Taking Lucy across the country on a road trip totally opened my eyes to travelling with pets. I knew we would have to stop, and I knew she would take up extra space, etc. but holy cow, I did not realize that a little extra planning goes a long way. Lucy has never been a crate dog. She was out of her mind excited for the first couple of hours, which kind of made me feel like I was travelling with a toddler. After a few hours, though, she settled down and was fine for the rest of the trip. {I think that she thought she was going someplace fun, and it was going to be a lot more immediate.}
Here’s what I learned that will make the trip home even smoother:
- Stop frequently. Honestly, I drink a lot of fluids, so stopping every 90 minutes was my thing–it did totally benefit her, though. Everytime we stopped, I let her out to go to the bathroom and made it a point to run around with her, so she could get her wiggles out.
- Bring a favorite blanket or bed. When she finally did settle down, the blanket was kind of her “place.” She had her own spot to lay down and snooze, and she knew right where it was.
- Bring poop bags. You’ll be letting your dog out to use the bathroom in public places, it’s just straight courtesy to clean up after them.
- Bring a water dish and food bowl {include water and food, of course}. At each of our stops, I offered Lucy water. I fed her in the morning and evening, and they we kind of waited around awhile for things to, you know, get movin’. Also, watch for signs of car sickness. Lucy didn’t have a problem, but if you notice issues, you may want to plan feeding around long stops.
- Bring something to keep them busy. Chew sticks, a toy…treat that pooch like a toddler. They will get bored, so having something you can offer every couple of hours kind of makes the time go by, and saves you from their places of boredom.
- Plan out hotel stops. If you plan on making your road trip a several day affair, you’ll need to plan your stopping points a little more carefully. While we usually just drive until we can’t, and then roll into town, this time, I had to make sure that I had researched pet-friendly hotels. {Yep, you are probably going to have to pay extra for that.} We found that Best Western and Holiday Inn Express only charged a $10 pet fee.
- If your dog IS crate-trained, it’s totally worth it to pack the crate and have them ride in the crate. That way, they aren’t exploring the entire car as you drive…and, in the crazy event that you get into an accident, it will add a little extra protection.
- Remember a leash. I know that seems like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget. You’ll likely have to have them on a leash at most of your stops.
- Keep the temperature in mind. This is really for dogs who might be riding in the back of the car {hatchback} or truck in their crates. If it is a hot day, you will need to consider their needs and stop for water frequently.
Overall, Lucy did great, and we minimal issues. It added to the overall duration of the drive, but totally worth it to have her with me.
Any tips you want to include?
~Mavis
mary says
Carry a copy of your dog’s immunization papers. Every state has different requirements especially when it comes to the rabies vaccine.
Melissa says
How many hours a day were you able to travel with Lucy?
Chris says
2 words…Puke Bowl! A couple of times a year, we head east, about 1000 miles. We break it into 2 days. Our 60 pound princess generally travels really well. She has been known to” toss her kibble” occasionally. We have a designated “puke bowl,” it is a medium size Rubbermaid bowl with lid, so it seals the “contents” securely. It is clearly marked with permanent ink – so no confusion with food storage. It goes through the dishwasher every time. I highly recommend keeping one in the car.
Donna in VA says
Register the microchip and be sure info is up to date. Collar with name & phone woven/printed on (special order) as opposed to tags that can detach and get lost. Safer to have your pet harnessed in the back seat, loosely belted in. My dog has ended up in the rear seat foot wells during emergency stops but back seat floor is probably the safest place in the car’s crush zones. Plan which side/window the sun will be coming in and arrange the pet’s seating in the shade accordingly. May need to get the shade screens that attach inside the windows via suction cups. You may need to use bottled water for dogs with touchy digestion. I also recommend dog probiotics to keep everything regular.
See Center for Pet Safety harness and crate studies for ratings of popular restraint systems. It’s an eye-opener.
Pam says
My Pet Travel tips – We have traveled a bit with our two toy poodles, with the most recent trip being our move from the southeast back home to the northwest. We always bring a couple of their favorite toys – although they rarely play with them since the hotel room has many places to explore, it is like a security thing to have a cuddle toy on the bed for them. We also bring a big container of water from home so they don’t have to make an adjustment to new water each day. Our girls sleep on the bed so we always cover the top of the hotel blanket with a waterproof mattress cover and then place their blanket on that. They occasionally get upset tummies during the night at home and this way we don’t have to worry about soiled hotel linens. We stay at La Quinta hotels whenever possible – PETS STAY FREE and breakfast is free too, so they get a bit of scrambled egg with their morning feeding. We have never had a dirty/pet smell room in any La Quinta. Many hotel beds are higher than our girls can jump up or down from so we bring a little foot stool for them to use getting up and down. The legs can be unscrewed from the bottom of the stool so it takes up little room in the car. We place pee pads on the bathroom floor for them to use during the night.
Kathy Gardner says
My Beagle is a better travel companion than most people I have been on road trips with. She loves to go and she especially loves those buildings with windows that food, in particular hamburgers, comes out of. I’ve never had a dog that did not love to ride or that ever got car sick. I start them out in a cardboard box sitting in the floorboard in front of the passenger seat when I first get them and take them with me every chance I get.
Mrs. C. says
We use this – it’s fantastic and collapses down almost flat. Our dogs love it.
http://www.amazon.com/Petego-Pet-Tube-Kennel-Large/dp/B000HVV3OE
Mavis Butterfield says
Wow! I have never seen one of those before.
Mrs. C. says
I just put a blanket in there and it easily fits four dogs Lucy’s size. Keeps them safe and confined. I have also used it as a crate when I travel, because it takes up much less room than a hard-sided one.
Robin says
Please, please, please work on crate training your dog or have your dog travel in something like a sleepy pod harness system. Unrestrained dogs in cars become furry missiles when you have to brake suddenly or are in a wreck. Best case scenario they are bruised. Worst case they can (and have), caused wrecks by getting under the driver’s feet, killed human passengers (large bodies at high rates of speed hitting back of passenger heads…), been killed by impacting the windshield, get loose and are run over by other cars or run in panic and are never found. There are all kinds of pages out there on how to crate train the dog and it is a lifesaver. Literally. It’s no more safe to leave a dog loose in a car than it is to leave a child.
As for equipment; extra bowls, some immodium in case of tummy upset, at least some supply of water from home (to prevent tummy upset). A critical care sheet listing your name, the dog’s name, vet name and who to contact in an emergency as well as an assurance that all medical/boarding will be covered if there’s an accident; more than one dog has ended up euthanized in a shelter before family knows what happened… Paper towels and baby wipes. Trash bags… if your dog has exploding diarrhea all over the crate 150 miles in the middle of nowhere you’re gonna want to have something to throw the paper towels and baby wipes into…
Cindi says
Our pups are veteran travelers and do great in a car.
I second the recommendation for LaQuinta. They never charge an extra fee for the pet, the rooms are always clean and the breakfasts are good.
If your dog is prone to car-sickness (one of ours is) a dose of Pepto Bismal before travel really helps settle their stomach.
We pack picnic lunches and try to stop at parks or someplace we can take the pups for a long walk. It’s a nice way to break up the trip and they’re ready to nap again when we’re done.
Oh, and in summer, don’t ever leave the dogs in the car. It gets way too hot too quickly. If we have to stop for something. one of us stays in the car with the AC running and the other one goes in the store to run the errand.
AlysonRR says
Our dog is nutsy when he can’t see out the window, so we bought a doggy booster seat with a harness. He sits in the back seat and has a clear view out front plus is near both of the kids in the back, for cuddles. We have a crate that folds to 2″ thick, so we usually bring it in case we need to keep him happy in a hotel room while we go out for a meal (he never whines or barks in his safe place).
We ask for a hotel room in a quiet part of the hallway – away from the elevators and stairs – to avoid him hearing people/dogs go by. We roll a towel under the door to the hallway to make sure there’s no light/shadows coming through. We, too, have used La Quinta for it’s pet policy, though it’s worth looking at reviews – some are better than others. Holiday Inn Express and Best Western are our other go-tos, but only if my mom and her dog aren’t traveling with us – an extra $20/night hurts!
We look for restaurants that have patios so we can all eat together, or we get takeout to eat in the car. Almost every time we’ve found a patio restaurant the staff have brought out water, and sometimes a little snack, for the dog.