Travelling with your pet dogs
Families with dogs may need to travel as much as those without. What’s more, families with dogs love to take their dog with them on holidays because they can’t imagine leaving a family member out of all the holiday fun. There are many options open to those wanting to take their dog along, and they include car travel, flying with them, and taking them on a train. Taking your dog in your car may be the most ideal as this helps keep the dog as near you as possible. It is also easier to make pit stops along the way, making it easier on your dog.
However, car travel with dogs can be challenging. Taking your dog with you in the car will need some forethought and a lot of planning as you may not always get what you need at the destination or on the way. Here are important tips for car travel with dogs.
Tips for car travel with dogs
Keep your dog restrained. Just as it is essential to wear a seatbelt and ensure that your children are safely buckled in, your pet also needs such protection. Moreover, it is important for your dog not to get so excitable that you are distracted while navigating the roads. Make sure that your dog cannot jump around on the front seat. Ideally, dogs must be in the back seat. Better yet, place your dog in a carrier and strap it to the seat with the seatbelt. It goes without saying that the carrier should be big enough to be comfortable for your dog to stand, move around in, and lie down without feeling cramped.
Ventilation: While making the carrier or crate roomy enough for your pet, make sure that the back seat is well ventilated. Cars can get hot and stuffy during the long drive. Proper ventilation will make sure that your dog can enjoy the fresh air flowing through the carrier.
Practice trips will help. When preparing to take your dog on long trips, make sure your dog gets accustomed to the travel by taking shorter trips with the carrier in place. These short trips can be extended gradually so that your dog is not faced with a long trip with little to no preparation.
Food: You may need to make a few stops on the road to feed your dog. However, you must feed your dog three to four hours before the trip, too. Feeding the dog while on the move is never a good idea; you would not want them to get carsick or choke on something.
Travel kit for your dog: You would need to carry your dog’s medical records with you on your trip. A consultation with the vet is recommended before every trip. Make sure that all the shots are up to date and carry the vaccination records with you. Pack the familiar food bowls, medications, food, and your water. Water from a new and untested source may cause a stomach upset. Other essentials will include the usual supplies such as waste bags and a scoop. Do not forget some of the favourite toys as they will keep your pet occupied and entertained during the drive. Make sure that you carry a dog’s first aid kit.
ID: Your dog is sure to have a microchip. But, it is good to have a collar with an ID tag that carries your address and contact numbers. You could also get a temporary ID tag made for the destination to make sure that your dog is easily identifiable and returned in case it wanders off. Make sure that you use only flat collars instead of a choke collar.
Head inside the vehicle: Your dog may love the breeze and enjoy putting his or her head outside the window. This not only makes the dog happy, but the pet parents, too, as they see the reaction from fellow travellers! However, this is too risky as your dog’s head may get stuck in the window, or get hit by passing debris from other moving vehicles, or hit by vehicles coming too close to your car. It is also risky because your dog may get thrown out of the window if there is an accident or even when you have to apply brakes suddenly. This is also why it is critical to keep your dog restrained in a carrier in the back seat.
Do NOT leave your dog alone in a parked car. It has been said often but bears repeating. Temperatures, too high or too low, can play havoc on your dog’s health and anything lower than 35 degrees F and higher than 70 degrees F are dangerous to pets.
Prepare for emergencies. When you reach the destination, make a note of the local vet service and emergency hospital. If there is a situation where you need to take your dog to the vet, you won’t have to waste time looking for one.
Prepare the car: When you take your dog in the car, make sure you have the car seats and the floor protected so that your dog is comfortable and you don’t have to worry about the car.
Transporting your dog in a car
If you have to travel or relocate to another part of the country, and you cannot take your dog along, there are services for transporting dogs in cars to anywhere within the country. Naturally, you would be looking for the kind of service that will take care of all of your dog’s needs with an experienced handler and driver, a service that will keep all the tips for moving a dog in a car to the new location. Look no more because VOSD Pet Cab is just a phone call away.
What do you get with VOSD to transport your dog in cars?
Whatever the mode of transport, travelling with your dog requires serious thought and preparation as to your dog’s utmost comfort.
Inter-city car rides for dogs
- VOSD offers Tata Winger or a Maruti Eeco for transporting your dog.
- Trained driver and a trained handler
- A vehicle equipped with a GPS that can be tracked throughout the journey.
Limo for dogs
VOSD offers luxury car rides for dogs. If you wish to take your dog in a luxury car anywhere within the country, here’s your chance.
- You get a Honda CRV with a trained driver and impeccable leather upholstery.
- The ride is strictly for your dog AND accompanied by you. Unaccompanied dogs are not allowed in the Limo.
- The vehicle is always run with AC and the glasses up at all times.