Traveling With Pups Any Tips?
In about 2 weeks we will be driving from Portland, OR to San Francisco area and then make our way down to the LA area and will have both pups with us. Any advice for a Shiba on a trip that long? Also I know there is a map of owners of dogs in America and would like to meet some people with a Kai Ken and Shikoku since I've yet to meet one in person. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Restraints will help keep the pups out of the way and safe. You can use either a crate or appropriate seat belt accessories, both will keep the dog put.
You may want to give them a light meal, or skip it altogether, before heading out. Sometimes car rides can cause vomiting, which isn't fun to clean up while the pups are itching to get out.
Don't give any chew toys while driving. Bumps in the road could cause a chocking incident.
Pack snacks and drinks for yourselves, traveling can get tiring and having a drink or snack can serve as a nice little pick-me-up between pitstops. Just remember to not drink too much or you will be needing to take more potty breaks than intended.
During long trips, my guys will be active for about 30 minutes, and then after that they just sleep until we stop. We do take a few pit stops to stretch our legs and relieve ourselves, which can get the pups rearing to get out of the car. But they're good with a short potty walk and will settle back down in the car. You may be surprised, your pups should eventually settle down when they realize that there's nothing interesting going on.
Anywho, everything Beth said is prettymuch what I'd recommend. I use Ruff Wear harnesses and traffic leads as vehicle restraints, and if I think about it I put down some sort of towel or blanket just in case there is a mess of some sort, or if it's raining during a pit-stop. I always offer water whenever the car is stopped and I will feed a small meal a couple hours before we leave, give small snacks throughout the day, and will feed the main meal at night when all the driving is done.
As long as the dogs are used to being in the car, there shouldn't be any issues with them freaking out. I have done a few long trips with Conker and he was fine. He was not exactly fond of being in the Jeep for the first (2,100+ miles) trip, but he rides in the Jeep so often now he settles right down almost as soon as we are out of the driveway.
I've been on 5 hour drives with Toki and he is very restless the whole way. He might sleep every now and then, but most of the time he is standing up in the backseat and/or looking out the window. I have no idea how he is going to handle the drive we're about to take in feb from Texas to California.... poor toki
I'm going to be taking two dogs who are semi strangers with each other. One will be crated but not the other. I'm cautious because Toki has never been in a car with another dog and he isn't well acquainted with this other pup. Sometimes dogs will react differently in a new situation than you expect, so i think its best to have at least one dog constrained to be on the safe side.
Also, Bully sticks are a life saver!
We did have a problem where Ninja ate something bad and pottied in the car on the way back. Luckily, we stopped in New Jersey and our relatives helped us clean it.
For car sickness, some dogs can use benadryl to keep them sleepy and sickness free, but our vet says it also may have an adverse effect where they'll get more hyper instead of sleepy.
Thanks for the advice. I don't I'll chem her up might bring some chewies with us. Are there any natural options to No-Spa @white_bear or Benadryl @Zinja
@Losech Could be fun! Let's try and meet up! @ttddinh I'll be over that way for some meetings so that works out just perfect.
@Kuma123 That would scare me. You're just cruising listening to a book on CD and then barking from nowhere.
I think a leash is a very good idea, you should also make sure they have a dog tag attached to the collar with your info. If your dog is very confortable in a crate you can just place the dog in the crate and the crate in the car. Not necessarily in this order :-)
Edit: Removed my comment about Lavender Oil. It was recommended by my vet and we have never had any ill effects and I have used it on occasion over the years. But I do not want to cause conflict or suggest anything any other member(s) consider unsafe.
There is also Rescue Remedy but I have not used that.
@poeticdragon, good point! We leave the leashes on too for that very reason!
And make sure they have all of their tags on for I.D.