Hanging out with your dogs somewhere beautiful is pretty awesome. Getting them there, particularly if that beautiful spot is a long way听away, is less awesome. Because three large dogs follow me around everywhere I go, this is a problem I frequently have. Here鈥檚 how I make road tripping听with my dogs a reasonably stress-free experience.
Get Your Dog Comfortable with听Car Rides
As with all things dog, raising听a canine听capable of calmly riding in a car is going to be easier the earlier in their lives you听start听acclimating them to it. From four to twelve听weeks of age, puppies go through a crucial socialization period听in which they soak up new experiences, learn their place in the world, and adapt to different听environments鈥攁nd car rides are no different from learning not to be scared of loud sounds听or to be cool with children. Begin with small, highly managed experiences, and scale them slowly over time.
To start, enlist the help of a friend, and ask them to drive you around the block a couple of times while you cradle your puppy in your arms. Give the dog听treats and praise听in an effort to connect the experience with positive reinforcements. Once your pup is听able to ride around calmly for, say, five minutes, try ten. You get the idea.
The connection between positive reinforcements听and an experience clicks super fast in a puppy. It takes older dogs听longer to feel comfortable with听new things, but the method remains exactly the same.
Give Your Dog a听Spot of Its Own
Keeping your dog calm and confident will be easier if you give it a regular place in the car. You can introduce that spot with a familiar blanket, bed, or toy, and over time, your dog will come to understand that, for example,听the right rear seat is where it belongs. That will also help keep your dog from hopping around the car听or feeling like it鈥檚 doing the wrong thing.
How much space does your dog need? Probably less than you might expect. I pack听three large dogs into听the back seat of my midsize Ford Ranger without issue. Wiley lies听on the floorboards, Teddy takes up the entire back seat, and both growl at Bowie if he tries to sit in either area. See? No problem.
In all seriousness, just plan out a space in your car that鈥檚 about the same size as whatever kind of bed the dog sleeps on at home. When in doubt, go smaller rather than larger. Tight confines help the dog stay stable, which seems to make them happier.
Provide Food and Water
I try to keep听my dogs on the same rough schedule they鈥檙e on at home. That means I feed them once, around midafternoon. This helps keep听the timing听of their energy spikes, poops, and complaints about nearly starving to death as predictable as possible.
I feed my dogs a healthy raw-food diet听composed mainly of听chicken drumsticks, along with some extra supplements, organs, and vitamins. It鈥檚 actually really听easy to keep that diet consistent on the road. Just freeze the meals in individual serving-size baggies before you leave, then pack those individual meals into听a cooler or portable fridge-freezer. Since you鈥檙e feeding them human food, you can restock at grocery stores along your route.听A container of Lysol and a little bottle of hand sanitizer will help you avoid germs.
There鈥檚 a variety of supposedly spill-proof water bowls out there, but I鈥檝e never found one that works, especially given the off-road nature of most of my road听trips. So听I just try to offer my dogs a fresh bowl of water every time we stop. If they empty it, I refill it until they stop drinking. A couple of reusable gallon jugs are the easiest, cheapest way to carry water for your pups.
Time Bathroom Breaks
A puppy needs a bathroom break at least once an hour. An older dog might be happy going four hours or more without stopping. You likely already know the rough frequency your dog requires from all those walks you give it. Just be aware that time spent in unfamiliar environments, with unfamiliar听stimuli, can make even the most regular dog unpredictable, so听monitor them for signs of pacing, excessive panting, or whining that may indicate a need to visit a roadside bush.
Avoid Danger
You鈥檙e going to听stop at gas stations, so those might seem like convenient places to give your dog a bathroom break. Unfortunately, all the gasoline, oil, antifreeze (which is both poisonous and sometimes tasty to dogs), and other chemicals tend to spill听over gas station forecourts. Either keep an eye out for that stuff鈥攁nd keep your dog鈥檚 paws away from it鈥攐r wait until you鈥檝e finished filling up听and move your car adjacent to a grassy or wooded perimeter to give them a safe place to go to the bathroom.
The other big danger on road trips is heat. We all know dogs die in hot cars, but a lot of us are still guilty of underestimating how fast that can happen. If your vehicle can be left locked while running, you can safely leave your dogs inside it with the air-conditioning going. Just read your owner鈥檚 manual to听find out听how long it will run before turning itself off, and make sure you return to your car well before that time is up. Even then听I wouldn鈥檛 leave my dogs unattended in a locked car for longer than a quick run into a store.
To avoid the risk altogether, pair one of my braided climbing rope leashes with locking carabiners and , and tie your dogs up in a shady spot听with a bowl of water.
Any time they鈥檙e around traffic, dogs are also at risk of being run over. For this reason, I always keep my dogs leashed while they ride in cars. I鈥檓 also careful to keep the windows raised enough so that the dogs can鈥檛 squeeze out, and that all doors shut whenever听they aren鈥檛 in use.
I explored restraints, barriers, crates, and other dog-safety devices at length in this article.听Please don鈥檛 ever carry a dog in the open bed of a pickup truck; it鈥檚 estimated that听 are killed falling from pickup beds each year in this country. And听even inside a capped bed, dogs can be subject to extreme temperatures.
Find the Perfect Place听to Stay
Because I like to take my dogs to faraway places, I鈥檒l drive, rather than fly, even on long trips. That means I often find myself with the need to crush highway miles for days at a time. My formula for maximizing those distances听with dogs in tow is to drive until I鈥檓 tired, then find a Motel 6 to crash in. All Motel 6 locations are universally dog friendly, with no extra fees. And you鈥檒l find one at most听major highway exits in America.
The site听 can help you track down听other options, either along your way听or at your destination. Note that听just because a hotel has some dog-friendly rooms listed, that does not mean a dog-friendly room will be available. It is always a good idea to call ahead. I鈥檝e also written more about the responsibility a dog owner takes on听when听bringing their dogs to hotels.
The best way to travel with dogs, though, is simply to camp. By driving down dirt roads into a national forest or onto BLM land, or by visiting other types of public land, you can find a pretty place to spend a night, often in an area where your dog is welcome to run around off-leash. And, man, do dogs like to camp. (I explained how you can freely camp across the 640 million acres of public land we all own.)
This is probably the place to note that most national parks are not great places to take dogs. Even those听where dogs are allowed only tend to allow them in front-country areas and developed campgrounds. National parks are special, uniquely fragile places. I leave my dogs at home when I visit them.