Traveling with dogs is the uber-cool lifestyle many movies and series have glorified as fun, entertaining and rosy. While it is great to have your pooches as your travel companions, traveling with dogs is a tad bit more complicated.
However, nothing is impossible!
We have curated a list of tips and tricks that help you chart the best ways to travel with your dog.
Also Read: Hiking with your Dogs in Summer
How to Travel with a Dog
If your pet is healthy and adaptable, we recommend you take them along for your family vacation.
Before we get started, it is essential to determine your mode of transportation. They can be road trips, trains, or flights.
However, on flights, pets are usually placed in the cargo, which can be a stressful experience for them, and we recommend against this option.
1. Take Your Pooch to the Vet
Planning an outstation trip with your pet calls for an appointment with the vet. Meeting your vet before you set out will help you ensure that your dog is healthy enough to travel. In the case of older dogs, this becomes even more mandatory.
The vet can help you screen out potential risks and in case of minor issues, give your pet the right medication to help them through the journey. This visit will also help you enter premises and spaces that require vaccination certificates that your vet can provide.
2. Search for Pet-Friendly Hotels and Call Ahead
Many hotels and campgrounds are not pet-friendly. In order to avoid any nasty surprises, check for pet-friendly areas at your destination and call the hotels before booking to explain the situation.
Websites like bringfido.com can help you find the best pet-friendly hotels for your trip.
3. Double-Check Your Packing List
Make two packing lists – one for yourself and one for your pet. Spending some time planning it out will help you optimize your on-trip spending for your pets and have all the relevant items for their safety and well-being.
Some of the things that are an absolute must are:
- First-aid kit
- Medication
- Extra tags
- Dog food
- Dog travel crate
- Bedding
- Toys
4. Get a Pet Insurance
We cannot predict the future, but we can be ready for it. If your dog gets sick or injured during the trip, having pet insurance can help you get the best treatment without worrying about the cost.
Many pet insurances cover plenty of medical procedures, including surgeries, x-rays, and diagnostic examinations. In this digital age, it is even more convenient to get insurance while traveling. All you have to do is upload your receipt on the insurance site to make your claim.
5. Update the ID Tags
Identification is very important to keep your dog safe, especially in a new place. Your dog’s old tags are likely to be faded and scratched, making it difficult for the readers to find your dog in case he/she runs away.
The ideal way to ensure their safety is to get them micro-chipped to avoid the rugged tag.
6. Get the Right Gear
Getting the right gear is so important while traveling with your dogs. Carriers and crates are some of the few gears you must have to make your fido’s trip fun and engaging. Try visiting pet stores or buying them during sale season to make the most of your purchase as well as the trip.
7. Chart a Mandatory Exercise Plan for Your Fido
Workout is vital for your pet, and while away from home, there is a chance that your schedule will be very different from what it is back home.
Create an exercise plan for your pet, whether on the campgrounds or take them out for a walk, secured on a leash for their daily exercise. You can look for local dog parks that will allow your dogs to flex their muscles and get their daily dose of physical activity.
Try sticking to the original time since their bodies are attuned to that routine. If not, you can always make minor tweaks.
8. Pack in Belly Bands and Diapers
This is often relevant in case you are traveling with senior dogs. Belly bands give them support in case their walk is a tad bit longer than their regular quota and diapers that can help them relieve themselves in case of emergencies.
Having these items is also helpful with younger dogs while on road trips or in no-poop areas (yes, there are rules against your dogs relieving themselves in certain areas).
Diapers are saviors of those moments!
9. Create a Routine and Stick to it
As mentioned above, dogs are used to a routine. Their bodily functions often work like a clock and need the reliability of a routine to be healthy during the trip.
Try emulating their home routine to help them stay on track. Take them for walks at their original time, maintain their feeding time and give them your attention, just the way you would while at home.
Slight shifts shouldn’t matter, but if you consider your ideal holiday to stay in a hotel bed all day, then you should reconsider traveling with dogs.
10. Safety Measures on a Road Trip
While on a road trip, you have to be mindful about the journey, the pit stops, and the material used in the car for your dogs’ safety and well-being. Ensure that their crates are big enough for them to move around and allow ventilation.
In case your dog is not in his crate, then buckle him up using a specific dog harness. Ensure that they are not in contact with anything sharp and are secured in their seat.
While they look adorable with their heads sticking out the window and enjoying the wind in their fur, resist the temptation. They might get injured or get something in their eye.
11. Carry Waggle Pet Temperature Monitor
It is crucial to be mindful of the summer and its heat. The fact that an RV or car turns into a giant oven during hot summer is a no-brainer. It takes less than 30 minutes for an RV/car to reach unbearable heat levels on a hot day. So always carry a Waggle Pet Temperature Monitor while traveling with dogs to ensure safety for your four-legged friends.
Traveling with dogs does not have to be an ordeal! With careful planning, a strategic approach, and a little bit of intuition, it is easy to make this one of the most memorable trips of your life.
We hope these tips will help you simplify your travel with your dogs and ensure their safety.
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