Ultimate Guide to Road Tripping with your Dog

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My chihuahua is my favorite travel partner. We never disagree, she is always down to stop for snacks, and she lets me listen to whatever music I want to (even if it’s embarrassing and of the boy band variety). The girl is my best friend in the world. My mom always said my perspective on things would change once I became a mother, and she was right. And trust me, before I adopted Stella, I would have been barfing over someone thinking her dog was her child, too. So I apologize.

Between multiple trips between California and Arizona two years ago, to a cross-country road trip, to a trip into Canada, to a trip down south, Stella has become a road trip expert. And while leaving your dog with a friend or a boarder might be a good option for you, bringing your dog along to make memories alongside you is a fantastic experience for you both. Here are some of my tips and tricks for road tripping with your dog child.

First and foremost, make sure that YOU, the driver and dog parent, are comfortable and relaxed while driving.

Otherwise the chances of distraction and a subsequent colossal fiery crash are substantially increased, and we do not want that.

1. Take your pup on a few short drives to fun places prior to your trip. This will help him get used to the car. If his only car trips are to the vet and groomer, he will start to associate the car with negative destinations. If you take him to the park to play, or to Petsmart to run through the aisles and sniff toys, he won’t be as nervous come road trip time.
2. Take your pup on a long walk before hopping into the car. This way, he will burn off any excess energy and be ready to chill for a couple of hours in your back seat.
3. Yes, back seat. I used to put Stella in the front seat and half the time she’d be panting neurotically, which stressed me the hell out, and occasionally she’d try to climb over the center console and into my lap. This should go without saying: driving with dogs in your lap is incredibly imbecilic.
4. Get a comfortable harness and seatbelt for your pup. I recommend this best selling seat belt safety lead and a soft harness. This is, of course, to keep them safe in the event of an accident, but also to keep you safe (because a loose dog is also a heavy trajectory that could crack your skull open, plus injure your baby pretty badly). Additionally (and I’ve learned this from experience) strapping your dog in will prevent them from leaping into the front seat with astonishing and unprecedented vigor if they get nervous, which is also not good for you and your (inevitably broken) concentration.

After your own comfort is taken care of, then you can take care of your dog’s comfort.

1. Obviously, a no brainer, bring a bag of dry food and a giant bottle of water to keep your dog’s hunger and thirst at bay. There’s nothing meaner than depriving a hungry and thirsty dog, but feed him sparingly, because you want to avoid vomit all over your car in the event of motion sickness.
2. Don’t blast music too loud or scream the lyrics along with the song because that may be stressful to your dog. Stella seriously looks at me like she has no idea who I am if I belt it out too zealously, and then she starts her hysterical panting and it gets weird.
3. Stop every couple of hours for bathroom breaks and to let your dog stretch her legs. You should be stopping every couple of hours for your own leg stretch anyways. Once I road tripped up to Boston from the DC area, drove almost 6 hours without stopping, and fuxked up my knee so badly that I cried. Your body isn’t meant to sit there in one position like a blob (and I am actually a very good person to give advice about this because I have been injured for over a year now due to heeding the doctor’s destructive advice about resting on my ass until I healed. Newsflash: that doesn’t work. And sitting for hours on end in the car won’t do you any favors, either).
4. Make sure that your dog is wearing a leash while she rides in the car. I am lucky with Stella because she hardly ever leaves my side, but there have been times when she’s jumped out of the car in the middle of a parking lot and I’ve had to stamp down on the leash to make sure she didn’t meet her untimely demise squished underneath an overly large truck tire.

Road tripping across country borders

If you are driving over the USA/Canada border with your dog, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, if you’re traveling into Canada, make sure that your dog’s food is from the United States and commercially packaged, in order to meet Canada’s pet food import policy requirements.

For the most part, getting over the border with your dog is easy. Both times I have crossed over the Canadian border with Stella in my back seat, the border agents didn’t even mention it. Both countries are lenient in that they don’t require quarantine, unless your dog has rabies or appears ill. Hopefully if you’re traveling with your dog, or if you have a dog in general, he’s up-to-date on all of his vaccines. Make sure you have all your dog’s paperwork, meaning a valid vaccination certificate that has your name and address, the breed, color, age, and name of your dog, vaccination information and expiration dates, and vet license and contact information. It’s a good idea to have this stuff on hand when traveling with your dog anyway. Neither country requires your dog to have a microchip.

Where to stay

I’ve stayed several places with Stella over the course of our two years together: motels, hotels, holiday inns. I’ve stayed in both pet-friendly and non-pet-friendly accommodations as well, and with these experiences have discovered that the best place to stay with your dog is OBVIOUSLY pet friendly establishments (seriously, staying in a hotel that does not allow dogs with a dog who sometimes yaps at passersby and needs to be carefully smuggled out past the front desk for pooping purposes is one of the most stressful things you can do. You won’t even enjoy your stay. Every time a hotel employee smiles at you, your mind will fill to the brim with paranoia and you’ll assume she knows and you’ll give yourself an ulcer).

I have discovered that PET-FRIENDLY MOTELS are the very, very best. Your door opens right to the outside, so you won’t need to walk through indoor halls and get in elevators to take your dog out. These places usually have a pet area with poop bags, and there are other dogs in the building for your dog to interact with, if they are into that sort of socializing thing (Stella is not). And when you leave and there are dog hairs in the bed, you can rest easy knowing the maid won’t be suspicious.

Keeping your dog calm on the road trip and in the hotels

Some dogs are more neurotic than others, and some will be anxious in a new place no matter what. Here are things that I’ve found helpful with my incredibly anxious dog:

1. For dogs with milder anxiety, calming soft chews can be very helpful. They contain natural ingredients to calm your dog without using sedatives, and dogs love the taste.
2. Bringing anything that will help your dog feel a sense of familiarity is always a good thing. This includes their favorite toys, blankets that smell like home, or their entire dog bed.
3. Surprisingly, dog calming music has always been a big help with Stella and with my mom’s hyperactive puppy. This link gives you eight hours of musical bliss, which can reduce anxiety and help lull dogs into a slumber.

Sending your dog on vacay so you can have your own vacay

MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS WHOLE POST, ROVER.COM (this is not because I want to be rid of my dog, but because I just think this is a really cool idea). I originally discovered Rover as its former self, DogVacay, another company that has since merged with Rover, via a recommendation from my mom when I was in Toronto with my sister and Stella a couple years ago. The drinking age is 19 in Canada and my sister was 19, we had gotten lots of recommendations for good places to drink, and we were ready to hit the town. Stella had made a great companion on our trip, but we knew we couldn’t bring her out or leave her alone in the hotel room all night, so we had to consider alternatives.

Enter Rover, which has saved my life on multiple occasions. Think Airbnb for dogs. It is an online community of pet sitters who are just like you and me: dog lovers who are trying to make some extra cash. These sitters are required to go through a screening process and background check, and many of them take training courses and have certifications listed on their profiles, which allows you to pick the best sitter for your dog. I try to look for sitters who are female and who allow the dogs to sleep wherever they want, in order to make sure Stella will be as comfortable as possible. The sitters set their own prices, so rates range from $20 to $60 per night, and each profile specifies what the sitter will do for your dog (such as administering medication and taking him for walks) and offers photos of his or her home.

Of course, it’s easy to be skeptical and nervous about leaving your best friend in the care of a stranger, but I actually get more anxious about leaving Stella at a boarder than with someone from Rover. Some of these people have tons of 5-star reviews, lots of experience with dogs, are available last-minute, and every sitter I’ve used has sent me pictures and updates throughout the night to ease my worry. And unlike a boarder, your dog won’t be sleeping in a run while dogs bark all around him, but instead in a comfortable home receiving special attention and love.

I am a big Rover fan because it allows you to have the best of both worlds: your pup gets to accompany you on your trip, but it still allows you to go out and experience your vacation spot to the fullest.

Anything I missed? What is your best tip for traveling with your fur child?