Pet Auto Safety

It’s not just about pet travel safety.  It’s can also be about comfort for your dog.  If you dog is not comfortable in the car or in his pet travel safety device, he may cause problems in the car.  A dog who does not do well in the car may be a dangerous distraction to the driver.  Every three days we will post an article about a specific behavior a dog may exhibit in the car.  Today, we have outlined possible solutions for dogs who are scared to ride in the car.  There will be three more posts after this for the car sick dog, the dog who has separation anxieties in the car, and the hyper dog.

The Scared Dog
Some dogs just don’t like to ride in the car.  They are terrified.  When the car turns or stops, the dog feels out of control because he can’t keep his balance.  The movements of the car may make his stomach upset.  What can you do to help him?

Start by taking him on short trips to places your dog loves to go.  When you need to turn your car down another street or needs to stop, take it slow.  The less abrupt the stop or turn the better.

Another thing you can do to help him is make him feel more secure.  Having him wear a dog seatbelt or being confined in a crate may make it easier to keep his footing during sudden car movements.  A dog seatbelt will keep him secure in the seat so that he doesn’t get tossed around as much when the car is moving around.  Keeping him in a crate may make him feel more secure – especially if he is crate trained.  A crate for a domestic dog is like a den to a wolf.  The crate or den provides a place of security.  Be sure to strap the crate into the car with kennel restraints so that the crate doesn’t get tossed around.

Happy Memorial Day from Sephi and Maya.  Remember to keep your dog safe when you travel this holiday season.  Travel safe and be safe wherever you and your dog go.

Pet Travel Safety
Keep your dog in the back seat with a pet net or pet barrier, have him wear his dog car seatbelt, or put him in a pet car seat.

Provide Water and Shade
If you are traveling a long distance, make sure your dog has plenty of water and do not leave him in alone in the car.  Just because it is cool outside this time of year does not mean that it won’t get as hot as an oven in your car.  If outdoors, be sure you dog has a shaded place to rest.  You may also want to consider sunscreen for you dog - especially short-haired breeds.

Identification and Restraint
Before traveling with your dog, make sure all his id tags and/or microchipping have your current contact information.  Your dog should be on a leash at all times when outside unless you are sure the area of a yard or enclosed dog park has secured fencing.  If your dog is boating, he should have his own dog life jacket.

Barbeque Dangers
If barbequing, keep foodstuff away from your dog.  Food like chicken have bones and should not be given to your dog.  Dogs should not have onions, chocolate, nuts (except peanuts), or grapes.  Fattening food should be avoided or it may make your dog’s tummy upset.  Also, keep your dog away from the barbeque pit.  A wagging tail can be dangerous around fire.  And over excited dog may accidentally run into the barbeque pit, knocking it down or knocking out hot coals.Be Aware of the Surroundings

Keep a close eye on your dog whenever he is around a lot of people, and especially small children.  Some dogs are uncomfortable around a lot of people and kids and he may react negatively if he feels cornered.  Your dog may be good around children and other people, but children and other people may not be good with your dog.  Protect your dog’s comfort as well as his safety.  Also, be aware of any loud noises which may disturb your dog.  Will there be a military memorial service in the area where shots will be fired?  Your dog will most likely be terrified of these types of sound and may try to escape them.

If you are like me, your dog is your family and you want to take him wherever you go.  You also want him safe and happy.  Pet travel safety and other pet safety is important.  Enjoy the holiday weekend and every day with your family.

It may be cool outside right now in this early spring weather.  There might even be a nice breeze.  But don’t be fooled.  It might be nice outside but your car is like an oven.  It traps heat even with the windows down and parked in the shade.

So please don’t leave your dog unattended in the car.  Don’t let your name be in the paper under the heading, “Yet Another Dog Left in the Car Dies”.  Even if you just want to go the store for just a few minutes, don’t do it.  Skip the trip to the store on your way home from the dog park.  Take your dog home first, then go to the store.

This is one of the worst ways to lose your beloved pet.  A dog suffers terribly before he dies of heat exhaustion and the responsible owner suffers guilt.  Check out MyDogIsCool.com for more information, fliers, and more.

Are the kids out of school for a whole week?  What will you and your family do?  What special place are you going to travel to this year?  And most importantly, will you take your dog or leave him behind?

If you take your dog with you visit DogFriendly.com for hotels, tourist sites, and other pet friendly places you can take your dog.  If you drive by car, make sure your dog wears his dog seat belt.  If you fly, be sure to talk with your vet and review the airline regulations thoroughly.

If you leave your dog behind, can you leave him with a friend, hire a pet sitter, or leave him at a boarding kennel?  If hiring a pet sitter or leaving him at a boarding kennel make your reservation as soon as possible.  Otherwise, the pet sitters might already be booked or the boarding kennels full.

For a boarding kennel, you will also want to have your dog visit the vet first.  Bordetella shots and other vaccinations may be required by the boarding kennel.  Having your dog visit the boarding kennel beforehand is a good idea too.  If the boarding kennel has a doggie day care play area, let him stay for an afternoon to see how he likes it.  Some boarding kennels may even require this.

If hiring a pet sitter, be sure to review them first.  Check them out online to see if anyone has left any reviews.  Meet the pet sitter in person and let your dog meet them too.  Perhaps hire the pet sitter for an afternoon while you are at work.  If possible, have a trusted friend or neighbor check up on the dog too in order to make sure the pet sitter has been fulfilling their obligations to your dog while you are on vacation.

Wherever you do with your dog while you travel for spring break, make sure your dog’s identification goes with him.  Microchip him so that if he gets away and his collar comes off, he can still be identified.  Make sure all your contact numbers are current so that you can be contacted in the case of emergency.  Leave alternate numbers of friends or neighbors.  Make sure his veterinary office phone number is current as well.

Don’t feel bad if you have to leave your dog in someone else’s care while you are gone.  Travel can be stressful for your dog – especially if you have to fly.  There are a lot of good pet services out there.  When I lived in Overland Park, Kansas, Sephi loved Grand-Paws Pet Sitting Services.  Maya loved Woof’s Play & Stay and Camp Bow Wow (Sephi doesn’t like boarding kennels).  Services like this could be a little vacation for your dog too.

Don’t leave the chance of your dog surviving a car accident to Irish Luck.  Protect them with a dog car harness, pet car seat, or keep then in a kennel then strap them in with kennel restraints.  With a dog car harness, your dog is secure and still has a little mobility to move around.  A pet car seat is better for smaller dogs and they are both comfortable and secure.  Putting a dog in a kennel then strapping in the kennel with kennel restraints is good for dogs who may not like to ride in the car but feel secure in their crates.  Kennel restraints are also as secure and safe as a dog car harness.

Start of your spring with luck on St. Patrick’s Day and practice pet auto safety when you travel.

Sephi loves her dog seatbelt.  But if you think your dog will hate a dog seatbelt, consider the various other pet travel supplies available on the market.  Keep him safe by keeping him in the back seat with a pet barrier.  Keep him secure in a pet travel crate strapped in with kennel restraints.  Or keep him comfortable in a dog car seat.

Love your dog this Valentine’s Day and keep him safe when he travels.  Spring is coming soon and he will want to go to the dog park and enjoy the sunshine again.

~

Love is playing in the park. Love is expressed in a joyous bark.
Love is taking him to the vet. Love is when he is more than just a pet.
Love is good food that puts him in a happy mood.
Love his giving him a nice warm bed even though he will shed.
Love is a nice long walk and a wagging tail.
And love his keeping him safe, whatever that might entail.

~

Say “Happy Valentine’s Day” to your best friend.

If you are traveling with your dog during the cold weather season, here are a few good pet travel tips:

*Make sure your dog is completely dry after grooming before taking them out in the cold.
*Consider a dog sweater and booties for small dogs or dogs which are sensitive to the cold.  A dog sweater may good even if your cold-sensitive dog is riding in the car with the heater on.  The heater may not be felt as well in the back where you dog is sitting.
*After walks or outdoor play, check your dog’s feet for ice.  Ice balls can form, especially if your dog has long hair around their feet.  Trimming the long hair may help.  Remove ice with a warm washcloth.  Also check their feet for cuts and frostbite.
*Walking dogs on sidewalks melted with salt is okay but make sure you rinse their feet off with warm water afterwards.
*When going for walks, keep your dog on a leash at all times.  Dogs can get lost in the snow because all the scent markers have been covered.  Keeping them on a leash will also keep them from running over ice and falling through into a body of water.  If your dog falls in the water, call for help.  Do not go after him yourself.
*If you travel with your dog, don’t leave him alone in the car.  In summer months where your car becomes an oven, the opposite occurs in winter where your car becomes a refrigerator.  Keep a blanket in your car for in case your car breaks down or you get stuck in snow.

*Check out our more extensive list of cold weather tips for dogs at our American Dog Blog.

Put the dog car harness on the dog and drive to St. Louis, Missouri for a great vacation.  There is so much for you and your dog to do that you will all be dog-tired afterwards.  Visit museums, parks, wineries, pet stores, and hike on the 225 mile-long Katy Trail.

Stay at a number of pet-friendly hotels in St. Louis including Sheraton, Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Red Roof Inn, La Quinta, Holiday Inn, just to name a few.  (Call first to make sure.  Some hotels have restrictions on the size of your dog.)  Eat on the outdoor patio of a number of restaurants including Chipotle, Atlas Restaurant, Duff’s Restaurant, and Coffee Cartel.  Shop at a number of pet stores including Petco, PetSmart, Cat’s Meow, Inc., Four Muddy Paws, Three Dog Bakery, Wolfgang’s Pet Shop, Pets in the City, and more!

Go sight-seeing at the Laumeier Sculpture Park, the Museum of Transportation, the Boathouse in Forest Park, the Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Site, and the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog.  With the exception of the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, dogs are not be allowed the buildings.  But there are lots of outdoor sites to see.  The Laumeier Sculpture Park has a lot of outdoor sculptures.  You can see all types of trains, automobiles, and planes outside the Museum of Transportation.  Dogs are allowed to ride the boats at the Boathouse in Forest Park.  There is even a pet-friendly restaurant at the Boathouse.  Dogs are not allowed in the buildings at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Site, but they are allowed to walk the almost 10 acres of land and see the historical buildings from the outside.

St. Louis also hosts a number of off-leash dog parks including the Frenchtown Dog Park, Shaw Neighborhood Dog Park, Taylor Dog Park, Lister Dog Park, and Water Tower Dog Park.  Dogs will also have a good time walking the Katy Trail.  It is 225 miles long but you don’t have to walk it all.  There are a number of entrance points and several points of interest along the way.  More than half of the Katy Trail follows Lewis and Clark’s path along the Missouri River.

Relax after a long day at several of the dog-friendly wineries in the St. Louis metro area.  There is the Lau-Nae Winery in Red Bud, Peaceful Bend Vineyard in Steelville, and Schorr Lake Vineyards in Waterloo.

For more information on these great dog-friendly places in St. Louis, Missouri visit dogfriendly.com.  Don’t forget to travel to St. Louis in safety.  Your dog should wear a dog car harness or be secure in another pet auto safety device.  Be safe and have fun!

If you and your dog are tired of being cooped up for the winter, it is time to get up and get out.  I know it is cold, but if your dog likes snow, he will love a snow day at the dog park.  Or just take him to the park with the kids for a little snow sledding.  But if you are not for spending time outdoors, go to a Starbucks drive through, get a hot coffee, and ask for a buttered croissant and give your dog a piece or two.  A trip to a pet store to look at all the dog toys would be fun too!

The benefits of traveling with your dog are many.  First, your dog will learn to be a better traveler.  Second, your dog gets more socialization and the more socialization, the better he gets with other people and other pets.  Third, the more your dog goes out, the more exercise he gets.  And finally, the better he gets at riding in the car, the more likely you are to take him on long road trips instead of leaving him at a boarding kennel.

Wherever you travel with your dog this year, be sure you travel in safety.  Have your dog wear a dog seat belt.  If he is not used to wearing a dog seat belt, take small trips like to Starbucks or pet stores or dog parks.  The more he rides with his dog seat belt on, the more he will get used to it and be ready for the long haul.

Have fun this year and travel safe!

We drove to Texas to see my dad and step-mom for Thanksgiving so we drove to Missouri to see my mom and step-dad for Christmas.  Dad was a 12 hour drive but mom was just 5 ½ hours.  You would think that because this drive was shorter, it would be easier.  But it was snowing at least half of the way.  Thankfully, the roads were clear for the most part.  We just had to drive a little more cautiously.

Once again, we took Sephi and Maya with us.  And once again, it was a long and boring trip for them.  They wore their dog seat belts, of course.  It was also a little warmer for them since we had the heater on the whole way.  Boy were they thirsty when we arrived in Licking, Missouri.

We had less issue with the dog hair.  But not because it was a shorter trip; I brushed them every day for the week prior to the trip.  By the time we got home, there was hardly any dog hair in the car to clean up.  It was great!

Sephi and Maya loved their time in the county.  They especially loved the snow.  I made a small little snowman which Maya tried to eat.  The photo above is of my mom’s dog, Rocky, and a snowman.

Learned a new trick to keeping dog hair to a minimum, enjoyed playing in the snow, and ate a delicious holiday meal.  All-in-all, it was a great Country Christmas!  I hope yours was great too.  We’d love to hear about your Christmas with your pets.

(One more thing I’d like to say about the trip to Licking, Missouri – Maya did not have her Licking license but that did not stop her from licking!)