Road Trip With Dogs Planner – Traveling with a dog can be both fun and incredibly stressful. When my boyfriend Ryan and I got our first dog, an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie puppy named Charlie, he took some time to travel with us. I remember one of the first nights we put him in my van, Charlie freaked out and peed on my lap.
Now we travel with two dogs – Charlie and Gumbo – and never leave them behind. However, there are a few things to keep in mind to keep your dog comfortable and happy in the car, and in this blog post I’ll share 15 tips for traveling with your dog.
Road Trip With Dogs Planner
Planning to travel with your dog? Here are 15 tips for traveling with a dog to help you have a safe (and fun!) time.
Dog Road Trip
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Have you moved since you got your dog? Make sure your contact information on their dog tag is up to date in case your dog somehow gets lost. The same goes for the contact information associated with their microchip.
If you are traveling and your dog is sick or needs to be grounded for the day, you will need a copy of your dog’s vaccination record. A copy on your phone is usually enough, but you can also keep a copy in your glove box for safekeeping.
I also recommend bringing a dog first aid kit with you on your trip, which includes a variety of dressings, bandages, and worming and deworming tools to remove ticks, spines, or pesky foxtails from your dog’s paws and body.
Travelling With A Puppy In A Car
Don’t pack the car to the point where your dog has to squeeze between your luggage and have enough room to sleep. Compare that to the average seat on a 10-hour flight with overbooking. Nobody wants that, and neither does your dog. The more space and personal space they have, the better they behave.
It’s easier to travel with a well-behaved dog than one that constantly misbehaves. We train our dogs using positive reinforcement techniques. This means that when they do what they are told, we reward them.
For example, when Charlie gets into the van for the first time, he is greeted with a gesture that shows him that he should get into the van without being forced. Then if we stop at a gas station and he goes to the bathroom, he’ll love it. Then when we call him back to the car and he jumps in the car, he gets another treat. On the road, if we have lunch in the car and he sits back quietly and doesn’t beg, he bites.
Over time they will learn to simply do the desired behavior or not, but when you first go on a trip with your dog, positive reinforcement with treats is a useful tool.
Tips For A Successful Rv Trip With Your Dog
Your dog won’t have to wait for gas to drink water. Get a small stationary bowl of water that you can place behind your chair and let her drink at rest.
If you need to pee, your dog will too. Even if you’re in a hurry to get to your destination, you should take a few extra minutes whenever you let your dog run errands. Just as humans need to get out and stretch their legs during long walks, so do dogs. Take your dog for a few quick laps around the parking lot to make sure they don’t sit in the car for hours.
Quality toys are an important item to take with you, and this is an often overlooked tip when traveling with your dog. Toys help keep your puppy busy and mentally stimulated. Charlie destroys his toys very quickly. He likes to take them apart, throw things all over the place and make a mess so we can clean it up. When we travel, we try to take more durable toys with us so that they don’t break during a day of travel.
Some toys I like to keep handy are a toy, a ball, or another toy (like a glow-in-the-dark sleepover toy). If your dog gives birth, a quick way to get enough exercise is to throw a ball with a chuck. You’ll be throwing the ball farther than you can with your hands, which means the dog will run farther in less time. Also, thanks to Chuck, you don’t have to touch the closed ball with your bare hands.
Dog Car Safety Products: Best Carriers, Crates And Harnesses
When you arrive in a new city, an easy way to blow off some steam is to stop by the local dog park. They will be full of energy and this is a good way to socialize them. I don’t know where to go? This website has listings for almost every city and I find it very accurate.
Camping gives your pup more room to roam, and it can often be easier than finding a pet-friendly hotel. Although many camps allow dogs, we prefer to have loose camps so Gumbo and Charlie can be leashed and have more freedom.
When you’re staying at a hotel or Airbnb, these are great tools to help your dog acclimate to a foreign environment. Even if you’re not sure your dog won’t crash your car while you’re at a restaurant, take a crate with you on your trip. A foldable box is best because it won’t take up space in your car when you’re not using it.
Before the trip, you will need to crate train (ideally while your dog is still a puppy). The main thing is to make the box feel like a home. You can put an old sweater and some toys that smell like you to make your dog feel more comfortable. Then use the positive reinforcement method mentioned above when they enter the box and reward them. Never use a crate to punish a dog, or it will backfire. If you’re looking for more tips on how to crate your dog, here’s a great resource.
How I Bring My Dog With Me While Traveling The World And Working Remotely
Dogs are dirty little creatures. Some shed, some go bare and all get dirty. There is no way around it, and the best way to deal with it is to accept it. Don’t get mad at them for being dirty. Hopefully the dirt means they had a lot of fun, that’s the whole point.
If you’re worried about your car, a portable car seat cover and vacuum cleaner will go a long way. If your dog tends to roll around in heavy feces or mud, you can take a short hose with you in the car and wash your dog at a nearby water supply. Quick drying towels are also useful for drying dogs if they get wet.
Don’t assume it’s dog friendly. For example, most national parks have strict rules regarding dogs. Pets are not allowed on most trails and must be kept on a short leash at campsites. If this doesn’t sound like the kind of vacation you want with your dog, look elsewhere. The worst part is when you don’t do your research ahead of time and arrive after a long day of driving to find your dog isn’t allowed.
If you’re in a dog-friendly area, check out Yelp or find a local dog sitter on Rover to find the best dog boarding services near where you’re visiting. For example, during our ski vacation in Sun Valley, we took Charlie to doggy daycare for the day while we were skiing, and it only cost $20. We came home tired, and so did he.
The 5 Most Dog Friendly National Parks In The U.s.
When you’re out in the sun on a hot summer day, your car gets hot—if it’s too hot for you to be comfortable, it’s too hot for your pet. Be careful not to leave your dog sitting. Use common sense for long periods of time in the heat without taking precautions. Dogs can die in cars, but you don’t want to lose your best friend due to carelessness.
If you need to leave them for a few minutes, crack the windows and maybe even consider installing a portable battery-powered fan in your car to keep them cool. Reflective coatings on the windshield also help reduce the temperature inside the car.
Don’t be the jerk who doesn’t pick up his dog. Dog feces pollute waterways in more ways than just looking at them or, worse, stepping on them. We like to keep lots of poop bags in the car, so we’re always ready to take the dogs with us.
We just got back from a tour
