Traveling with your dog part II
In previous entry titled " Traveling with your dog ", I wrote about how much Palette loves car ride and how you can help dogs that are not so excited about car ride. Here, I like to write about car and things you may like to bring with you when you travel with your dog by a car. You can use this entry as basic list of your dog's packing list. Packing list bellow is Palette's.
Many people live with dogs and many people would love to bring them to vacation destination. I am one of them. And,I dream about visiting dog camp in Chicago called "Dogwood" with Palette someday. It looks like a fun place for both human and dogs and, I think Palette would enjoy the place.
So, when I need to buy a car someday, one of the things I would look at would be whether it has lots of space for human family and Palette to seat comfortably and whether it has lots of space to pack our luggage and hers. Her luggage is not a lot but some of the things can take space. Like cooler that contains her food inside.
List bellow is Palette's packing list when travel.
*Crate
Palette loves to sleep in in the crate and my favorite crate is wire crate with double doors (depending on how you like to place the crate,dog can come out from 2 sides) called i-crate. I like this crate because it can fold to flat and it has handle for easy carry when folded. Plus,when you are under potty training your puppy, there is a divider you can put into crate to make the crate space less and you can take the divider out when puppy is potty trained.Bottom is plastic pan.
Up to last year, we had 2 crates to bring when travel: one is plastic travel crate that we have put inside the car and she stayed in there when she ride and the other crate was i-crate in car trunk. Letting your dog loose on back seat when car is moving is not safe if they were not in either crate or with some other safety measure. Having one crate next to me was ok but plastic crate took so much space in back seat and it was a little awkward.So, we looked at other safety measure options: seat belt.
*Doggy harness seat belt
Palette wears doggy seat belt harness now when she rides a car. She knows she rides a car when she wears it and, she gets so excited. I saw several options in catalog. One was harness (with or without padding under chest) type of seat belt that can clip to seat belt and the other was harness seat belt that can clip to cord you place on near car ceiling. We got her seat belt harness that you can clip to your car's seat belt. We got her the one with padded material around chest. On back side of harness seat belt, you find the material to clip with the car seat belt. And, there is a short elastic material between belt clippers to soften the shock if car had to stop suddenly. And, you can clip the leash on back side clipper when you take your dog out at rest area. I like the fact that harness can be used as seat belt and harness to let her walk around. You can see her wearing harness proudly bellow.
Palette wearing car harness seat belt proudly
See the clipper I am holding and short elastic material between clip that goes to car seat belt and clip that holds her harness?
So,now, she wears this harness to ride a car and no more plastic crate next to me. Much more space for both of us and she can see outside view whenever she wants to. This harness is called pet vehicle safety harness.
Next, you may think about furs stick to car seat. Probably leather seat material is easy for you to clean fur on seat but it can cost to buy a car like that. One thing you can do is that, buy a car seat cover that protect the car seat.
*car seat cover
We got car seat cover that cover all back seat where Palettes ride and it is called bench seat cover and water proof. One minus point for this cover was that it covered seat belt that normally be used for middle seat passenger, and 3 passenger space became 2 passenger space due to inability to use middle seat. But material works good to keep fur off off from the seat. And when dogs' paws got muddy, and accidentally they hop in before you let them in, it protects the seat from getting mud and, I like this cover.
Palette rides car with her familiar doggy bed on top on the seat cover and she naps on and off during the trip.
*Big towel
We usually bring 2 towels. One towel to wipe muddy paws or wipe her to dry. The other towel is for bathing and it is for drying her fur.
*Paper towel
Having a paper towel inside the car helps you a lot. when your dog had digestive upset and needed to wipe their butt, when your dogs get sick inside car.... we always keep one paper towel inside the car.
*Collapsible water bowl and a packs of water bottle
Dogs need to drink water now and then during trip. Bringing normal bowl is ok but it takes space. I like having collapsible water bowl because you can just fold it flat and stick it in seat pouch in front of you after using it. And it is light weight. Palette's collapsible bowl is square one.I feel it being more stable than round shape one.
Also, we bring water bottle from home when travel. Yes,you can get water from any taps in the states but water can change from soft water,hard water etc and,it seems drinking water from unfamiliar area can upset Palette's digestive system. So,whenever we travel,we either buy package of water bottles she has no problem with or fill up empty water bottle with water at home.
*Medical records file
Whenever we travel,we make sure we bring medical record file with us. This is for just in case needed for something. You never know if dogs can get injure on trip or not. Having history of medical records can be beneficial to whoever needed to treat your dogs when they get injured.
*Toys
We usually bring several different toys: squeaky toys, Frisbee, Antlers
*Clicker and treats
Dogs need something to do on destination place. Training is one of the activities you can have fun with them.
*Bathing kits/Grooming tools
We bring bathing kits because you don't know if dogs get muddy and needs a bath at destination place.Bathing kits for Palette includes doggy shampoo, doggy conditioner, big towel (my favorite is super absorbent microfiber towel), bath restraint,non skid mat for tub.
For grooming, we pack nail grinder and brush.It used to be clipper for nail trimmer but,Palette does better with grinder and switched the tool to use on her nail. Grinder is not the one made specially made for dogs. Regular one.
*Doggy gottago door bell
We bring this potty bell every where we go. Bell we use is not the one that you suppose to hung over the door knob, rather Palette's door bell is the one you normally find at customer service desk to ring when no one is found at counter. Good thing about it is that,it is compact and light weight and as long as you tell your dogs where you have placed the bell, then, they know what to do when they need to go for potty, and you do not need to wonder whether your dogs need for potty.
Watch how Palette rings the bell.You can hear the bell sound too. That is what she does when she needs to go potty. She went potty after this video taping. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook please click to watch the video here
Palette rings the potty bell
* Food in cooler
Palette is on raw diet and we put her food in cooler with ice gel paks.
* Feeding mat
Palette needs feeding mat to eat on for easy cleaning on destination place. I use vinyl shower curtain as feeding mat
* Water bottle that has 50% vinegar, 50% water
This is for cleaning the feeding mat
* Probiotics
This is for when/if Palette got digestive upset
*Doggy bed
We usually bring 2 beds to destination. One in crate, the other outside the crate. We put her favorite bed inside the crate on top of plastic pan. Favorite of all doggy beds of hers is called micro suede orthopedic pillow. Easy to wash and easy on her joint because bed part has egg crate inside, and a bit high from hard floor. Palette sleeps putting her head on pillow. She loves "pillow concept"
But occasionally, she use the pillow as leg rest.
Other doggy bed we bring to put outside is called micro suede bolster bed with egg crate inside. Again,easy to wash and comfy for her. It protects her joint from hard floor at destination place.
Palette on micro suede bolster bed.
* crate cover
To make her crate more den-like, her crate has cover. It cover 4 sides, and we also drape small blanket over crate to re create her favorite napping place: under the bed.
You can see small blanket over crate and you can see her favorite micro suede doggy bed with pillow. She sometimes use the pillow for leg rest Also, you can see crate cover (just left hand side appeared in the picture but it covers top,all sides except front side) in the picture.
In this picture, she is sleeping pretty close to crate corner and looks uncomfortable to me, but she likes to sleep close to crate door sometimes.. There is so much space left around in crate and, wonder why she like to sleep like this.
Anyway, this is Palette's travel packing list.
What is your dog's packing list like?
Did you know that many people consider whether cars are dog friendly or not so much that there is a website that review cars for people travel with dogs? I came across the website and found it interesting. Sometimes, people look at point where you did not think about, and it can be helpful if you were in situation to buy a new car.
To visit the dog friendly car review website dogcars.com, please click here.
Many people live with dogs and many people would love to bring them to vacation destination. I am one of them. And,I dream about visiting dog camp in Chicago called "Dogwood" with Palette someday. It looks like a fun place for both human and dogs and, I think Palette would enjoy the place.
So, when I need to buy a car someday, one of the things I would look at would be whether it has lots of space for human family and Palette to seat comfortably and whether it has lots of space to pack our luggage and hers. Her luggage is not a lot but some of the things can take space. Like cooler that contains her food inside.
List bellow is Palette's packing list when travel.
*Crate
Palette loves to sleep in in the crate and my favorite crate is wire crate with double doors (depending on how you like to place the crate,dog can come out from 2 sides) called i-crate. I like this crate because it can fold to flat and it has handle for easy carry when folded. Plus,when you are under potty training your puppy, there is a divider you can put into crate to make the crate space less and you can take the divider out when puppy is potty trained.Bottom is plastic pan.
Up to last year, we had 2 crates to bring when travel: one is plastic travel crate that we have put inside the car and she stayed in there when she ride and the other crate was i-crate in car trunk. Letting your dog loose on back seat when car is moving is not safe if they were not in either crate or with some other safety measure. Having one crate next to me was ok but plastic crate took so much space in back seat and it was a little awkward.So, we looked at other safety measure options: seat belt.
*Doggy harness seat belt
Palette wears doggy seat belt harness now when she rides a car. She knows she rides a car when she wears it and, she gets so excited. I saw several options in catalog. One was harness (with or without padding under chest) type of seat belt that can clip to seat belt and the other was harness seat belt that can clip to cord you place on near car ceiling. We got her seat belt harness that you can clip to your car's seat belt. We got her the one with padded material around chest. On back side of harness seat belt, you find the material to clip with the car seat belt. And, there is a short elastic material between belt clippers to soften the shock if car had to stop suddenly. And, you can clip the leash on back side clipper when you take your dog out at rest area. I like the fact that harness can be used as seat belt and harness to let her walk around. You can see her wearing harness proudly bellow.
Palette wearing car harness seat belt proudly
See the clipper I am holding and short elastic material between clip that goes to car seat belt and clip that holds her harness?
So,now, she wears this harness to ride a car and no more plastic crate next to me. Much more space for both of us and she can see outside view whenever she wants to. This harness is called pet vehicle safety harness.
Next, you may think about furs stick to car seat. Probably leather seat material is easy for you to clean fur on seat but it can cost to buy a car like that. One thing you can do is that, buy a car seat cover that protect the car seat.
*car seat cover
We got car seat cover that cover all back seat where Palettes ride and it is called bench seat cover and water proof. One minus point for this cover was that it covered seat belt that normally be used for middle seat passenger, and 3 passenger space became 2 passenger space due to inability to use middle seat. But material works good to keep fur off off from the seat. And when dogs' paws got muddy, and accidentally they hop in before you let them in, it protects the seat from getting mud and, I like this cover.
Palette rides car with her familiar doggy bed on top on the seat cover and she naps on and off during the trip.
*Big towel
We usually bring 2 towels. One towel to wipe muddy paws or wipe her to dry. The other towel is for bathing and it is for drying her fur.
*Paper towel
Having a paper towel inside the car helps you a lot. when your dog had digestive upset and needed to wipe their butt, when your dogs get sick inside car.... we always keep one paper towel inside the car.
*Collapsible water bowl and a packs of water bottle
Dogs need to drink water now and then during trip. Bringing normal bowl is ok but it takes space. I like having collapsible water bowl because you can just fold it flat and stick it in seat pouch in front of you after using it. And it is light weight. Palette's collapsible bowl is square one.I feel it being more stable than round shape one.
Also, we bring water bottle from home when travel. Yes,you can get water from any taps in the states but water can change from soft water,hard water etc and,it seems drinking water from unfamiliar area can upset Palette's digestive system. So,whenever we travel,we either buy package of water bottles she has no problem with or fill up empty water bottle with water at home.
*Medical records file
Whenever we travel,we make sure we bring medical record file with us. This is for just in case needed for something. You never know if dogs can get injure on trip or not. Having history of medical records can be beneficial to whoever needed to treat your dogs when they get injured.
*Toys
We usually bring several different toys: squeaky toys, Frisbee, Antlers
*Clicker and treats
Dogs need something to do on destination place. Training is one of the activities you can have fun with them.
*Bathing kits/Grooming tools
We bring bathing kits because you don't know if dogs get muddy and needs a bath at destination place.Bathing kits for Palette includes doggy shampoo, doggy conditioner, big towel (my favorite is super absorbent microfiber towel), bath restraint,non skid mat for tub.
For grooming, we pack nail grinder and brush.It used to be clipper for nail trimmer but,Palette does better with grinder and switched the tool to use on her nail. Grinder is not the one made specially made for dogs. Regular one.
*Doggy gottago door bell
We bring this potty bell every where we go. Bell we use is not the one that you suppose to hung over the door knob, rather Palette's door bell is the one you normally find at customer service desk to ring when no one is found at counter. Good thing about it is that,it is compact and light weight and as long as you tell your dogs where you have placed the bell, then, they know what to do when they need to go for potty, and you do not need to wonder whether your dogs need for potty.
Watch how Palette rings the bell.You can hear the bell sound too. That is what she does when she needs to go potty. She went potty after this video taping. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook please click to watch the video here
Palette rings the potty bell
* Food in cooler
Palette is on raw diet and we put her food in cooler with ice gel paks.
* Feeding mat
Palette needs feeding mat to eat on for easy cleaning on destination place. I use vinyl shower curtain as feeding mat
* Water bottle that has 50% vinegar, 50% water
This is for cleaning the feeding mat
* Probiotics
This is for when/if Palette got digestive upset
*Doggy bed
We usually bring 2 beds to destination. One in crate, the other outside the crate. We put her favorite bed inside the crate on top of plastic pan. Favorite of all doggy beds of hers is called micro suede orthopedic pillow. Easy to wash and easy on her joint because bed part has egg crate inside, and a bit high from hard floor. Palette sleeps putting her head on pillow. She loves "pillow concept"
But occasionally, she use the pillow as leg rest.Other doggy bed we bring to put outside is called micro suede bolster bed with egg crate inside. Again,easy to wash and comfy for her. It protects her joint from hard floor at destination place.
Palette on micro suede bolster bed.
* crate cover
To make her crate more den-like, her crate has cover. It cover 4 sides, and we also drape small blanket over crate to re create her favorite napping place: under the bed.
You can see small blanket over crate and you can see her favorite micro suede doggy bed with pillow. She sometimes use the pillow for leg rest
Also, you can see crate cover (just left hand side appeared in the picture but it covers top,all sides except front side) in the picture.In this picture, she is sleeping pretty close to crate corner and looks uncomfortable to me, but she likes to sleep close to crate door sometimes.. There is so much space left around in crate and, wonder why she like to sleep like this.
Anyway, this is Palette's travel packing list.
What is your dog's packing list like?
Did you know that many people consider whether cars are dog friendly or not so much that there is a website that review cars for people travel with dogs? I came across the website and found it interesting. Sometimes, people look at point where you did not think about, and it can be helpful if you were in situation to buy a new car.
To visit the dog friendly car review website dogcars.com, please click here.
Posted by yassy at 1/3/2010 8:43 AM 
Categories: Vacation
Tags: dogs seat belt dog travel packing list
Categories: Vacation
Tags: dogs seat belt dog travel packing list
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