I’m about to move across the US with my 6 y/o Beagle. What are some car and/or travel essentials that you would consider as must-haves?

[towsend4234]

@minhduc This! I don’t like sedatives for my dogs, but when I have taken them on a long trip, I have found them helpful. I flew 14 hours with my dog in a soft sided pet carrier. He was perfect. Didn’t make a sound. I took a different dog on a plane for four hours and if I hadn’t sedated him the entire plane would’ve been calling me ugly names.

 

[allan23]

@minhduc My pup absolutely FLIPPED OUT on day 3 of a 4 day trip. I tried to break up the drive from Chicago to Oregon over 4 days thinking that would be best for pup and my older mother. Nope, I still didn't give him enough breaks. I had to pick up my 50lb guy and put him back in the car with promises of we were almost done.

All that to say, frequent breaks. I switched to every 2 hours, whether anyone needed it or not, on the last day. My poor pup.

 

[banoodle]

@minhduc Good plan-you might also want to ask about an anti-diarrheal. We did a cross country trip with my 2 dogs last summer and learned on day one that both of my dogs needed it. My vet uses metronidazole for this and we used it in conjunction with trazadone for anxiety. Worked great!

 

[victormiller]

@mamaweems5 While you’re at the vet, ask them to scan your dog’s microchip to make sure it’s working! Sometimes the chip stops working, or it migrates to a place that is hard to scan/often missed.

 

[godloving011354]

@minhduc The beagle will demand a sufficient supply of snacks.

 

[minhduc]

@godloving011354 The beagle will receive a sufficient supply of snacks!

 

[goldenkitsune]

@minhduc We got one of those window sun shade things so that ours didn’t have the sun shining in on him for long stretches. That might not matter depending on which direction you’re traveling.

A white noise machine can be helpful in hotels if your dog is likely to react to sounds of people in the hall/outside your door.

 

[joshmoseley]

@minhduc A waterproof cover for the seat the dog will be on, a couple of towels, and a packet of baby wipes.

Even though your dog no longer has problems with vomiting on trips, you never know when it's going to pop back up. On top of that, sometimes the stress of travel will sometimes give them a little bit of diarrhea - you are definitely going to want to have options for cleaning either of those up.

 

[blueliti]

@joshmoseley I just bought this one and it's really nice! Plus the price is right

 

[sean3000]

@minhduc Between now and the trip, take the little guy on car rides for fun things. Even if it's just to Home Depot for moving supplies. Get him used to the car/tether, etc. Set it up like it will be for the trip so he's used to it.

Also, a microfiber towel and baby wipes for after walks.

Some kind of rear seat cover to protect the dog and the seat. Lifesaver when our girl got sick on a camping trip. Did not ruin the brand new car, or the dog.

 

[ginaxmill]

@minhduc Documents: Paper copies of rabies vaccination certificate and local dog license/registration, along with digital copies of those on your phone and in the cloud.

Crate: Many hotels require that dogs be crated if/when you leave the room. And really, it's not safe to leave a loose dog alone in a hotel room, anyway. If your dog is crate trained, bring a crate. If not, it's probably too late to start now. But that means you should be prepared not to go out at all without your dog, once you check in for the night.

 

[minhduc]

@ginaxmill He does fine in a crate, which I’ll have with me. But I don’t plan on leaving the hotel room at all. It’s gunna be a simple check in, fall asleep, check out in the morning type of situation.

Great advice about the documentation too. Much appreciated.

 

[broken649]

@ginaxmill I'll add to the documents list. When we did a lot of travel, I had an emergency info sheet attached to my dogs crate. Name, stats, emergency numbers -- for a super emergency if you ended getting split up.

 

[petros2015]

@minhduc We moved from Indiana to Seattle last January and my only real advice is to look for dog parks along the way. There are more than you’d think, even if it’s just a little fenced area for some sniffs and mental stimulation. ALSO, the trip with my doggo went much better than we ever anticipated. We were in the car for about 3 days and my dog honestly slept most of the time. I will say you might consider stocking up on some meal prep meals/healthy food for yourselves (and maybe some alcoholic beverages if that’s your thing), bc we ate almost exclusively fast food since we couldn’t take Nox in anywhere and patios were a no go d/t weather. My dog is a little too anxious to leave in the car alone

 

[minhduc]

@petros2015 I’m doing Indiana to Vegas! My girlfriend and I just made the same trip a month ago with our cat who had never even left the apartment unless it was a trip to the vet. But she (the cat) was great, and we didn’t have a single problem in the rental truck or in hotels. I’m hoping my dog can bring that same energy.

 

[normkie39]

@petros2015 This! Love’s Truck Stops has little dog parks at many of their locations. We love stopping there. And like anything, some locations are better than others BUT it is nice to have a secured fenced in area for running!

 

[meljmurray]

@minhduc Cat litter to soak up messes.

Road trip tip- places to bring your dog in with you to pee

Pet stores. Feed stores. Hardware Stores. Walmarts that allow overnight RVs (may be weather dependent.)

 

[calebsg]

@meljmurray

Road trip tip- places to bring your dog in with you to pee

Is there an easy way to find this?

 

[ikkizuhna]

@calebsg BringFido.com

 

[meljmurray]

@calebsg The ones I listed are your best bets. Home Depot/Lowes open at 6am, if that helps.