Since I got my pups a year back, I’ve been wanting to go on road trips with them. Finally, with our offices closed as an extended 4th of July weekend, this plan started taking shape and finally materialised.
Honestly, I didn’t google much about what all I need to take for the dogs but being an avid traveller I have a habit of writing down a check-list of things I need and I did the same for the dogs. I did research some travel stuff for them on Amazon and on HeadsupforTails.com, which is really my go-to place for anything dogs.
Well, it was supposed to be 2 grown up shepherds and 2 grown up human kids with 1 driving adult in a Renault Duster. But eventually, it turned into a fam-jam with 3 cars, 6 adults, 2 teenagers, 1 mini-me and 2 grown up Shepherds. With more space, the luggage was shifted into the Duster along with my son, father, driver and my niece. My brother, his wife and my mom were in the Creta.
My little swift – was converted into a 2 seater with the rear seats pulled apart and made into a flat bed for the dogs. We cushioned it with old carpets and quilts to make it soft so that the impact of bumps was minimal on the dogs.
The Swift had only essentials for me, my daughter and the dogs.
Pre travel : Both my dogs love car trips. They will just hop in and are ready for a drive – whether to the vet, the kids school or just a long drive if the weather is good. Such frequent short trips, proved to be a blessing for this 300 plus kms trip we had planned. Before the day of travel, we took them on a few short trips to get them used to the Dog seat belt. 15 days prior travelling ,every day for walks, they would be walked on the harness. So when D-day finally arrived, they handled it like a pro – barring the excitement to meet the grandparents and jump out of the car when the car stopped
Any travel with dogs, requires a fair amount of planning in terms of what all needs to be carried for them. Things like their accessories / dog food etc may not be easily available. Most holiday places tend to be a little away from the cities so one needs to plan for all the days you are out with them with a few back ups in place.
Essential Dog accessories : which we used and which I feel one must have during road trips ( or any holiday ) with dogs :
- Collars & Leashes ( carry an extra of each since these are difficult to buy immediately ) – I actually had 3 collars for each ( a back up for a back up ) and 2 leashes. Pro-tip - : keep a long leash ( about 20 ft ) if you are planning on going trekking with them - you have control and they can still wander off a little and sniff around !
- Pet Harness – very useful to attach the dog seat belt. Also easier to handle the dogs when they are out of the car and a little high on energy in new places.
- Dog car seat belt – I picked up mine from HeadsupforTails. An absolute must when doing long trips with dogs. Its keeps them in place especially during trickier parts of the drive like up-hill/down-hill.
- Name tags with mobile numbers : again from HeadsupforTail
There were many options of the harness and dog car seat belt available on Amazon but I didn’t want to compromise on the quality so picked up things from HeadsupforTails. They have amazing stuff for dogs. Maybe a little expensive but excellent quality and finish. It’s my go-to-shop for anything which is a more like a one-time buy for the dogs.
- Pet Water bottle – there are some neat options on amazon which come with a small drinking bowl attached to the bottle. It was super convenient for my daughter to give them water without having to stop. The bowl attached is small enough for them to have a few sips while on the go without spilling. Absolute must have.
- Dog food bowls – remember to carry whichever ones you use at home.
Part 3 : Food -before and during travel.
Dog Food :
Before travel time : I fed the dogs a light meal of some bread and curd before we left so that they weren’t totally empty stomach, about an hour before we started. Before they got in the car, I have them an anti-acid tablet and about 5ml of Phenargan – to ensure that they were a little dull during the trip. They also went for their morning run and relieved themselves as usual which also ensured that the morning burst of energy was out of their system.
En-route – apart from giving them water regularly, when we stopped for breakfast, the dogs seemed to be very hungry. I had picked up vegetable and chicken rolls for them again courtesy @HeadsupforTails. I managed to get fresh curd for them. I mixed the roll with the curd and have them half a bowl each. The bowls were the 250ml disposable bowls we usually get. They lapped it up hungrily and had fresh water. When we stopped for lunch, the dogs had nice, cool, plain Lassi to beat the heat.
Post lunch, they were not given anything more to eat .. except water at frequent intervals and toilet breaks.
Pro-tip : always better to travel when the dogs come on 1-2 meals a day and have better control over the bladder. I didn’t have to worry post breakfast about the dogs being hungry. Post the lunch lassi, they had their meal only after we reached the resort.
Food during stay : We had made packets of dry dog food for the entire duration ( I feed with Pedigree ProExpert Large Breed Puppy dog food ) – since I have 2 dogs, we had 4 packets for each day plus a few extra. Our resort owner was kind enough to give us fresh boiled eggs and curd for each meal – which mixed with the dry dog food, made for a hearty meal for Diego & Elsa.
On the return trip I followed the same pattern with them. We didn’t face any issues of motion sickness, vomiting which helped us immensely.
Additional
good-to-keep stuff :
I also carried the
following stuff for the dogs :
- Vaccination cards – just always a
wise thing to carry their updated vaccination cards
- Tick meds – they were administered
Bravecto ( the anti tick-tabs that I give them ) a week before we
travelled. This ensured that the medicine was in full effect during the
travel and they didn’t get infested with ticks during their entire stay.
- De-worming – Luckily they were due
for their de-worming a few weeks prior travel, which was great, because
they played in the mud a lot
- Toys – Balls, Frisbee, tug ropes –
whatever they like to play with, we carried.
- Medicines – very important – we
carried basic medicines like Paracetamol ( for fever / pains ) , Pan40 and
Digene ( for acidity ), Perinorm / Avomin ( for vomiting/ motion sickness
), Norflox ( for loose motions ), a small first aid box with gauze rolls,
micropore tape, betadine, T-bact cream, Neosporin powder ( for any
nicks,cuts,wounds) - Thankfully
other than the anti-acidity tablets, we didn’t use anything else for them.
- Chew bones – to keep them
entertained in the car or at the resort – but they didn’t even look at
them
- Dog biscuits
- Poop bags and lots of newspapers –
for any kind of usage.
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