With the Holiday Season comes a lot of traveling, whether it’s to visit family and friends or you’re just taking a little vacation time. If you’re opting to bring your pup along, here are our recommendations!
First let’s talk about car travel!
Fairly short drives aren’t much different with a dog than without, anything under a few hours and they should be okay to ride straight through. If it’s a longer drive, ensure you’re stopping for potty breaks as often as you expect your dog to need them and use these opportunities to take a short walk to stretch both your and your pup’s legs.
I would strongly advise you to get a seatbelt or crate to put in your car to confine your pup during the drive. There are a couple reasons for this but primarily because it’ll keep them safer in the event of a crash than riding loose in the car would much like how we humans wear seat belts to be safer if we’re in an accident. The other reason I recommend confinement in the car is to minimize distractions for the driver. A dog that’s moving around can easily distract you for a second and it’s not worth the safety risk of driving distracted.
But what about flying?
If you are planning on flying, you should check with your airline to ensure you know what their rules are. Each airline has its own policies regarding the sizes of the dogs and the fee to add the dog to your ticket. Here is an overview of each airline’s pet policies but please be sure to confirm directly with the individual airline before booking tickets in case their rules have changed.
Once you’ve checked the rules for your flight, you need to make sure you have a TSA approved carrier. I used this one on my last flight with a dog and highly recommend it. In the days leading up to your flight, get your dog used to their carrier by tossing treats in it so they get comfortable going in. Once they’re relaxed going in and out, start closing the carrier for brief periods of time with a nice pacifier inside. That way they learn how to settle in for longer periods of time.
Plan to get to the airport early and check in at the counter. They’ll approve your carrier and get any information they need from you. When you go through TSA you’ll have to remove your pet from the carrier and carry them through security. Once you’re through security the rest of the trip should be pretty normal. If you have layovers most airports have pet relief rooms so you can give you dog a chance to do their business if needed.
*All pets must fly in a carrier and pay the airline’s pet fee. The only exception to this rule is for task trained service dogs with their disabled handler. It is illegal and unethical to try to pass off a pet as a service dog to avoid the pet fee when flying your dog.
What if my pup is anxious?
If you know your pup has some travel anxiety, there are a few things you can do to help them relax during your trip:
- Thunder shirts can help reduce their anxiety levels in a similar way to how swaddling can help babies relax.
- Adaptil is a pheromone based calming spray for dogs that is imperceptible to humans. You can find it on Amazon or in most pet stores.Simply spray it on their bedding in the car before you leave and let it help them relax.
- If your pup has severe travel anxiety, call your vet before your trip to ask if they can give you something to help your pup relax on the days you’ll be traveling
A few extra tidbits
- Pack extra food for your pup in case you get stranded. Flights get delayed, cars breakdown, things can go wrong. Be prepared with extra food and water for your pup
- Keep identification on your dog at all times. Whether it’s ID tags on their collar or even using a Sharpie to write your phone number on their collar. Additionally, microchips can be a lifesaver in the worst case scenario so if your pup isn’t chipped consider getting that done before your trip.
Travel is stressful enough on us humans as it is, making a plan in advance can help minimize the stress for both us and our four legged companions. No matter how you choose to travel, always exercise them before you leave so they’re tired and can sleep through the trip.