All Dog Blog

Lately in our household, we’ve been making a concious effort to include our dogs in as many activities as possible.  They’ve been joining us both on small trips to the grocery store, as well as lengthier cross-state trips recently, which got me to thinking I should

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Lately in our household, we’ve been making a concious effort to include our dogs in as many activities as possible.  They’ve been joining us both on small trips to the grocery store, as well as lengthier cross-state trips recently, which got me to thinking I should post some tips on traveling with dogs. When preparing for a lengthy trip with the boys, the first thing I always do is write up a list of their essentials. A basic list might look something like this:1. dog food for X amt. of days2. good fitting collar and leash per dog3. food and water dishes4. baggie of treats5. each dogs favorite toy6. poop pick up bags 7. gallon jug of water (easier than always finding a spigot when you stop)8. any daily medications your dog needsI stash everything in a re-usable grocery bag to make things easier on me when I’m searching for something the dogs need during one of our stops. I tend to keep a lot of dog related products in my car all the time anyway. I always have a lint roller, extra leashes, a water bottle, and a few treats stashed away somewhere. For longer trips I like to “makeover” the car a bit, to make things a little more dog friendly. We have a dog bed that fits perfectly across my backseat, so thats usually my first step- as a way of avoiding as much free floating hair in the car as possible. For our most recent long trip to Kansas we packed a cooler with us. This turned out to make things a lot easier when we were watering the dogs and trying to keep them cool (it was in the 90’s our entire trip). We kept the dogs water bottles cold in the cooler for our pit stops, and provided them ice cubes in a dish while we were actually driving in the car. Bear is hot, ALL the time, so keeping him cool is our biggest challenge when traveling with the dogs. We end up leaving our car running a lot, with the AC pumping to ensure he stays comfortable. I even looked into getting little window screens for the car to provide some shade, you know the ones that people plaster on their windows to prevent kids from getting sunburn? I had less than spectacular luck finding something that wasn’t pink and purple or with Whinnie the Pooh pictures everywhere, so I’ve momentarily given up on that front, although I’m sure there is some sort of basic window screen out there. I’ll be back with more information on this. On our trip we made an effort to stop at rest areas or gas stations with an open lot next to them. After we’d filled up the car and taken care of our needs, it made for an easy jaunt to a patch of grass for the boys to relieve themselves, stretch their legs, and get a drink before packing up to hit the road again. I always keep the boys on a leash, so that they don’t disturb other patrons, or get too near any busy roads. Due to our last trip being cross-state, I also double checked the ID tags on their collars and made sure I had a copy of their microchip number in my wallet.Traveling with dogs is a blast, and its not too much extra work with just a few of the precautions above. So now I’m wondering, what do you readers do to prepare for a trip with your dogs? Any great tips for other readers (and me!) that you’ve developed over the years?Bark Back at Us!

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