Advice on traveling with a dog (large breed)?

[nancypants]

We are starting to plan our annual Summer trip to California. We always drive. We now have a Golden Retriever (two years old) that we rescued back in October. Other than moving cross country several years and a few dogs ago, we have not travelled with a dog at all.

 

What kind of advice would you have for me? We are thinking of renting a small UHaul trailer (or similar co.) so that he can have the whole cargo area in our Suburban to himself. How did you handle leaving your dog in the car when you had to go into a restaurant or something like that? I figure we will buy one of those fans that you mount in one of your windows to help keep the car cool, etc... but my hubby is already nervous about that and thinks we can't leave him in the car at all.

 

It's a three day drive (four if we take it slow and enjoy the journey). We are thinking of camping for some of the nights and Motel-ing for the others. Any hotel/motel chains you know of that are pet friendly. We know of one La Quinta on the way that is pet friendly but it's not a chain-wide policy.

 

We will be staying with my parents for about 3 weeks. They have a dog, very old and very sweet who generally gets along quite well with other dogs who lives outside. Our dog is primarily an indoor dog, though I'm sure he will probably enjoy being outside a lot more, I'm nervous about letting him sleep out there since he's used to sleeping inside in his kennel. How do your dogs respond to the change in environment when they travel with you?

 

We would all miss him if we left him at home. Leaving him home with a house/petsitter is an option. But most of our friends work and we'd have to hire dog walkers to come and take him out once or twice a day. I just think he'd be miserable having to be in his kennel that much (we don't let him roam freely when we are away from the house which is normally not a problem as we are very rarely away from the house for more than 4 hours at a time, and that is usually only maybe once a week.)

 

So, any advice for traveling with a big dog would be super helpful. TIA!

[RoughCollie]

The U-Haul trailer rental is a good idea. Call around and reserve one in plenty of time. I was going to do that one summer and none were available -- it may be different in your area.

 

We've traveled around New England with our dog. We bring a big bowl of water for him to drink when we stop, or when we leave him in the car. Generally, I do not like leaving him in the car while we go into a restaurant, but I will do it if the weather is cool enough. Frequently, either everyone goes in the restaurant and brings me out a to-go order, or we all eat outside, including the dog.

 

I would pull a trailer large enough to hold your dog kennel, unless it fits in the cargo area with the dog in it. (My SUV is a Navigator and the kennel won't fit in the tiny cargo area unless the rear seats are folded down.) I would ask if your parents will be amenable to the dog sleeping inside, in his kennel. You can toss suitcases and duffel bags in it if it is the giant size we have, and it won't matter if the kennel takes up a lot of the trailer.

 

Now, I have no idea what the weather is like where you are going. Here, it doesn't get all that hot in the summer, but when it is, I don't take the dog anywhere if he has to stay in the car with the a/c off (like on errands). Also, New England is so small, we've never gone on a trip with the pooch that involved more than an overnight stay before we reached our destination.

 

I always stop every couple of hours so we can all walk around some. I think that is really important for the dog, too.

 

Around here, there is a Super 8 Motel that will take pets.

[earthmother]

WE used to have a lab/shepherd and now a westie, but we moved to Alaska and back driven cross country many times, and have figured out a few things.

When we do restaurants, we always find shade, all go in and order and then one of us stays at the table while the other goes to hang out with the kids and the pooch in the parking lot. then we all go in and eat which usually takes very little time and the one who is done first goes back out. My biggest concern is an humane society person getting upset with us, but we have never endangered our dogs.

 

We have always had a car top carrier to put our things in and a hatchback car for the dog to go in and out easily. we travel very lightly in general.

 

Many super 8's do not take pets! Although we have snuck/sneaked? in our lab/shepherd into motels that don't take pets I don't advise it. that was pre-kids. However!!!!! we love Motel 6. Check their website out, but I am nearly 100% sure that every single one takes pets.

 

see if you can find a collapsible kennel that you could use at your parents or see if you can rent or buy one once you are there. not really worth hauling a huge one along.

 

as far as leaving him at home.........we did that once and will never again. a woman that was recommended to us totally allowed our one pup to trash the house. there was cat and dog feces everywhere, chewed up loveseats and carpet. horrible.

 

we even travel with our cat and aside from a vomitous trip along the "Tail of the Dragon" highway, the cat and dog have done well.

 

good luck hope this helps

earthmother

[Sunny]

We travel with 2 shepherds. They get the back of the SUV to themselves, and we put all our belongings in the overhead roof racks. Some things we put in the cargo box, for safe keeping and weather, but you can also strap down suitcases or rubbermaid containers to the roof racks without a cargo container. I don'tthink you need a Uhaul! Surely your mom has laundry facilities? :)

 

We leave the dogs in the car when eating, but it hasn't been hot when we did this. If it is HOT this summer, you can't leave them in the car for even a short time. You would have to eat lunch going through a drive through and keep the car running / ac to eat. We do that for lunch, but for morning/dinner it is usually cool enough to go inside and leave dogs in car.

 

We travel with folding crates. Motels are usually fine with crated dogs. Just make sure ahead of time that a crated dog is ok.

This makes it easier when visiting guests too. Our dogs are very comfy in their crates, so they were fine with all the differnt places we stayed. Keep him on somewhat regular routine with eating, potty, sleeping and walking and he should be fine.

 

We found remote places to pull over and let the dog run and get some quick exercise and do their job. It was nice to let them run for 10/15 minutes every few hours. But, our dogs come on command, and so make sure if you let loose your dog, he will come back! Being a retriever, you could probably throw a few balls back and forth to get some workout.

[Stirsmommy]

Somewhere online there is a way (for the life of me i can't remember where I found it) away to figure out the pet friendly places along your route. You do have to watch and make reservations in advance since others also want those rooms and some places won't take bigger dogs. We travelled last Jan when we moved from GA to MN with three cats and a aussie shepherd. Two cars were needed but found that motel sixes were our best bets on our route. As to whether or not you can leave the dog in the car it probably will depend on state laws. We did drive thru's or went in one parent with kids for bathroom and food and then switched. Also so long as they were crated we could leave them in the rooms when we went to dinner and for breakfast.

HTH

Melissa

[mooooom]

What we always do if we have to leave the dog in the car is to buckle him in to one of the front seats and leave the windows open. All the way if it is really hot. This means you obviously need to keep an eye on your car while you are inside. Although a large dog is usually a good deterrent.

 

No ideas on the sleeping outside thing. The last time we went camping - when we got home my dog sat down on the front lawn and refused to go into the house (I had to carry him and he is big). Of course, he slept with us in the tent - but he loved being outside for a whole week. (Our neighbor's pug went with us and he was completely relieved to be back inside - he would lie on anything to avoid lying down in the dirt).

[Vida Winter]

Only with 2 golden retrievers this time! We drive from Oregon to Michigan. AAA puts out a publication that lists motels that are pet friendly; of course, you always need to call them because their policies sometimes change. It is a fairly thick phone-book type guidebook that costs $14.95.

 

We actually rent a van to travel. We didn't have the space in our other vehicles and frankly didn't want to put the mileage on our vehicles. There was plenty of room for our dog to roam while we were driving. In summer we pack light so we didn't have much luggage.

 

As far as restaurants - we did a lot of drive-thru and eating in the van. We would leave the dog in the van to go eat only at night. Chinese food buffets are good for variety and you can get in and out quickly.

 

If you plan it right you can get motels that include a free breakfast so you can bring it back to your room on a tray or eat in shifts. You can also get a lot of good snack foods at the grocery to eat in the car. We ate a lot of carrot sticks and green pea pods, crackers, lunchables, etc.

 

Probably the hardest part of the "ride" was getting our dog to go potty. We stopped at many rest stops and got out for exercise but she did not "go" nearly as often as she does at home. She didn't get sick but it was sort of exasperating for *us*, walking her up and down a slim patch of grass at a Best Western late at night, begging her to do something.

 

It is much more trouble traveling with the dog but for us it was worth it. When we got where we were going, she had many happy days on the shores of the lake and learned how to swim. We would even take her downtown to shop with us (Traverse City) and she made many friends (i.e., everyone who passed by us on the street).

 

Hope this helps somewhat!

[Tracey in TX]

We've taken Copper, our 2y/o Golden Retriever, on vacation several times cross country. What works best for us is to place his crate in the trunk of Suburban. He's safe and happy, and can still play with the kids through the bars :)

 

We normally stop at locations where he can be watched while we're outside (Joe's Crab Shack) or drive thru and eat at park/rest stop. That requires a bit more planning. We have left him in car while we've eaten, but it depends on temp. Winter is more conducive with this practice than summer months (at least in TX).

 

I follow the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and "Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission" philosophy on this one :) Just make sure kids don't get the dog crazy in the hotel room!!

[Tami]

and she just sits up like a human in her own seat. She likes her window down so she can sniff the outside air and enjoy what's going on.

 

As far as restaurants, we usually have one person go in and get the food and the other hang with the dog, or we drive through. We take our food to a park or rest area and hang out there, eat, and let the dog run. We bring those foldable camping chairs and a big blanket so that we can picnic anywhere. However, more than eating out, we always pack a very full cooler with lots of food! That saves the restaurant hassle and money.

 

If the weather is nice, and we can find a parking spot near the restaurant window, we have occasionaly left the locked car running with music/climate control on with our dog inside. However, that is the rare exception, perhaps on a rainy day, and never the norm!

 

I bet there are some beautiful parks in CA that you could picnic at with your dog.

 

Also, check with motels ahead of time to make sure the are pet-friendly. Many are not. For this reason, we always go with a pet friendly cabin rental.

 

 

Tami

[nukeswife]

We've moved many times with our Shar-pei lab mix. My dh is in the Navy so we move and travel ALOT.

 

My dogs always ride in their kennels in the car on long trips. I find this keeps them calmer. My dogs love their kennels and sleep in them at night at home too.

 

I've only left the dog in the car while we eat if it's cooler weather. So I'm not much help there. I drove from FL to WI in Jun of 2006 and it was too hot to leave the dogs out there. We now have a pug too and he's even more of a concern in the heat (short face thing) I also didn't have dh with me so the kids and I did lots of drive throughs, not the best food in the world but it had to be done.

 

I usually have found that many hotels will take pets but make sure you ask first. Some will only let a pet in a smoking room which doesn't fly with me. So we use Motel 6 mostly. We've found that many holiday inn's and Best Westerns will take them too. My biggest tip, don't let the fact that it looks a bit fancier fool you, many of those places will take pets.

 

On time we were at a Holiday Inn and dh didn't ask about the pets, got us a room and then proceded to walk right into the lobby with them. Only to look at the staff in a look of horror to say "You allow pets right?" They just laughed at him and said "Yes it's not a problem" We got lucky though. Many hotels will charge you a $150 fine if you have a pet in a room and they don't allow them.

 

HTH

[RoughCollie]

We taught our dog to pee on command, and that has solved this problem.

 

I'd go outside with the dog (we have a fenced-in yard) and when he started to pee, I'd say, "Oscar, pee-pee!". When he was done, I'd praise him effusively.

 

When I figured he'd gotten it down pat, we practiced when he asked to go out. It worked, to my delight. It is especially handy late at night when we are on the last walk before bedtime in a strange place and I am sleepy.

 

Mind you, the practicing has to take place when the dog's bladder is full. Also, no stopping and starting over and over -- this won't work. You get one shot at it each time the dog has to pee.

 

I don't know if it works with a male dog who lifts his leg. My male dog doesn't do that because when he was a puppy every time he tried it, he fell over.

 

Probably the hardest part of the "ride" was getting our dog to go potty. We stopped at many rest stops and got out for exercise but she did not "go" nearly as often as she does at home. She didn't get sick but it was sort of exasperating for *us*, walking her up and down a slim patch of grass at a Best Western late at night, begging her to do something.

[StephanieZ]

Make sure your dog is both microchipped and has a collar tag with your CELL number on it while you travel. (You can put a piece of duct tape over the collar or tag and sharpie the number on if your regular tag has a home # where you won't be reachable.) If they get loose and scared at a truck stop. . .

 

Don't plan to leave your dog in the car at all during daylight hours b/c it just gets too hot. They overheat FAST with any sunlight if temps are above 60 - 70. After sundown, you're usually OK so long as you have plenty of ventilation.

 

Also be aware that it is common for Good Samaritans to call 911 if they see a dog in a car unattended! I know of VETS who've come back to their dogs (who were fine as temps were low, etc.) in their cars after a quick errand to find police vehicles and irate passer-bys "saving" their dogs. . .

 

We've done a lot of x-c trips with our dogs and we did fine with lunch stops at places where we could get take out and eat by the car, outside, or hopefully under a tree or at a park. Picking up take out (or making sandwiches if you're frugal and plan ahead) and eating at a nice park and having some space to stretch the legs, etc is a lovely lunch break, IMHO.

 

If we had to go inside somewhere, we'd park somewhere we could tie the dog(s) up to a tree in the shade. (Theft is a risk with that. . . but we were OK with it. . . our dogs are mutts and not big theft-attractors. If yours looks pure bred and is friendly, he might get stolen. If he's scared, he might bite someone, also not good. . .)

 

A uhaul trailer limits you to 50-55 mph on the whole trip and costs you a lot in extra gas. I'd go with a nice roof rack/roof bag for luggage and/or a hitch mount rack for bikes if you've got those, too.

 

Nearly always, dogs will just sack out and lay down when you leave them in the car alone. They don't need exercise space in the vehicle; just enough space to comfortably lie down and turn around. If he'll be in the cargo area and you want to also put gear back there, a safety measure would be to put a nice solid travel crate back there -- minus the door(s), so he'd have a safe cozy nest and be somewhat protected from shifting luggage. If you are going to do this, I'd get the crate a few weeks (or earlier) ahead of time and set it up in your house, with attactive chew toys and a comfy pad. . . and offer treats and/or meals in there daily so your dog is happy with it before being expected to lie in it on the trip.

 

And he needs frequent access to lots of water and potty/exercise breaks every few hours. And, most importantly, avoiding overheating (drinking plenty of cool water is one less obvious key)!!

 

Talk to your vet about any special medical issues your dog might face in the travels. Various disesases/parasites are more of a risk in different locations, so your dog might need an extra vaccine or two or some different flea/heartworm/tick/parasite meds for your trip.

 

If your dog hasn't travelled in a car much, try some test trips now with windy roads. . . Some dogs get car sick which can be messy. There's a nice new car sickness medication (Cerinia) which your vet could rx & provide ahead of time if that is an issue. (Another trick is to only feed in the PM after settling in to the hotel! I've had several dogs who got car sick . . .)

 

So far as hotels, I am sure there are nowadays websites that list pet friendly ones. A decade ago when we travelled a LOT with our dogs, we never knew where we'd end up each night and there was no www like there is now, so we usually snuck the dogs in. (shame on me, I know) We'd pick a motel style hotel with outside doors and just sneak them in. That was always one night only stays -- 10 PM - 8 AM -- or so, so we could be pretty discrete. Of course, that's not ideal but when you're in a 1 hotel town and the next town is 80 miles away and it's 11 Pm and you've driven 600 miles already, you don't want to ASK "Are dogs OK?" b/c once you do, if the answer is No, you're stuck!

 

ENJOY!! We love travelling with the dogs. They are part of the family, too! Good on you for rescuing a dog and making him part of your family! What a lucky dog!