Traveling With Your Dog

Traveling with a dog can be a lot of fun for both your family and the dog but it can easily turn into disaster if not planned and prepared well. An automobile is best way to travel with dogs of course under condition that your dog is used to driving in the car. To make travel an enjoyable experience for both your family and your dog you will need proper dog transportation equipment and to plan the trip very carefully before making any reservations.


Getting your dog used to driving in the vehicle is crucial if you do not want to leave your dog behind when traveling. Dogs are naturally afraid of car rides and it is highly important to prevent associating car rides with unpleasant experiences such as visits at a veterinarian which are not particularly enjoyable for the dogs. Drive your dog to the park for a walk, to the pet store and buy it a toy or reward it with a treat when returning home. When driving your dog to the veterinarian take it for a short walk before entering the vet's ambulance. That way your dog will not associate car rides with a painful injection or other unpleasant experiences at the veterinarian. If your dog squeals during the ride force yourself to ignore it and do not scold or petty your dog because the dog might misinterpret it and become even more anxious.


You can start making plans for your trip when you are absolutely certain your dog is ready. In order to make traveling enjoyable and comfortable for your dog make sure you have the required dog equipment for traveling and transportation. Taking care for safety of everyone in the car including your dog is the first and the most important thing you need to keep in mind when traveling with your dog. Use some sort of safety restrain which prevents your dog to move around in the vehicle or distract the driver but make sure that it also provides proper safety to the dog, especially in case of sudden stops.


Just like humans, dogs are attached to their favorite items and like all the comforts of home. Change of the environment can be very stressful for the dogs and to make traveling a pleasant experience for your dog you should take its favorite toys, treats and other items the dog is particularly attached to. You are also highly recommended to pack enough food your dog normally eats because a combination of stress due to change of environment and sudden change of food might cause gastrointestinal problems. Other highly important things you must not forget when traveling with your dog are adequate amount of water, first-aid kit and a collar with your contact information on a tag. If traveling abroad do not forget your dog's medical records.


Feed your dog few hours before the trip and avoid feeding it during the trip because dogs can get car sick as well. However, make sure it has enough water all the time.