For many people and dogs road tripping together is about as good as it gets. Whether you are thinking about taking your first trip and not sure where to start, or you take trips often but could use some fresh tips, this show is for you. I also share some personal experience successes and failures to help you skip the learning curve:-)
Topics in this Episode
0:15 My context with trips and the learning curve
1:17 Tip One: Testing and Training BEFORE the Trip
1:59 Rest Stop's/Service Areas
3:06 Dog's that get car sick
3:53 Teach how to get in and out of the car
4:11 Dog's that bark at stuff in the car
4:28 Seeking help with training
4:48 Hotels and Lobby's
5:32 Camping/Backpacking: tents, campfires, etc
6:04 Tip Two: Pack Light
8:17 What to pack your stuff in
8:31 The dog essentials
9:40 Day pack ready to go
10:45 Tip Three: Enjoy the Journey
10:50 Two kinds of trips
11:35 Rest Stops vs Activity Stops
11:45 How often should you stop?
12:30 All about planning bonus stops
14:12 Doing the research
14:46 Dog Parks and Public Parks
16:21 Trails
17:11 Keeping your dog safe in the car
Helpful Links and Resources:
Pack-a-Paw for emerg
a Happy With Dogs podcast
3 Top Tips for Road Tripping with Dogs
You're listening to Pack Life, and this is your host Meli. If you're interested in a bigger, better, more fulfilling life for you and your companion animals, then you're in the right place.
Let's go. What's up everybody today on Pack Life, we are talking about one of my favorite topics and that is taking road trips with your dog or dogs. If you are brand new to road tripping, this podcast is really going to help set you up for success. And if you do this often already, This podcast will provide you some tips and tricks that might up-level what you're doing right now.
Prior to COVID. I already loved doing things with my dog. But it was not until I was isolated and lonely and inspired to try to find some fun things to do on my own that I started solo tripping with my dog, putting him in the car. Driving somewhere out of south Florida, where it's very flat finding mountains, finding trails, finding creeks, finding more dog friendly activities that this part of life really unlocked for me and became something that we do on the regular and is one of our favorite activities. Also, there was a huge learning curve in doing this.
And so my goal today is to save you some of that learning, and give you some of the special little things that I've discovered that really make a road trip better.
My first tip is to test how your dog's going to do in the kind of environment you're going to be in before your trip to see if there are any surprise areas where your dog may need training. This may be my biggest and most impactful tip. And it may seem like a no-brainer, but I was a new dog owner and I was taking my first road trip and I just put my dog in the car and thought it was all going to be great. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.
We still had fun, but that first trip could have been way better. Had we prepared the training side a little bit more.
So step one is to know what you're going to do with your dog and train them for that exact experience. And what I mean by that is take your dog to similar places. A basic example is, I had never brought my dog to a rest stop on the side of the highway before taking this first road trip where we were at lots of service areas or rest stops. And he doesn't like big loud trucks.
And I just had not really thought about doing any training around that. I was like, oh, he'll just get used to it. And our first road trip, he had such a hard time and it made the trip much less fun because he was so stressed and then he wouldn't pee and then we'd have to find somewhere else to go.
And had I done a little bit of training ahead of time. Things like going to rest stops on the highway, really close to our house. And feeding him lots of treats in the car and leaving, and then maybe doing that the next time and getting out of the car, feeding lots of treats getting back in to normalize it. The trip would have been a lot smoother.
And that's essentially what I did anyway on our trip and it worked. I just wish I had done it in advance. So, rest stops is one example, but if you have a pup that's generally nervous or fearful of new sights and sounds, you want to look at where you're going, the kinds of places you'll be stopping on the way and see if you can get your dog some exposure to those things with good associations prior. Another thing is if your dog gets car sick, A lot of times puppies, especially as their inner ear and everything's developing. They get really carsick as you're driving and a lot of times they'll throw up, they'll have diarrhea.
I don't think I need to explain why that's a huge bummer when you're sitting in the car with your dog for a long time, or the amount of cleaning that you have to do. So this is something you want to be aware of ahead of time. And if this is the case, it might just be that your dog needs to get a little bit older to get past this.
A lot of dogs do get past this, but if you have a dog that's older and this is still the situation for them, there are some medications that can help make it better. Or maybe road tripping is not the best idea for your dog, where they're going to be sitting in a car for a long time.
Another one is teach your, dog, how to get in and out of the car politely, meaning you open a door. They wait in the car until you tell them to come out. You build a routine where you open the door, they get food for sitting in the car. You are able to put on a leash, you are able to take them out of the car without them trying to bust out.
The last one is if you have a dog that likes to bark, like crazy in the car at Passerbuys and other cars and things coming close, being in your vehicle for long times together is going to set you up for a lot of stress and frustration.
So for some of these things, you may need professional help or professional trainers to have a plan and an idea of what to do. To help your dog get past it, but it's definitely worth investing that time and money if road tripping is something you want to do with your dog.
All right. So that was preparing with training for the car. The next thing that you're likely going to be doing besides rest stops is hotels Airbnb's locations, where there's going to be lots of people going in and out. So rolling luggage, other people, walking dogs, new environments. .
Some things you can do to prepare for that are driving your dog to a local dog friendly hotel and walking into the lobby and walking out.
Go to the parking lot, walk around, just check how your dog is going to do to see if you need to do training. You may do that first trip to a rest stop or that first trip to the hotel. And you're like, "oh my dog's baller". Then you don't have to do anything, beautiful. Uh, still bring treats with you just in case you encounter something new, but that's a great sign. If you do that and you see big warning signs, that this is going to be a problem, it gives you time to prepare.
If you're camping or backpacking or hiking. Uh, things like tents. How are they going to react to a tent being put up? My dog rebel. He did not like anything flapping in the wind. Any noise of something or like a big billowy thing flapping in the wind. We had to do a lot of training around that to make it not scary. So anything that you're going to see once you're out there and it's difficult to come back, like campfires,
just test it in town. Test it in small doses. And if you need training, seek help.
Okay. That's probably my biggest tip because this one makes or breaks your trip.
My second tip is to pack light. When I first started taking road trips, I Googled and I found all these lists with like a million things that you should have so that you were prepared for every possible scenario with your dog. And I wound up with so many bags between my stuff and my dog stuff.
It was just cumbersome, a little bit overwhelming, and I really didn't need that much of it. And then when I would get to a hotel, because I was by myself. And if you're traveling with another person, this'll be a little bit different. But since I was traveling solo, then I had to make a decision. Was I going to put my dog in the hotel or Airbnb by himself?
Leave him to unpack the car where he's going to bark his head off and alert everyone that we're there, at 10 at night. Or do I take him with me back and forth and clip him to my leash or hold it in my hand. And then I'm trying to bring in a bunch of luggage going upstairs. With a dog and a bunch of bags. So after my first couple of trips, I really started packing light and whittling it down to what I actually needed.
I'm going to include a list of some things that are essential for my dog . You will have to tailor this for yourself. But as an example, my dog loves to play with toys. So I would bring like four or five toys. I brought two different slow feeders. He was eating raw food. So I brought raw food and this big cooler.
I just had so much stuff. So unless your dog really loves toys and needs variety, you could probably bring one toy or two toys and make them small toys. If you need a food puzzle, you could probably bring one Kong instead of bringing all the things that he's going to kick around and the licky mats and stuff that drops one piece of kibble at a time.
I speak from experience because i brought all that stuff.
You know your dog best. So I would figure out what your dog's about and only bring what you're like 95% confident your dog is actually going to use and bring only one of that thing, unless you really need multiples.
Also, don't forget, unless you're going somewhere really remote. If you need something and you forgot to pack it, most things you can pick up at a local pet store. And I think it's worth the risk of not bringing everything to just go grab one thing and spend the extra money on that one thing versus pack everything that you don't need and have a bunch of bags.
Also anything you do pack, I'm a big fan of things that roll bookbags Fanny packs, not things that get slung over your shoulder, that you have to hold in your hands, because if you have a dog with you, it's much easier to bring that kind of stuff in and out of locations.
For me, the dog essentials are food, water and bowls, like a bowl to feed when you're at your location and also to give water in the car. A leash and a collar, a mat or a bed, maybe one to two toys, a couple things to chew, like a bully stick or a Nyla bone. Travel crate, and then I do bring towels and clean up stuff in the car.
So if your dog gets muddy, if they throw up in the car, you have all the things you need to clean. Right there. Another thing that's nice to have in the car is like a pet first aid kit and then I personally have a heavy dog he's over 70 pounds and we like to hike. So I got something called
a pack-a-paw from mountain dogwear, and I'll link that in the show notes. And I can strap him up kind of like a book bag on my back. So if we were one mile deep on hike and something happened, I can get him out by myself with the adrenaline that I'll have. Big fan of this. And it's lightweight, like parachute material.
If you have a lighter dog, that's not a problem, but I was always like, "well, if my dog gets bit by a snake and starts having neurological issues, Or breaks a bone and can't walk he's too heavy for me to get him off the trail."
And then my other hiking tip is to have a book bag already ready to go. That you don't have to like sort every day that has water and snacks for you and your dog.
Poop bags, dog and human friendly bug spray. And then anything that is unique to the area you're going to like, if you're going somewhere really cold, the jackets and the gear that you'll need. Versus if you're going to be somewhere really hot you might want a cooling towel for yourself or a cooling vest for your dog so things that are location specific.
And then this last one is definitely optional, but as a dog trainer, I always liked to have an extra leash on me. One in case something happens to my leash, even though that's unlikely, unless you're taking your dog off leash and you drop yours, which has happened to me. But also if another dog runs up to me and their owner is far away, but they have a collar and they seem friendly, but I want some space. I can clip them. Or in my worst case scenario, a dog starts biting my dog I can thread the end through the handle and make a quick slip lead and get the dogs apart. If you want more information about how to do that let me know and I can do a podcast based on safety or how to interact with dogs running up to you when your dog is on leash and they are not.
My final tip is to enjoy the journey of getting to your destination. I think there's two kinds of trips. One is where you're really excited to the destination you're going to, and you don't have a whole lot of vacation time, so you don't want to spend a ton of time on the road.
And you just want to get there fast. And I have a lot of friends that are like I'll drive 17 hours straight. Get me there and get it done in one shot. For the dogs that can be a little bit intense, but it might be worth it. If you have limited vacation time and you're really excited about the place you're going to be once you get there.
I tend to be the other side where if I have the time available, I like to enjoy the journey and plan more stops on the way. If you're road tripping, likely there's going to be some cool stuff to see for you and your dog that will make the trip there and back a lot more enjoyable. Versus just driving straight and stopping at rest stops. Now, if you are driving straight and you want to get there fast, rest stops are great.
Most places I've been in the country. You know, you have big grassy areas where your dog can go potty and they're really set up to give you time to stretch your legs. I am a fan of stopping every two to three hours to stretch our legs, but I am the extreme in frequency. My back gets stiff. I know my dog has some joint issues, so we get out often and trips take us a lot longer.
I would say a good rule of thumb for your dog, especially if they're in a crate and they're like, scrunched is get your dog out of the crate every four to five hours. If you can. And I wouldn't stretch it past like six hours for them to get up. Move their limbs go potty. Even if they're in the crate at home for a long time, are they.
Sleep all day, the vibration that happens in the car and hitting little bumps and stuff is going to impact them differently. So you definitely want to have opportunities for them to get out the same way we would and stretch and move a little bit.
Okay. So why I enjoy having lots of stops. One is to enjoy the journey instead of rushing through it. And I'm feeling like overly caffeinated. And like, I got to go, go, go. I've discovered some of my favorite locations by doing this, that weren't really on my radar. Had I not. Looked for a cool stop.
And I just like having more active instead of sedentary travel days.
When I am planning stops, I will look at the map of where I'm going from point a to point B and I'll search along route for something like. Parks or trail. Then all zoom in to the area that is going to be the amount of time I'd want to travel. So if I want to be two to three hours in the car and then make a stop or whatever your hours is, you go to those cities and you zoom in and you look for what parks or trails might be interesting or fun. For me, it has to be within 10 minutes off the highway and back on, cause that's going to add 20 total minutes to my trip and that stuff starts to really add up. It's like every time you get off the highway to go to the bathroom, get gas that extra 20 minutes adds up. So 10 minutes or less, if it's cool, it's worth it to me.
If it looks incredible. And I'm not in a rush. I will drive 15 minutes to something. And then if it's 20, I just am like, no, it's too far. Cause that adds 40 minutes to my trip. An example of Something I drive 15 minutes for is like a state park where I'm going to be able to spend an hour and a half or two hours hiking with my dog and jumping in the water and he's going to get tired and I'm going to be in nature, especially if I'm on my way to a hiking trip.
And I have the opportunity to do some hiking. On the way and break up my day. I'm a big fan of that. Okay. Once you've found your places. That you're thinking of going, whether it's a park. Or a trail. I Google that place. And then I look at all of the pictures and reviews and make sure that they look good. You can also go to things like bring Fido or Travelocity and search for: did people have good experiences with their dogs? Is it dog friendly, some locations don't allow dogs. So if I can't find it on their website, I will call. I want to make sure I don't drive 10 minutes and get somewhere. And then I'm not allowed to bring my dog.
If it's a dog park, you might have to have a membership. Some of them you need to register with your rabies tag or pay money. Upfront. I had a favorite that closed recently called Dogwood park of Jackson, Jacksonville, that we would stop on our way, that was like right off the highway. Unfortunately I just found out they closed recently. But that's an example of one where I had to have a membership ahead of time and they had certain hours you could go in, but it was so worth it.
And then dog parks. I have had a very mixed bag of experiences going to dog parks I've never been to in different parts of the country. Sometimes it's been amazing.
I've also had a bunch of dogs, almost gang up on my dog because he was new and everyone else goes every single day to this dog park forever. And then I bring the new kid in town. So you want to be careful for that.
I actually stopped going to dog parks that I don't know. Well, unless it's like a really epic looking situation and it has great reviews and it seems like lots of different people are going there.
And some of the best parks and trails I've found are public parks. I look for parks or trails where I keep him on a leash, but there's just better things to see more fun stuff. Like the views look better. The pictures look better. The space has lots and lots of acres. There's trees, there's tables. There's a children's park. There's a trail. There's a water element, like parks like that. I tend to have a really great time with my dog and I'll usually bring a blanket. If I'm going to eat, even if I picked up fast food, or if I packed something, I'll go sit and eat it at the park. Instead of shoveling into my mouth in the car.
If you're stopping and it's going to be a trail. You want to check the level of difficulty and know the map well before heading out. You also want to check reviews to see if it's a well-marked trail or easy to get lost. If you're not someone who hikes a ton, you want well-marked trails that are heavily trafficked.
And that are more like state or national parks versus. Oh, there's this little local trail that everyone told me is in the back. And I have had some experiences where we get a little lost, I've had experiences where, Someone described something to me and then I got there and it was different. So especially, if you're by yourself and you have a dog.
I'm more conservative about how much adventure I want in the middle of a road trip. And that would be my advice, especially if you're new. Now, if you're someone who hikes all the time and you know, all the apps and you know, all trails and you're savvy, Totally different story.
When it comes to the safest way to set your dog up in the car, meaning crates, harnesses with the seatbelt things you might buy in the pet store that clip onto the seatbelt, which are the safest, which are the most likely to keep your dog from injury. That is a whole podcast in and of itself. So if you're interested in that topic, please let me know.
My contact information is in the show notes. Thank you for your time and attention today. I really hope you're able to do this with your dog. If you have not yet. It has been for me, one of the most fun, best bonding things that we do together and if you can match it with something that you love to do and that your dog loves to do. Win-win all the way around.
If you want any more information about anything in this podcast, my contact information is in the show notes, and I would love to hear from you. Thank you again and have a great day.