Being a pet parent and an avid traveller, I take my pets on many road trips. Many times I see people with pets are hesitant to travel with them. Either they are not used to it or they are not aware on how to handle pets during travelling. I wanted to share few tips I that I follow when travelling with pets mainly while being on the road.
- Create a list of the things to be carried before travel like their food, toys, bowl, bed, sweaters, medicine etc. If you need to buy anything purchase it before the trip and keep it ready. I usually pack Meow’s toys, food, her bowl, towel, grooming brush, wipes, leash, sweater or any dress if travelling to hilly regions.
- During travel if you are on the road for more than 4-5 hours, try to stop for a break every 4-5 hours and make sure they are taken for peeing or for poop.
- If travelling during hot and humid weather, check if they want to drink water every 1-2 hours. If you are travelling in an AC car and if the dogs are near the AC vents, they get dehydrated soon and would be needing water. Always carry a separate water bottle for them and pour in their bowl and try feeding them if they are thirsty.
- During travel, I always carry her bed or blanket and keep it in the car, so that she knows that she’s safe and comfortable. Even at hotels or stays, if we keep her bed and blanket, she knows that it is safe place and easy for her to adjust.
- Dogs are trained to eat at specific timing, mine eats lunch at sharp 1. And she can manage to wait until 2pm and after that she will try to seek attention. When travelling, we make sure we stop for lunch at that time and feed her. We usually carry the wet food packets from Pedigree which is easier to eat during travel and Meow loves it since it has real chicken or lamb chunks which is a win-win for us.
- Most of the time hotels or restaurants doesn’t allow pets inside unless they have mentioned its pet friendly. If its just me and husband travelling with Meow, we try to take away food and eat in the high way. If we are travelling with a bigger group, we take turns to take care of her and finish off our lunch or dinner. But many times I have seen even if its not pet friendly if you tell them you are travelling with a pet, they might allow inside. Recently when we went to Kodaikanal, we were taking turns for lunch and when the owner saw me having Meow out, he insisted we can take her inside and gave us a corner table so it won’t disturb other customers. Same goes for sight seeing places.
- We feed her dry pedigree for breakfast and rice for both lunch and dinner. Mornings during travel are easier since she can have pedigree and then we can continue the travel. For lunch as I mentioned above we buy those wet food packets. If we are having take aways and eating in the hotel or stay, I try to boil an egg and feed her. For dinner, I usually carry rice grains and try to cook it and add milk and give her. We prefer Airbnb when travelling or homestays, so it’s easier for us to cook rice for her in the evenings and feed her. Else she can adjust with pedigree but we will have to run behind her for sometime to convince her to eat.
- After travelling, once we reach back hotel or room; dogs would definitely want to release all their energy. So I carry her toys so that she can play until she is tired and her energy is all released.
- Make sure you carry the grooming brush or comb and groom them everyday for them to stay fresh. Most of the time I groom her in the morning after her breakfast and if I give it a miss, I do it before she sleeps in the night. We also make sure we carry her ear and eye wipes and clean them.
- Final point I would add is, always keep them on leash outside the car or vehicle. Being in new places, we can’t control the things which can intimidate them and it’s safer to be on leash always during the travel.
I have even travelled with my cockatiel Appu from Chennai to Bangalore, we keep her in the cage and she will be happily travelling with us. Now that we have 2 more cockatiels added and the cage has become big we couldn’t travel with them much. Coming to Meow, since she is the small breed dog we carry her all along and the above cases might be different if you have bigger dog breed. Also Meow was trained well for travel from the beginning so she loves travelling and the moment we get ready, she will be the one to reach the car and try to climb into it. The above points are the ones which worked for me, it might differ from case to case but in general make sure they feel comfortable, the food habits and timing are not changed much and keep them hydrated at all times!
Funny conversation between Appu and Meow as bonus content 🙂
Chennaivaasi 