Okay, I have had a few dogs tell me that they will be traveling over the holidays and want to know how to prepare. They’re concerned that they might not like leaving home, how will doggy Santa find us? What about my food? Where I sleep? How long am I going to be in the car?
So I thought I’d give you my top 10 tips for traveling over the holidays’ list. In fact, this list works any time of the year when your traveling and visiting!
My Dog Traveling Tips for the holidays
- Before you go on vacation, have your owners take you to the vet to check that you are up to date with your vaccinations and if you need any other type of vaccination for the place you are going. You might not need a certain vaccine where you live, but it might important where you are going.
- If you are new to car travel, start getting use to it by sitting in the car with your seatbelt on, if you’re really nervous just make this your first step while the car is parked, then you can slowly build up to short journeys. Make sure your human rewards you with praise and treats.
- Get your humans to stock up on your own food and water, if the trip is going be long and a meal is needed, they are not going to find the food that you are familiar with and like on the road. Trina packs my chicken burgers due to they are easy to pack and serve.
- If you are going to be staying overnight, make sure they bring your bed or blanket. The smell of home with making you feel secure.
- If you’re a queasy traveler, tell your humans that you need at least two hours to digest your food before hitting the road. It’s just too embarrassing to get sick in the car.
- Make sure that you are kept comfortable and well ventilated while traveling. Have the window down a bit for a nice breeze. If it’s hot where you live, demand air conditioning. Jeez…who wants to be a hot dog panting?
- Have your human’s map out a route where you can get out of the car to stretch your legs, have a sniff and take a pee. You know you want to leave your mark and pee-mail will let other dogs know that you’re traveling!
- If you are going to be traveling with small kids, make sure they understand that this is not the time to tease, annoy or scare you.
- When you arrive at your new destination, make sure that the humans show you where you are going to sleep, eat, and a quick walk around the neighborhood so that you are familiar and can make note of where you’ll do your business. Also, have your humans let you know the rules of the new place, it might be different than at home. For example, my human has a friend who thinks dogs should not be on the couch, so I have to be content with her cozy rug under the coffee table.
- There might be pets living at the place you are visiting so an introduction might be necessary so everyone feels comfortable. This is the time to have your best paw manners in place. This is not the time to show off your cat chasing technique or how you can steal every toy, treat and attention from the dog you’re visiting.
I know it can be strange staying somewhere new, especially when all you want to do is sniff out the whole place. However, if you remember my dog traveling tips and your doggy manners… Santa Paws will find you!
