them: one set hooks around the front headrest posts and another set hooks around the rear headrest posts. On my truck the rear headrests are part of the seat back, so I had to route the straps around the top of the seat instead of around a post. It took a little fiddling the first time, but once I figured out the routing, the cover has stayed put through a full year of use.

The dogs ride back there almost every day. Tucker goes with me on a morning walk that ends at a dirt lot near the canal, and he comes back with wet paws and a dusty coat. Daisy comes along on shorter trips, and she likes to stand on the seat and watch out the window, which means her claws are constantly working against the fabric. In the first month alone, the cover got muddy paws at least twenty times, a full water bowl spill, and a half eaten fast food burger that Tucker somehow got onto the seat. I cleaned it with a hose and a rag, and it looked like new.

What the Waterproofing Actually Means

The product title says 100 percent waterproof, and I tested that harder than most people would. The first real test came about three weeks in, when I drove home from the canal in a rainstorm with Tucker in the back. He shook himself twice before I could get the window up, and the seat took a direct spray of muddy water. When I got home, I ran my hand across the seat and it was dry. The water beaded up on the surface and rolled off onto the floor mat, which is exactly what I wanted.

The second test was the water bowl. Daisy drinks a lot of water, and on a hot day she will empty a full bowl in the back seat. One afternoon I hit a pothole and the bowl tipped over, dumping maybe a quart of water onto the seat. I pulled the cover off, hosed it down, and hung it over the fence for an hour. The seat underneath was completely dry. That is the test that convinced me the waterproofing is real, because a lot of covers claim to be waterproof but only resist light moisture.

The fabric is a heavy polyester with a rubbery backing, and the seams are taped. I checked the seams after the water bowl spill, and there was no leakage through any of them. The one thing I will say is that the waterproofing works best when the cover is installed with the hammock panel pulled tight. If the panel sags, water can pool in the middle instead of running off. I learned to check the strap tension every few weeks, especially after the dogs have been climbing around on it.

How It Held Up to Tucker and Daisy

Tucker is the reason I bought this cover, and he is also the reason I was skeptical. He is a strong puller on the leash, and in the car he does not sit still. He turns around, he steps on the seat, he digs at the fabric when he is excited, and he has destroyed a dog bed in under a month. I expected the URPOWER cover to show wear within a few weeks. After a year, the fabric has no tears, no pulled threads, and no worn spots where his claws hit the same place over and over.

Daisy is lighter, but she is the shedder. She is a terrier mix with a wiry coat, and she drops hair everywhere she sits. The URPOWER fabric is smooth enough that most of the hair stays on the surface instead of working into the weave. I vacuum the cover once a week with a shop vac, and it takes about two minutes to get it clean. With the old upholstery, I was picking hair out of the seat cracks with a pair of tweezers. That alone was worth the price of the cover.

The one thing that surprised me was how well the cover handled the heat. Bakersfield summers get over 100 degrees, and the inside of my truck gets hot enough to burn skin. The cover is dark colored, so it does get warm, but it does not get sticky or soft the way some vinyl covers do. Tucker has never seemed uncomfortable on it, and he is picky about where he lies down. On a 105 degree day, he still chose the back seat over the floor.

The Straps and the Fit

The straps are the weakest part of the URPOWER cover, and I want to be honest about that. The plastic buckles work fine, but the straps are thin and they can slip if you do not get them cinched tight. I had to re tighten the front straps twice in the first month. Once I figured out the right tension, they stayed put, but it took some trial and error. If you have a truck with fixed rear headrests like mine, plan to spend a few extra minutes on the initial setup.

The side flaps are another minor complaint. The cover has flaps that are supposed to protect the sides of the seat, but they are not quite long enough to cover the full seat bottom on my truck. The center of the seat is fully protected, but the outer edges can get dirty if a dog steps right on the edge. I solved this by tucking the flaps under the seat cushions, which holds them in place and covers a little more surface. It is not a perfect solution, but it works.

The hammock panel itself is the best part of the design. It hangs down behind the front seats and creates a barrier that keeps the dogs from climbing into the front. Tucker tried to get through the gap once, early on, and the panel stopped him. It also catches a lot of the dirt that would otherwise fall into the footwell. When I vacuum the truck, I find most of the hair and debris on the cover itself, not on the floor.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Cleaning the URPOWER cover is the easiest part of owning it. I have washed it three ways: hosed off in the driveway, wiped down with a damp rag, and machine washed on a gentle cycle. All three worked. The machine wash was the most thorough, and the cover came out looking almost new. I hung it to dry in the shade, and it was ready to go back in the truck the next morning.

The one cleaning mistake I made was using a brush with stiff bristles to scrub a dried on spot. It left a faint mark on the fabric, not a tear, but it taught me to let the spot soak for a few minutes before scrubbing. A soft cloth and some dish soap handles almost everything. For mud, I let it dry and then vacuum it off before I wipe it down. That two step process has kept the cover looking good for a full year.

I have not had to deal with any odors. The rubbery backing does not absorb smells the way fabric does, and after a year of dog slobber and fast food, the cover does not smell like anything. I attribute that to the waterproof backing, which keeps moisture from soaking into the padding. If you have a dog that drools or a dog that gets car sick, this is a big deal.

A full quart of water spilled onto the seat, and the upholstery underneath stayed completely dry. That is the test that convinced me the waterproofing is real.

Who This Is For

The URPOWER seat cover is for anyone with a dog that rides in the back seat of a car or truck and does not care about keeping it clean. It is especially good for people with big dogs, muddy dogs, or dogs that shed a lot. If you drive to the park, the beach, the canal, or anywhere your dog can get dirty, this cover will save your upholstery. It is also a good choice for people who carry their dogs in a pickup with a bench seat, because the hammock design works well with that layout.

It is also for people who do not want to spend a fortune on a seat cover. The URPOWER cover costs a fraction of what some branded covers cost, and in my experience it holds up just as well. If you are the kind of person who would rather spend money on dog food and vet bills than on car accessories, this is the cover for you.

Who Should Skip It

If you have a dog that chews, this cover is not chew proof. Tucker does not chew on car interiors, but if your dog does, the fabric will not survive. The URPOWER cover is tough against claws and dirt, but it is not armor. A determined chewer will make holes in it, and the waterproof backing will not help once the fabric is torn.

If you have a very large truck with a huge back seat, the side flaps may not cover the full width of the seat. My truck is a standard crew cab, and the flaps are a little short. On a full size truck with a wide bench, you might need to tuck the flaps under the cushions like I did, or you might want a cover with longer flaps. And if you are looking for a cover that looks like a luxury interior upgrade, this is not it. It is a working cover for a working truck, and it looks the part.