Dog Community

Dogs on road trips

Posted : 7/23/2012 6:31:18 PM

I am going to be going on vacation in a couple of weeks, and this will be the first time Zeke will travel with me, as I have not had him all that long yet. I will be driving for a couple days each way, but taking it easy, with lots of sightseeing stops along the way. I will be camping during travel, then staying with a friend.

Here are a couple potential issues I am a bit worried about, and I'm hoping for some advice and/or encouragement!

1. Zeke has never ridden in the car for more than about half an hour. I plan on stopping often, but I'm a little worried he will complain (loudly) about not being able to move around much (he's crated in the car).

2. Related to complaining loudly Stick out tongue ; I'm hoping that Zeke does not decide to bark at everything at a campground (squirrels, other dogs, squirrels, loud campers, squirrels...) at night. He is used to being crated at night as well, but being in a tent is a lot different than being in my bedroom, I would think! Smile

3. The friend I am staying with has a dog as well. Zeke gets along with 99 out of 100 dogs, but the dog we are visiting does not. she can be somewhat territorial, and I'm worried my boy will get beat up.

Has anyone had similar issues when traveling?

JackieG

Posted : 7/23/2012 7:58:31 PM

1. Take him for a few drives of an hour or more before you go on the real trip.

2. On the above drives, try to find a park or somewhere rural where you can stop, get out and set his crate up with him in it. Give him a filled kong or other long lasting chew. Sit in a lawn chair next to him and read a book. I'd probably also take a short stroll, out of his sight, to see how he reacts without you near.

3. Keep them separated unless you're absolutely positive the other dog won't beat up your dog. There's no need to force them to spend time together at Zeke's expense. You may end up with a dog who is no longer ok with 99% of other dogs if he has one bad experience.

4. If #1 and #2 don't go well, you might consider boarding him somewhere or hiring a pet sitter while you're gone. Some dogs travel well, especially with some road experience, and some don't.

Make sure he's in a slip proof collar with ID.

Jewlieee

Posted : 7/23/2012 8:23:07 PM

For camping, bring a fan and an extension cord. I have a dog who is ultra sensitive to camping noises (critters and so forth) and she will bark at every noise she hears. In the summer, when camping a fan is a must to drown out the noise for her. When it is cooler camping weather I run a heater, or turn the ban backwards so it blows into the tent wall instead of on us. If you won't have electricity while camping get a camp fan that runs on batteries.

As far car riding, I have never had a dog who has problems with long distance drives, which I am so thankful for. I would think if your dog is ok on short drives, long distance will be fine. When my dogs are in tow, I stop every couple of hours to let them out and stretch their legs. In the car, they mostly just sleep or look out the window.

griffinej5

Posted : 7/24/2012 5:09:31 PM

Prior to a few weeks ago, my dogs had never really ridden in the car for more than about 50 minutes at a time. They had no problem with that, and when I took them a few weeks ago for 2 1/2 hours, they had no problem with it. They just laid down and slept until we got to our destination. Luke is going to travel 3 hours away on Friday. I anticipate him being just fine with it. We'll probably stop somewhere along the way and I'll let him out for a bit.

I can't speak to anything about camping. We've never done it, and I don't anticipate doing it any time soon. However, Luke also stayed in a hotel for his first time on the trip a few weeks ago. I took his car crate out and brought it in for him to stay in there when we went out to get dinner. Related to what Julie said about bringing a fan, when we first checked in, there was basically nobody in the hotel. Around 10 or 11, a ton of other people checked in, and there was lots of banging around for a bit. Luke barked a bit, and grumbled a little about it. I took him out for a minute so he could see what was going on, then we came back in, and we had the TV on so he wouldn't hear it so much. So I would say definitely bring a fan, or a radio to block out the little noises that will inevitably occur.

EZeke

Posted : 7/25/2012 6:48:11 AM

Thanks! I think the car ride will probably not really be a problem, as long as we do stop often. The advice to drown out the noises at a campground sounds good; I don't know if I would have thought of that. That's why I asked, I guess!

EZeke

Posted : 8/16/2012 7:31:04 AM

Just thought I'd post an update. I am back from my trip, and Zeke did really well! I was so proud. He slept in the car, and only whined about every 2 hours for a break. Which was fine, as I needed a break as well. He did really well camping, too. Actually, I think he did better than at home in some ways, because he was outside a lot more. He would live outside if it were up to him.

We did have a slight problem with my friends dog, but it was not Zeke; her dog is just very territorial. So she went to a friends house for the week. As her dog walker put it, she was "banished for grumpiness".

Question though. Now that I am back, it seems Zeke has regressed in all his manners, specifically our biggie, barking at and going after cats. Is this normal after being gone for a while? Will he behave better soon? I really, really hope so, because this thing with the cats is driving me absolutely insane! If our neighbor's cat is outside, I pretty much have to keep my total attention on Zeke the ENTIRE time. It has become difficult to eat a meal. I know I've asked before, but can anyone help?

shadowsgin

Posted : 8/16/2012 8:30:21 AM

WTG Zeke! Glad you all had fun. Now be a good boy and leave the cat alone :) I am no help we dont have cats and all the neighbor cats know to leave the area if dogs are around.

cakana

Posted : 8/16/2012 12:25:02 PM

I don't have cats but I've seen tons of suggestions on how to work with this issue. Mainly you want to train him to keep his focus on you - all the time. You'd also want to try desensitizing him to the sight of cats. Using a clicker would be ideal for this. Here's a great video that might help -

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/how-do-i-train-my-dog-to-stop-chasing-the-chickens-cat-rat

kpwlee

Posted : 8/16/2012 4:02:07 PM

Glad you had a good trip - I have discovered that my dog LOVES long car rides - he can certainly outlast me!

No help on the cats BUT if you did something before and it helped just redo it. I have found that if my guy knows something, but we allow transgressions or there is a long time between incidents he will give it a try - as soon as we reinforce the learning he remembers - same selective memory as my DH Wink

meimei071625

Posted : 8/18/2012 3:45:24 AM

Nice to hear that your trip with Zeke went well. Good job Zeke.