the pet industry is huge and only growing bigger. we take our cats and dogs to spas, feed them organic, gluten-free food, treat their illnesses as we would ourselves and generally spoil most pets rotten. airports have been required to have pet facilities for service animals since 2009 and a lot of airports are expanding their pet areas. you only have to read the recent cnn article about the jfk expansion to see that we are getting serious about our four-legged friends (including horses!) being safe and secure while traveling. but what if you have never done it before? or you have a horror story about trying to take your dog on a road trip? i learned from the mistakes we made and next time i have to take a pet on a road trip, it’ll be a cakewalk.
several years ago, my now-ex and i took one of our dogs on a road trip up to wisconsin for a camping trip. we shouldn’t have; it was a disaster and he was distraught at leaving his brother (who would have run away with seconds of hitting the ground at the campsite, which is why we left him.) but plenty of people travel with their pets and do it successfully. the humane society has a long list of how to travel with your pet, but i’m going to add my two cents as a pet owner/lover and one who has done it before.
take along your dog’s crate and use it. we folded down one of the back seats and tucked the crate up so that he could see out the front window of the car. we packed everything else around him but within minutes of getting into the car and going, he freaked out. we spent the rest of the trip trying to calm him down – even after giving him a ton of xanax and calling the vet to see what else we could do for him – and eventually we traded off driving and sitting in the backseat so that he could sit in the front. never again will i do that! on the return trip, we loaded him up with xanax three hours before we even got into the car and he slept like a baby until we were an hour from home, admittedly not in his crate but we had given that up by then. if you have crate-trained your pet well, they’ll understand that being in the crate is not a punishment, but rather their safe space in an unfamiliar place. samson wasn’t crate-trained by his previous owner and also clearly rode in the front seat with his previous owner all the time. my current dog, finn, is crate-trained but also rides in the car without it (only to places like the vet and doggy day care) and he wears a pet seat belt.
bring along blankets and toys that are familiar to your pet. i also sometimes gave my ex-dogs a t-shirt that i had worn, because it smelled like me. even if you’re not leaving the pet, it helps to have that familiarity in an unfamiliar place. you can also bring along some yummy treats for them to reward their good behavior in the car.
if you are leaving your pet to travel without you, for flying with pets, you’ll be required to transport your dog in a crate. you can find the requirements for alaska, delta, united and american airlines here. for the record, i don’t think i will ever take a dog of mine on a flight, unless i’m moving someplace where i can’t get them there any other way. airlines lose pets, and you never know what sorts of hazards they might come in contact with and dangers they’ll be subjected to. if you must, there are pet-only airlines, where you can pick your pet up after the flight. some dog and cat breeds aren’t allowed in cargo anymore (short-nosed dogs breeds mainly, and siamese cats) so do your research beforehand. trips with pets has a good breakdown on flying with pets.
if you do fly with your pet, label their crate well with your name, address, contact number, final destination, and someone who is not traveling that can be a contact as well. it goes without saying (but i’ll say it anyway) that your pet has a collar and an id tag as well. you can also make up tags that have your final destination and a secondary contact number for fairly cheap at petsmart.
make sure your pet has plenty of food and water, especially if you are leaving them to the mercies of the airlines. for car travel, we packed samson’s own food for the long trip and kept a large bottle of water in the car for him. don’t keep the bowl full, but use it when you stop. i also read a recommendation that you can put ice cubes in your pets water dish for the airplane because a full bowl will just slosh around.
exercise your pet before leaving home. ever seen a dog come home after doggy day care and literally not care about anything because he’s too tired? yeah. run them around, take them to the dog park, go for a walk.. a tired dog will travel better because they will sleep through it.
a few days before you travel, talk with your vet, because they can also prescribe anxiety medications for your dog. like i said, we had xanax for samson and even though it didn’t work on the way up, the combination of being tired from the weekend and the xanax really helped on the way back home. the thundershirt is also a good idea, if your pet doesn’t mind it – some dogs are sensitive to pet clothing.
stop often if you’re driving. depending on the number of people in the car (moving your family, for example), the dog might not have a lot of space to move around, so realise that you’ll need to be mindful of them as well. welcome centers along the interstates usually have a good amount of green space and sometimes a marked pet area. and NEVER leave your pet alone in a car. EVER. i can’t reiterate this enough. NEVER.
keep the windows closed. the ASPCA says it’s actually not a good idea to let your pet hang their head out the window, regardless of the fact that most dogs love it. they can be hit with flying particles or be exposed to bacteria that cause infections.
if you’re road-tripping and need an overnight at a hotel, know what hotel chains allow pets and what the policies are. it’s usually a non-refundable $100 and you may need to pay for any damages your pets cause. there are actually a lot of hotels (and some are luxury) that allow pets and the policies will should be the same at any of their hotels.
do you have any horror stories of traveling with your pet? any good tips that i forgot about? what about a #shoutout for someone who helped you while you were traveling with your pet? get in touch!!
for more information about traveling with pets, check out trips with pets.