If you're a regular here, you know we've travelled extensively with our dogs for many years. We've learned a ton about what to do and what Not to do when traveling with dogs! I'd like to share our process for dog travel, which we've refined over the years. We made some mistakes and had our fair share of mishaps, but now we've got some expertise in how to travel with a dog! We learned the hard way, so you don't have to! Use this Traveling with Dogs Complete Guide, to make Traveling with Your Dog fun and stress-free.
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| A complete guide to dog travel |
READINESS TO TRAVEL WITH DOGS
If your dog has never traveled with you before, the most important thing to do first is to assess your dog's travel readiness level. Is your dog actually ready for a road trip or plane travel? Here are some key things to consider.
🐾Does your dog enjoy travel or being away from home? Is he an adventure dog or does he become anxious when leaving your home?
🐾Check with your Veterinarian to ensure your dog doesn't have any health or mobility issues that may make travel unwise. This is especially important if he has any health concerns or if he's a senior dog. Two of my dogs travelled beautifully until they were 13 and 15 years old!
🐾If your dog is a puppy, less than a year old, it could present some additional challenges. Just something to be aware of and be prepared for.
🐾Is your dog good in the car, or does she get anxious after 10 minutes? Or, is she reluctant to even get into the car?
🐾Has your dog ever been in a travel bag or crate? If so, does she get anxious while in it and how long can she stay in it without feeling extreme anxiety? This is especially important for plane travel, as your dog will need to be in a travel bag or crate for many hours.
🐾If your trip involves air travel, has your dog ever been on an airplane before? Have they ever even taken a trip to the airport?
🐾If you're taking your dog on a road trip, it's really important to find out for sure that she can handle being in the car for an extended period of time.
🐾If she's uncomfortable riding in the car, I suggest doing some training exercises to help create positive associations with being in the car. Start this early! Don't do it 2 days before a long road trip and think the dog will be fine. Give yourself several weeks before your trip for this. Here's how I've done it:
1. If your dog totally hates the car, start by just walking her up to the car, putting her in a sit/stay and giving her a treat. Then walk her away from the car. This could take many repetitions depending on how anxious she is about the car. Once she is comfortable sitting next to the car and taking a few treats you can progress to the next step.
2. Now you can place your dog in the car for very short periods of time, just a couple of minutes to start. Get her in the car, give her a treat, then take her out of the car after 1 to 2 minutes and go back into the house or on a walk. Do this several times, for as long as it takes for your dog to get into the car without fear or getting anxious.
These two steps could be quick or they may take several days, even weeks depending on your dog's level of anxiety with the car. . You're getting your dog comfortable being in close proximity, and then being inside the car.
If your dog is already fine on short routine car rides, then take a few much longer car rides to ensure she will be fine on a road trip. Take a drive about 45 minutes to an hour away from home. If she seems fine then you should be good to go! If she starts to get anxious after 30 minutes or so then practice taking longer car rides, using treats or a favorite toy or blanket to help her create positive associations with longer car rides before your trip. Again, give yourself time to practice these longer rides. Don't leave it until the last few days.
HOW TO FLY WITH A DOG
🛩️ If you plan to fly with your dog, one of the most important things is to make sure she can handle being in a travel bag for long periods of time. She'll have to remain in the bag while at the airport and while flying in the cabin.
Personally, I'll only fly with my small dog in the airplane cabin. I have never put any of my dogs in the belly of the plane (cargo). There have been too many incidents and there are too many unknowns for my personal comfort level. I also can't bear the thought of my dog being down in cargo instead of right next to me. That's why we've taken our dogs on countless long road trips in the car!
I suggest you practice having your dog in her travel bag for longer periods of time. Start with short stints of time in the bag, just few minutes, slipping her occasional treats while she's in there. Slowly, over a few days, increase the amount of time she's in the crate. You want to reward her for staying in the crate and create positive associations with the crate.
If she freaks out the first time, follow the same process as in Steps 1 and 2 for car travel above, but instead of the car it's the travel bag.
🛩️ It's really important that you know all the rules for flying with a dog. Every airline is different, so be sure to study the pet requirements on their website.
After your dog's gotten used to the travel bag, if possible and not too inconvenient, take a trip with your dog to the nearest airport. Place her in the crate and keep her in it while you just walk around the terminal - wherever they'll let you walk around without a plane ticket.
Give her some treats throughout her time in the bag to maintain positive association with it. This will help her get used to the crate, airport sounds and crowds before your trip. It's a process, so take it slow! Read this blog post for more detailed Tips on how to fly with a dog.
DOG TRAVEL PLANNING
Now that we've established your dog is ready for a road trip or a plane flight, let's get your dog ready to go! Here are some important things to have in place before you start your dog friendly trip.
> I'm a broken record with this, but it's super important. I strongly suggest microchipping your dog, if you haven't already. There's nothing else that permanently links you and your dog together! If your dog goes missing while travelling, trust me a microchip will be vital. 8 years as an animal shelter volunteer taught me that.
> Before travelling with your dog, she should visit your Veterinarian for a wellness checkup to ensure she's fully up to date on all core vaccines, especially rabies! Most lodging places will require your dog have an updated rabies vaccination certificate.
> You'll also want to ensure none of her vaccinations will expire during the time you're travelling, especially if it's a long trip! Give yourself time to take care of this and to address any health issues that could potentially be discovered.
I've had this happen to me! Once, my dog Phoebe's rabies vaccination was going to expire while we were away for several weeks. Another time the Vet found a tiny growth on my dog's eyelid shortly before we left on a long road trip. Fortunately, we didn't need to address it right away and it wasn't bothering my dog at all. We just had to watch it.
> Definitely have your dog's medical information available if she has any health issues, allergies, or if she needs medications, etc. Travel can be stressful for pets, causing an existing health issue to flare up.
DOG FRIENDLY HOTELS AND LODGINGS
I can't stress enough the importance of making your reservations at pet friendly hotels well in advance! Although it continues to improve, there are still not enough lodgings that allow dogs, so it's important to plan ahead. During peak travel times like Summer and holidays, pet friendly hotels and other lodgings book up fast! Book your return trip lodgings as soon as you know your travel dates.
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| My dog Phoebe sitting next to her luggage, ready to travel! |
We made that mistake during our first road trip with our dogs from Arizona to New York. We rolled into Hot Springs, Arkansas, deep in the Ozark mountains, with no hotel reservation. Big mistake! Everything in the area was totally booked. We scrambled around trying desperately to get a hotel room before dark. That was a stressful day!
If you end up on the road with no reservations, your best bet is usually hotels along the interstate on the outskirts of larger metro areas. There are often clusters of branded hotels close together. Those hotels are more likely to have vacancies.
Red Roof Inn, Hyatt Place, Comfort Inn (and other Choice Privileges hotels), and certain Best Western or Marriott Residence Inns are popular hotels that are usually pet friendly - but always call to confirm! Some places change their pet policies seemingly overnight. Some are independently franchised and may not allow pets even when their parent hotel brand does.
GPS is amazing, we use it all the time on every road trip, and it's improved significantly over the years. However, it is extremely important to plan your route out fully in advance and have it written on paper. Also, have a paper map(s) in case you need it.
As good as cell phone service has become, I'm telling you from experience there are still places that completely lose service! We've been in that situation many times over the years. We once lost service on a highway deep in the South, and by the time service returned we had missed our exit completely! We were lost for about 40 minutes before getting back on track.
If you're driving in a less populated area, a dense mountain or forest area, you can absolutely lose service. Believe me, when that happens it is Not fun! Even just 30 minutes without GPS can mess up your route and kill lots of time if you don't also have it on paper!
While you're at it, find out the location of emergency veterinarians at your destination and along your route. We were in an Ohio hotel when our dogs became ill. They just began vomiting in the middle of the night - both of them! We didn't know what happened and were panicked. We scrambled around trying to find a Vet clinic to take them to.
It was extremely scary, but turned out ok. Apparently, the room in the hotel had just been cleaned and whatever they used on the carpet made my dogs sick. They slept on the floor, so their noses were close to where the rug cleanser had been. They likely shouldn't have given us that room so soon after cleaning, the cleansers probably needed time to dissipate. Now we bring dog beds and blankets with us!
Even if you like to wing it and just go wherever the road takes you, please make sure you have local maps. And always let friends or family members know where you are and share your itinerary. Keep your emergency contact(s) with you in case anything happens and medical staff or police need a contact back home. If something happens to you, where does that leave your dog? If you're incapacitated, police will have animal control take your dog. You'll need someone to come get her out of there!
PET FRIENDLY HOTEL ETIQUETTE
Now that you've identified and reserved a pet friendly hotel or lodgings that allow dogs, let's talk about you and your dog being great guests! Why is this so important? Because dog owners who don't follow good pet etiquette when traveling ruin it for everyone else. Not only will you never be welcomed back, but you could cause that dog friendly hotel to change their policy and no longer allowing pets!
Their aren't enough dog friendly hotels as it is, we can't afford to lose even one of them. I have spoken to several hotel and restaurant staff in places that stopped allowing dogs - they all said the same thing, that a dog owner wasn't respectful and violated the Pet Policy. Their dog either caused damage or became a nuisance to other guests and they stopped allowing dogs.
When we travel with our dogs, I like to set a great example by doing what I can to ensure hotel staff are happy to have us and our dogs as their guests! Here are some guidelines to follow so that you and your dog are considered great guests
🐾 First, confirm the place is (still) dog friendly. Please don't try to sneak a pet dog (vs a Service Dog) into a hotel that doesn't allow pets. That doesn't help convince hotels to become dog friendly!
🐾 Before booking a room, read the lodging facility's Pet Policy thoroughly. Every hotel has a pet policy that usually states;
- Weather or not pets are allowed
- Whether or not there is a limit to how large dogs can be (eg. Under 25lbs)
- How many dogs you can have in one room
- How much their pet fee is if they charge one (most do charge a fee for pets)
- Where pets are permitted within the hotel (eg. No pets in dining areas, gym, laundry room, etc)
- Whether or not you're permitted to leave your pet in the room while you aren't in it. Years ago many hotels would state that dogs could never be left alone in a room, which is nearly impossible to do! People want to dine out or they need to go out to attend an event for a few hours. I've noticed that restriction is changing. Most places allow you to leave a dog in the room, but may insist they be secured in a crate when you're not there. This is often for the safety of hotel cleaning staff who may enter your room when you're not there.
- Use the Do Not Disturb or Dog in Room sign on your door if your dog is in the room while you're out. Personally, I leave the Do Not Disturb sign on our door all the time throughout our stay. I just feel my dog is safer that way. I call Housekeeping and ask them to clean our room at a time when we'll be out with our dog.
🐾 Please, please clean up after your dog anywhere on the property when your dog poops! People who don't Scoop the Poop are a major irritant to hotel staff, and other guests! This is one type of bad behavior that can definitely make a hotel stop allowing dogs. Hotel staff shouldn't have to clean up a mountain of dog poop every day. That's just Rude!
🐾 Be mindful of your dog's barking. If your dog barks or whines a lot, don't expect other guests not to complain - they will! Most hotels reserve the right to ask you to leave if your dog is negatively impacting the experience of other guests. Don't leave a dog that barks or whines non-stop in your room when you leave.
You'll most likely be asked to sign a form for your dog upon checking into the hotel. You'll need to provide a bit of information about your dog; weight, breed, and maybe their rabies certification. The form will likely include some of their pet policies and have a paragraph stating that if your dog damages anything in the hotel they'll charge you for it - and I think that's only fair.
NOTE: For Service Dogs you are not required to sign forms or pay fees, and a service dog is allowed to go everywhere people are. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all hotels, motels and other lodging facilities are legally required to allow service dogs access. They are required, per this federal law, to welcome service dogs, even if the lodging facility does not allow pets. A service dog is not considered a pet, they are an aid that assists a person with disabilities.
NOTE: Therapy Dogs and Emotional Support Dogs are NOT considered Service Animals and are Not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This is because they have not been specially trained to perform a specific job or task to assist a person with disabilities. Therefore, they don't qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some states have changed local laws to allow emotional support animals access to certain public places that pets are normally not allowed access to.
WHAT SHOULD BE IN A PET FIRST AID KIT?
I swear, every time we're on a travel adventure with our dogs either one of the dogs get's injured or my husband gets injured - and sometimes both! You should always have a Pet First Aid Kit with you when traveling. Someone is likely to get injured at some point on your trip, and it's almost a guarantee that it will occur in the middle of the night or when you're deep into a hiking trail!
We were traveling through New Mexico once, and we stopped for one night at a Best Western hotel. We took our dogs out for the last potty of the night at 11:30pm, in the dog potty area. Somehow, our Husky stepped on a piece of broken glass and sliced her paw open! It's amazing how much a dog's paw pad can bleed!
Thankfully, I always have a pet first aid kit with me. Back in the room I cleaned her paw with hydrogen peroxide and tried to slow the bleeding. I applied antibiotic ointment, and bandaged her paw. It took awhile for her paw to stop bleeding, so when I returned home I added Syptic Powder for dogs to my pet first aid kit. Syptic powder helps stop bleeding from minor cuts on dogs.
You can either purchase a pre-packaged Pet First Aid Kit, or you can put one together yourself. I created my own to ensure I had everything I felt I need in my kit. Here's what I have in my dog's first aid kit:
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Alcohol swab pads
- Antibiotic Ointment
- Hydrocortisone cream (or spray) for pets
- Benadryl in case of severe allergic reaction (try to check with a Veterinarian by phone before using)
- Self adhesive bandage tape for pets
- Some cotton balls
- Pair of Tweezers
- A Scissor
- Pair of Sterile gloves
- Tick comb (we do a lot of hiking in the woods)
- Gauze pads in a variety of sizes
- Syptic powder for pets to control bleeding from minor cuts
You know how those pre-packaged first aid kits can be, they have 1,000 bandages and not much else! It reminds me of that Alanis Morrissett song, ".. it's like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife 🎶 .." So if you buy a pre-packaged first aid kit make sure it has the items you'll actually need, not just a ton of bandages!
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ROAD TRIP WITH DOGS ESSENTIALS
If you're embarking on a road trip with your dog, there are a few essential items you'll want to have readily available in the car. The first road trip we took with our dogs I packed everything but the kitchen sink! There were a lot of items I later learned I did not need at all, and a few items I learned would have made our trip much less stressful!
These are our dog road trip essentials for a road trip, whether it's a weekend away or a 4,000 mile round trip journey. Here are our Ride or Die road trip with the dog items we always have in our car.
🚘Car seat cover or blanket that will cover the seats
🚘Dog seat belt or crate to keep your dog secure in the car
🚘Plenty of water for both your dog and you
🚘Bring a favorite toy, a dog bed they use, and maybe a blanket for comfort
🚘Plenty of dog waste bags
🚘Cleanup supplies because trust me, on the road with dogs messy Shih Tsu happens! Paper towels, a towel and pet safe cleansers
PACKING FOR DOGS
Now you've got to pack all the essentials you'll need when traveling with dogs. The last thing you need is to be hundreds of miles away and realize you forgot a critical item! Have a comprehensive list of everything you'll need for your dog on the trip to ensure a stress-free journey.
These are the main categories on my list of what to pack when traveling with your dog.
😋Food and Water
Bring a supply of your dog's food, enough for the entire trip so you don't waste time looking for pet stores. Food/water bowls, the collapsible kind travel best. Include treats, chew sticks too!
🩺Medical
Bring along any pet medications your dog takes so you don't miss a dose. Have copies of vaccination records and record of any health issues in case you need a Vet visit during your trip. Have Veterinarian and pet insurance information. A pet first aid kit is a must!
🐶Comfort Items
Bring a favorite pet blanket or bed. Rather than new ones, bring something with the scent of home on it. Favorite toys help pets feel more comfortable and keep them occupied during travel.
🚗Travel Essentials
Have a pet crate with mat, a pet car seat, or a pet travel harness for safety riding in the car. I strongly recommend a car seat cover for road trips! I love 4Knines pet car seat covers, I swear by them.
🧽Cleanup Supplies
Bring pet grooming wipes, a brush and some dog shampoo. For some unknown reason, my dogs once decided to roll around in some horribly stinky stuff on the hotel grass. I don't know what it was, but it stunk to high heaven, and so did my dogs! Paper towels and a towel for dirty paws and to clean up the messes that will surely happen during your trip! Bring some pet- safe cleanser too.
🪪Pet Identification
Pet identification is a really important safety measure, especially when they're away from home. Have your dog's microchip information available in case she goes missing. Be sure their collar ID tags are still legible. Bring a color photo of your dog, and have a photo of you with your dog in case you need to prove you're the owner.
🎒Outdoor gear
Depending on what type of vacation you're taking your dog on, you may need some outdoor gear. A dog backpack for hiking or exploring the area is really useful. If you'll be near water please have a life jacket for your dog. Check the weather to see if you may need a dog sweater, rain jacket, dog cooling or heating mat, or paw protection for hot beach sand or rocky mountain terrain. Bring along an extra collar and leash just in case! Once, as we crossed a road, my Husky's collar just snapped in two. I couldn't believe it! Collars and leashes can break or get lost.
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ROAD TRIP SAFETY TIPS
Safety is everything on the road, so I never stop at sketchy random places on our road trips. I opt for state-run Welcome Centers or Rest Stops, and large gas stations like Love's or Pilot. State run rest stops or welcome centers usually have a dog potty and exercise section with long sidewalks you can walk your dog on. At Love's and Pilot stations you can also load up on great snacks & drinks, and even some decent prepared food. I never stop at small, empty looking rest stops or gas stations, especially at night!
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