Hello Phrede,
This is a great question. Based on the owner’s manual for the 2008 XLR-V, the passenger seat is designed with a sensing system that will turn of the front passenger’s airbag and seat-mounted side impact airbag based on certain conditions. The passenger sensing system works with sensors that are part of the right front passenger’s seat. The sensors are designed to detect the presence of a properly-seated occupant and determine if the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and seat-mounted side impact airbag should be enabled (may inflate) or not. Some of these conditions might include:
• The system determines that a small child is present
in a booster seat.
• A right front passenger takes his/her weight off of
the seat for a period of time.
• The right front passenger seat is occupied by a
smaller person, such as a child who has outgrown
child restraints.
Depending on the weight of your puppy, the sensing system may or may not detect the dog in the front seat. If you have additional questions regarding the airbags in your vehicle, you can reference pages 1-46 and 1-47 in your owner’s manual or please feel free to private message us.
Katie O.
Cadillac Customer Care