at home. It might be tempting to throw your
dog a piece of jerky or peanut butter cracker
as a road snack, but an excited dog with
people food in their stomach often leads to
misfortune.
Keeping identifi cation on your dog at
all times is crucial. If your animal is not
microchipped, consider it. Defi nitely
purchase some sort of tag or personalized
collar with a phone number and take a
recent photo of your dog to carry along with
you in case you are separated. If your dog
has a rabies tag, now is the time to put it on
their collar.
Speaking of rabies, make sure all shots are
up to date, and a dose of bordatella isn’t a
bad idea either. Bordatella is also known as
kennel cough, and your dog can pick it up
at a hotel “doggy daycare” or even a hotel
room that an infected dog has just left. A
lot of places require vaccination records to
be shown prior to a dog staying at a facility
(hotel or otherwise), so bring those along just
to be safe and to save time.
Once the Wheels are in Motion
Once you’re on the road, before putting
the car in drive make sure your dog has a
comfortable, safe place in the vehicle. Some
people do use harness-type seatbelts for
their dog, and some keep theirs in carriers
that are belted in, but most people allow
their dog to be free in the vehicle. Try to
teach your dog about car manners prior to a
long trip so it’s not jumping everywhere and
wreaking havoc.
The back seats are the safest for pets,
not on your lap – they are no different than
children in that aspect. Do some research
online to fi nd the different types of barriers
that can put between the front and back seat
to keep your pet contained and away from
the front seat; there are many kinds to be