Travelling with your dog can sometimes be very stressful, but with a bit of planning and forethought it doesn't need to be a bad experience for you or your dog.
If you're travelling using any kind of public transport, be it plane, bus, train or even boat, check the companies policy on allowing dogs/animals on board. Once you're 100% sure your dog is allowed on board, crated or not, get your dog a collar and ID tag if you haven't already (Please remember in the UK this is a legal requirement) Ideally the tag should have your surname, your telephone number, your house number/name and postcode, it may be beneficial if you are leaving your own country to have your country on the tag as well, this will aid the authorities if your dog gets lost or stolen whilst you are on holiday.
If you are just going for a short trip, even just to the beach or the park, the best thing to get would be a harness that is safe for the car, they usually attach to the seatbelt in some way, to prevent the dog lunging forward in case of an accident. Now, some people will find that there dog panics in the car and refuses to stay on the back seats, in which case a harness isn't always the best idea. In these cases if your car is big enough a travel crate, big enough for the dog to turn around and stand up in would be the best option, obviously if you have a tiny car this isn't always going to work, in that case you can get dog guards which fit across the back of the back seats, allowing the dog to stay in the boot.
- Leave some of your own clothing in the area of the car the dog will be travelling, just an old t-shirt will do.
- Every day for at least a week, take the dog out to the car with it's favourite toy and just sit and play with them in the back seat. (If you have trouble getting your dog to even get near the car, use the toy or treats as a lure) Make the car a place of enjoyment for the dog! This is even more important with a rescue dog, or a dog that has had a bad experience within a car in the past.
- Once your dog is happy in your stationary car then you can begin to play with the dog with the car's engine just running on idle. Take the dogs favourite toy and repeat the previous step, this will allow the dog to become accustom to the sound of the car, whilst still having the positive experience.
- When your dog is happy with the cars engine noises, begin taking small drives, keep them as short as possible at first, driving around the block for starters, then gradually begin to increase the distance you are driving. Ideally there should be two people in the car, one to drive and one to play with the dog.
- You can gradually reduce the amount of time the toy is used when travelling, until the dog is happy to just sit and travel in the car without the toy, but always make a fuss of your dog and praise it for being calm and relaxed in the car.
