It is a universally accepted fact that a dog is man’s best friend. Irrespective of the behavior of the owner towards its pet, dogs always find peace when they are around their owner. Due to this unconditional love, pet dogs are considered priority choices for people who plan to keep a pet in their house.
People often grow anxious and the pets, in turn, grow irritable towards their owners who aren’t providing them the required attention. In such a scenario, taking a trip with your best friend would surely solve quite a bit. For this reason, we have developed this informative guide to provide you with expert planning tips that can improve your traveling experience with your dog.
Challenges of Traveling with Your Pets
Traveling with your pets can be a real challenge for many pet owners. However, if you maintain constant contact with your vet, visit them before leaving for your trip, and ensure that there are no pet restrictions on your flight, then you might be able to overcome these challenges and enjoy the trip with your best friend.
Tips to Make Traveling with Your Dog Enjoyable
One might think that taking a trip with your dog has got to be an enjoyable adventure with no issues whatsoever, right? Well, you might be disappointed to know that things can get messy if you are not taking care of your pet. This is why these are some expert planning tips to help you make your trip mistake-proof.
- Be Respectful to People You Meet
You’ll meet many people that may or may not like dogs. Respect their feelings and keep them aware of your dog’s attitude towards strangers.
- Do a Practice Run Before Traveling Long Distance
First-time traveling can be overwhelming for your pet. This is why it is always a good idea to do a practice run with your dog and observe the reaction to make sure your long-distance trip doesn’t turn out to be an uncontrollable mess.
- Exercise Your Dog
An exercised dog is a happy dog. Since dogs love to spend time with their owners, exercising your dog and spending time with it will put it in a good mood.
- Maintaining a Checklist Wouldn’t Hurt
Checklists help you keep track of items that you need to keep with you before leaving for a trip. For different types of dogs, the checklist may vary depending on the needs of your pet. If you are the owner of an Old English Sheepdog Poodle, your list might look considerably different due to the particular needs of your dog. Since sheepdog poodles are considered a designer breed, they have certain maintenance protocols that need to be fulfilled. Let’s go through the list of stuff that is required if you wish to take your beloved pet out on a trip.
- Blanket,
- Chew Toys,
- Collar and leash,
- ID Tag,
- Towel,
- Waste Bags, etc.
- Pack Ample Food and Water
If there’s one thing you should always have on you it’s your dog’s food accompanied by a water bottle. It might feel like common sense but many people fail to consider this a necessity and store food in unreachable places in their luggage which causes a chaotic situation when the pet’s hungry or thirsty.
- Train Your Dog for Basic Mannerisms
Your dog should be trained for basic mannerisms that include listening to your commands to sit down and stay in a specific position to restrict them from doing any harmful things to others.
- Your Pet Should Wear an ID
Always keep an ID tag in your dog’s collar to make sure it returns back to you in case it will get lost in a new place.
Benefits of Traveling with Your Dog
Traveling with your dog has a variety of benefits that are best experienced by people who have experienced solo travels. The comparison shows the difference in happiness levels and the flexibility in daily outing plans. Moreover, you can feel that your bond grows stronger with your pet. This is why it is recommended by many vets for you to travel with your pet to improve your relationship.
Traveling itself is an amazing activity that brings joy and peace to the soul. In today’s fast-paced world, traveling has become one of the few activities that bring instant and definitive peace and allow you to reshape your mindset. On the other hand, spending time with your pet dog is claimed to be one of the most cheerful activities, by the majority of pet owners. Now imagine mixing these activities and going on a trip with your best friend. Sudden state of euphoria? Innumerable moments of happiness? A rush of happy feelings? You can experience all this and a lot more if your planning consists of the aforementioned tips, so make sure you follow them.