Tips for Traveling with Dogs

I'm forgoing this month's photo tip ( it's written, just needs to be timed a bit better ) and instead giving you a more seasonally appropriate dog tip! If this goes well - maybe I will keep them up! My dogs travel a lot - especially with the holidays. We're driving into Akron, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia (for a kennel) with them this month alone! The past two years has been full of long car rides, and I think we have gotten it down. Here are my tips for traveling with dogs.

Start Small
Raynor doesn't love the car. But by going to puppy parks, the pet store, and other small trips around our town, she grew to be better. It takes time - and your dog may never love the car. But starting off with a long trip might not be the best idea - if you know you have a big trip coming up, try making special trips with your pup beforehand.

Make it Comfortable
We use their dog beds they have in their house in the car - not only does it help keep them in one place, but it gives them something familiar and comfortable.

Use Toys
For Teemo, I bring a plastic chew toy (there is a special Durabone stick in my car for him that stays there for him) to keep him entertained. Raynor will have nothing to do with this.

Be Careful with Food
It will take time for you to learn, but at first, definitely don't feed your dog anything but their normal good and water for the day before travel. For Raynor, she cannot eat the day of travel. If your dog has a problem drinking water, we have also used ice cubes and let them lick - it limits them from drinking too much, can be easier if they are not drinking from a bowl, and can also do better with upset stomaches.

Have an 'Emergency' Kit
We ALWAYS carry paper towels and poop bags! Just have them in your car - it's a good thing. Other things to bring are a small bowl or pet water bottle, a small trash bag, and small treats. Paper towels are probably the life saver here though.

My 30 pound lap dog. Teemo is constrained by whoever is the passenger since our cars are so small.

Pit Stops!
Make stops at larger gas stations with grassy areas. Apps like RoadNinja can help you find this - or look for exits that are outside of cities in the suburbs. We often look for Sheetz gas stations - they seem to have good amenities.

Transporting Kibble
We love our Now Fresh dog food - but it comes in 25 pound bags and that is not the best way to transport! I use Ziploc bags with the correct amount of food for each dog in one bag - so one for Raynor and one for Teemo.

Speaking of our Now Fresh dog food - it's been a few months since we have switched! We love the new larger bags (our old food was smaller, requiring us to deal with a lot more bags each month and order more often). We hit the free shipping mark at chewy.com with one bag now too - score! We recently visited my in-laws, where we had 5 dogs running around - and it was SO hard to keep the other pups away from this food. In fact, we didn't always as 10 pound dogs are much sneakier than our 30 and 60 pound versions. Goes to show, good food is loved by all.

If you are looking for some pet food freebies from Petcurean, keep an eye out for another giveaway in the coming days! Hurrary!

This post was sponsored by Petcurean as part of their brand ambassador program. This indicates I received a product in exchange for review, although the opinions and ideas expressed are my purely own (or my dogs). For more information - read the disclosure of this blog.