need road trip / moving suggestions

[logo]

hi everyone. ive been around dog forums for ages (as logo or pepsia) but quit a few years ago. ive made a brief return to pick your lovely reservoirs of knowledge for roadtrip/moving advice.

suggestions or sage words of advice?

logan is a male, neutered, 6 y/o perfectly ridgeless ridgeback with excellent manners and a serious penchant for food. ~ 95 lbs. we are traveling from Chicago to California in 4 days, a permanent move. we are not taking a crate.

we are going to do all the normal humane things, have water/food, stop every 4 hours, walk the dog, poo/pee, feed him, make sure he is in good health. we are super awesome amazingly responsible trustworthy dog owners. he wont be left in the car alone or any nonsense. mainly im asking about suggestions of things to bring that would not normally spring to mind.

thoughts...

ive heard drinking water changes can cause digestive upset. anyone have any validation for this? should i bring lots of bottled water?

rest areas... ive heard dog people say to stay far away from rest areas altogether. opinions?

recommended items for a doggy first aid kit? recommended hotel chains? any all suggestions will be tremendously appreciated.

take care everyone, love your pets.xx

 

[Psyfalcon]

My method: Place dog in back seat and drive. When stopped for gas (at a truck stop of course), let dog out, on leash, and with a tag on a separate collar. Place dog back in car, put a small amount of water in the bowl, and continue. Some water may end up on seat. Alternatively, water at each gas stop.

In my case, I needed one gas stop every 300- 350 miles, for about 5 hours of driving time. Maybe one more stop mid morning, but it wasn't strictly needed by the dog.

 

[logo]

seems like quite the simplest way to handle the situation.

your dog must not be a sissy, which mine is, or owned by a detail-oriented sissy, such as myself.

cheers

 

[Romy]

We moved from Tucson AZ to washington state with a 4 month old infant, a cat, 6 snakes, and a 5 month old puppy (all crammed in a Saturn sedan).

We pretty much did what Psy did. Our puppy refused to poop or pee the first two days, but after that gave up and started using his potty breaks. The cat...oh boy. I don't know how she held it for 4 days...but it's a miracle she did not get a bladder infection.

The only other thing we did was my husband bought a GIANT smoked bone for Strider to chew on in the car. It lasted the trip, plus a few more months in our new home.

Hmm...if your dog has a sensitive stomach, water changes might be an issue. Our dog had no problems. Neither did the baby.

If you feed kibble take enough for the trip in case you can't find his brand of food on the road. That could definitely cause a stomach upset if you had to switch brands on the road.

And DO NOT feed him leftovers from the taco bell drive through. That darn near killed us *shakes fist at husband*

 

[Lolas Dad]

Take the water your used to giving the dog. That's what I do when on a road trip, Potty breaks about every 4 hours or so of travel time. They make a spill proof water bowl you might want to consider getting one of those. We have stopped at rest areas with no problems. Rest areas usually have a spot for walking pets for potty breaks. Bring a lot of bags just for that purpose.

Is your dog used to car rides? If not you might want to give a crash course on riding with the dog to the dog since you don't have much time and get the dog used to it. If the dog travels ok in the car then no need to worry. If their might be a problem though you might want to make one last stop to your vet to get some travel medication. Also make sure that you get copies of the records from the vet if you do not have them already for the new vet you will be dealing with.

One more tip, before entering California be sure to dispose of or consume all produce whether it would be vegetable or fruit and leave the house plants behind. When you first enter California you will be stopping at a border crossing and they will ask you what is the purpose of your visit along with asking you if you have any produce or plants as they are not allowed to be brought into California from out of state. The only way to get around that ban is to fly it in your luggage with the airline that your traveling on and even then it's illegal if caught although I did bring some Jersey tomatoes in one time that way without a problem but had they of inspected the bags then I would have been in trouble. That was before 9/11/2001.

The best tip of all, good luck on your move. I am hoping your doing it with being securely employed there as the rate of unemployment is over 10%. What part of California are you moving to?

 

[Renee750il]

That's pretty much it.

For a first aid kit I'd suggest some Phazyme caplets (for gas), dramamine, just in case of car sickness or anxiety, benadryl, throw some old towels in the car, pet wrap, a squirt bottle of sterile saline solution for washing out cuts, sterile eye wash, some antibiotic ointment and I usually suggest an appropriately sized splint.

Oh, and with the incidences of over-zealous cops shooting dogs at traffic stops, you might want to consider getting a seat harness. It is safer for a dog to travel belted in anyway.

 

[bubbatd]

Sounds like every thing's covered . Happy traveling !

 

[Labyrinth]

I don't have any advice beyond what everyone else has suggested, but I thought I'd throw out the name of the one hotel I know is pet friendly. LaQuinta. My husband and I stayed overnight there with our 6 pets that we had at that time (1 dog, 2 cats, 3 ferrets).

 

[drmom777]

Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns are dog friendly as well.

 

[Barb04]

One thing I did was to put the seatbelt through the handle of the leash in case the dog jumped out of the car too quickly. At least I know the dog was still attached to the car by the seatbelt.

I had the dog's bed in the car for it to lay down on.

 

[FoxyWench]

my general travel bag includes:
a baggy of food.
bottle water (i like to freeze a couple so that theres nice cold water to drink, thay also make great coolers if you end up sat in traffic or have issues ect...wrap one in a towl so he can lay on it and tada AC for the doggy lol.
towels
baby whipes
a small "first aid" kit including some benadryl, and nutrical, vet wrap, (ive got little dogs so hypoglycemia is a risk...)
some soft easy store easy carry treats as well as something longer lasting (like bully sticks) again in case of traffic, extrended rest stop ect.

i would absolutly look into a doggy seatbelt (or something to keep him confined to the seat as a just in case.

rest stops arnt an issue usually for a healthy adult dog whos been properly vaccinated, but if in doubt stick to the concrete areas or the grassy parts further away from the parking lots (most people who travelw ith their dogs dont venture far from the car for doggy pitstops...