Who knows more about travel than a military family! Moving every 2-3 years keeps a person in prime practice for spare of the moment road trips or vacations. Becky’s experience showing and training dogs take it to an even higher level. Here are some great ideas to make traveling with your pup easier.
1. Training!
Having a well trained dog will make travel a breeze. Most people leave their dogs behind, because the dog might cause damage or act to wild. Spending the time teaching your dog how to communicate and what is expected of his or her behavior is key to worry free travel. Your dog doesn’t have to learn high level obedience, but teaching manners is never a waste. Top things I think every dog should know.
Wait before crossing a threshold. There is nothing more heart stopping than having your dog rush out the door. If you are traveling and the dog doesn’t know the area it can be tragic. Teaching this one rule can save your dog’s life. I like to teach my dogs to sit and hold a sit before opening the door. I move my hand toward the knob, and if they get up my hand moves away from the knob. Each time they sit and are calm my hand moves toward the knob. The first few times it will take a while for them to grasp the game. If you have multiple dogs you might want to teach them one by one. Go slow and expect greatness. They shouldn’t go until you tell them it is OK. Keep closing the door if they go to get up. Take them out across the threshold on leash until they grasp the concept. Dogs are super smart at reading body language, so they will pick this up fast if you remain quiet and calm and use your body like a hot and cold game piece. Once they know the game you can give a small verbal correction like “Ahh” to remind them to plant their booty and wait for the release word to run out the door.- Come when called. I taught obedience for many years and even now help friends out from time to time. This is the number one requested lesson. There is no easy fix. Starting young helps, making it extremely fun to come is super important, but consistency in training is more vital than anything. A dog is never to old to learn come. Try taking your dog outside daily to work this lesson for 3-5 minutes. DAILY… every. single. day. Make it super duper awesome when they come to you. Run away after you call them to stimulate their prey drive. Most dogs really get into a good game of chase! Make sure the reward you offer when they come is extremely high value. This might mean grilled chicken or a game of tug. Find your dogs honey pot and use it for teaching come. Once your dog is doing great at home in both the house and fenced yard, invest in a nice long line and head to the front. Work during busy times until they are rock solid. Next go to the park, pet supply stores, home depot, and farmer’s market. If your dog will come to you in those environments you have the battle beat. Keep the lessons short, sweet, and full of super awesome fun. Never call your dog to come for negative events like bathes or nail trimming. Come should always be a happy moment.
Walking on a leash. If your dog pulls on leash, you probably do not want to take them anywhere. Teaching them to walk nice on a leash will open up hundreds of opportunities for fun. The best way to teach loose leash walking is with time and patience. Reward the dog for walking right next to you with their favor thing. Go for only a minute or two and stop the game before they get tired. After they have the concept and can walk without pulling a short distance, put in play ‘if you tug on the leash, we stop moving forward’ game. Once they come back towards you, ideally slightly behind or directly beside you, move forward again. The easiest way to make this work is when they get in front of you, simply stop moving and wait for them to hit the end the leash. Say “Oops” and encourage them to come back towards you. When they do, walk the other direction, so they are now behind you. When they come up close, yet are still behind or right beside, give them a treat and say “heel” in a happy voice. You are putting a name to a place in space. Your dog needs to learn what is this thing called heel and where is heel located. If you are not doing competition obedience, it can be a bit more fluid, but until they know the place you cannot expect them to walk nicely on a leash. Work this position off leash as well, so both you and the dog learn to communicate without the need for the string. Everyone has to pay attention and sometimes you have to get really creative to get the dog into position. However, it will bring faster understanding to the dog if they are made to think about what you want them to do.- Sit and down stay. We have all seen those people who take their dog with them to eat on the patio of a restaurant. The dog is relaxing under the table while their owners eat. This is possible, because those dogs have a good sit or down stay. Sit, down, and stay are generally thought of as 3 different commands, but I really teach them as two. If I ask my dog to sit or down, the stay is assumed. They are not to change positions until given a different command, which could be a release to bounce and play. If I ask them for a sit or down there is a reason. Likely I am either distracted or attempting to keep them out of danger. In either case, I cannot focus on them, so they need to be still. Many people make the mistake of teaching sit or down as a ‘trick’ and never communicate to the dog to hold the position. What use is a sit or down if the dog will not stay in place? Teaching stay is not hard. Pick a position the dog already knows and build their desire to stay in that position for increased time and distance. If you are increasing the time the dog is asked to hold a stay, do not increase your distance from the dog. If you decide to teach the dog to stay while you walk away, keep the stay time really short and increase the distance slowly. There will be a point where they dog will want to get up. Verbally remind the dog to stay “Ahh, Stay” and if they get up, walk over and simply put them back without any emotion. Try again, but do not go as far and return quickly to reward them. Tossing treats to them while they stay is good if you can get the treats close enough the dog will not get up to retrieve the yummy. Know your own abilities and before long you will have a champion stayer!
- Crate / kennel / confinement training. Teaching your dog to love their kennel is the best gift you can give them. It will provide a safe and quiet space, even in very stressful environments. My guys nap in their crates at dog shows, and you can’t find a more mentally stimulating and stressful situation. There are a lot of good instructional videos on teaching crate manners, but my favorite training video series is called “Crate Games”. Look it up on DogWise.com, order the video, and be prepared to teach your dog how awesome crates can be!
- Use hand / body signals. Dogs are visual learners. The more you can add in body language while teaching your dog our language, the quicker they will pick up on every single thing you ask. If in doubt, pick a signal first then add a name to the new command. You might point to the ground for down, hold your hand over their head for sit, place your palm in front of their nose for stay. Your dog wants desperately to communicate with you, so offering them a means will net you a companion you can be proud of.
2. Gear!
Having the right travel equipment will take the stress out of travel. Planning ahead and keeping a few key items will change the way you feel about taking your pup with you on vacations.
- Food and Water. Obviously you need to bring food, but also take water. Dogs are very sensitive to changes in water and they can get a sick stomach if drinking water from a new location. Why risk it when you can pack a few gallons of water for your best friend.
- Supplements and medications. I always travel with a good probiotic and digestive enzyme. Nothing will ruin a trip like a round of diarrhea. Even with your own pet food and water, the dog can get a touch stressed and make your life harder. You can purchase Forti Flora from your vet or order it online in bulk. Most pet supply stores carry digestive enzymes. It really does help. Do not forget to pack your dogs medications when you pack your own, to include joint supplements and fish oil.
- Vaccination records. Always keep a copy of your pet’s vaccinations with you while you travel. You never know when they might be needed. If you need to board your dogs for the day, visit a groomer, cross a border into another country, or even if your pet becomes ill, having the vaccinations on hand is vital.
- Collar, tags, leashes, and consider a microchip. Never leave the house on a trip without your contact number on the dog’s collar. Make sure the collar is properly fitted and in good shape, with the tags easy to read. This could save your dogs life. I also microchip all my dogs. Collars can come off or be taken off by thieves. A microchip is solid proof of ownership and all shelters / vets have universal scanners. For leashes I pack both normal 6 foot daily leash and several long lines to use for tie outs or beach leashed fun.
- Crates and pens. I generally pack several light weight crates and a few exercise pens. If you do not know what an dog exercise pen is, look it up. They have been used for years by dog enthusiast for creating a safe, portable fenced area. Having a nice fenced pen can save your sanity, especially while camping or if there are car troubles. I’ve set up pens inside hotels, vacation rentals, etc. If your dog is polite and indoors, they can even stay in one while you are out and about. Never leave your dog outside in an exercise pen when you are not nearby, because they could be frightened enough to jump or knock over the portable fence.
- Entertainment. Grab a few toys, bones, Kongs, and tennis balls. These things can really save the day if the weather is poor and you can’t get out for a walk / run.
- Potty bags and clean up kits. Don’t be that person. Pick up your dog poo. Toss in some paper towels, extra old towels, and a large trash bag for emergency clean up!
- Other items to consider depending on varying factors: Crate fans, batteries, cooling mats, sweaters, rain coat, dog bed, car ramp / step, flashing collar or tags for nigh time walks, car sickness medication, and grooming tools / shampoo. Most of the time, less is more. Take only what you might need for a specific trip, so you do not feel burdened by the addition of your furry family member.
With a well trained animal and the right supplies traveling with your pet is a breeze! I find taking my dogs put me on a more reasonable timetable. We’ve vacationed to Disney World 3 times with our Poodles. Twice we stayed in vacation rentals, and once in our RV. Each time having the dogs forced us to take mid day breaks and not stay out late. We would arrive at one of the theme parks at 9 AM and stay until around 1-2 pm, come back to our ‘home’ for a good lunch with the option to take a nice nap before heading back to the park for the evening. The dogs would get play time, several potty breaks, and a snack. My dogs would much rather go on vacation rather than stay back home in a kennel or with a pet sitter. Overall, traveling with your dog can give you both peace of mind that the animal will be cared for correctly, and a more relaxing trip due to the forced time constraints our companions put on our lives. Some people see dogs as a burden which can tie a person down. I see them as my beloved responsibility, and whenever possible, I am honored to share my life and travels with them.
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