How We Prepare Our Dogs for Travel
I love traveling to explore new places, trying new foods, and meeting new people. My absolute favorite part of traveling is being able to bring my two adorable corgi pups Duke and Navy with me. But of course, traveling with your pet shouldn’t be an overnight decision; it should take careful consideration. As much as we love having our dogs with us when we travel, we actually prefer not to take them for their own well-being (we wrote a blog post all about this!!). If you do decide to travel with your pet, we created a short list of tips to consider to ensure your pup is properly prepared for travel.
- Visit your vet. I know this might seem time consuming or tedious, but a quick trip to your vet can be so important. Is your pet healthy enough to travel? We take Duke and Navy to the vet before trips for a checkup and physical. It is one of my biggest fears that Navy will get sick again when we are traveling.
- Pack enough medications and preventatives. One of the worst things in the world is to be somewhere new and strange and not have enough medicine for your dog. Do yourself and your pup favor and pack extra!
- Stock up on CBD treats. There are no secrets here, we love CBD and hemp treats for Duke and Navy. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends you don’t sedate your pet during travel. CBD and hemp treats are a great option. Our favorite is the Relax line from Vital Essentials Raw. By shopping through this link, you can save 15% off your order on these treats from Pet Flow.
- Ensure they have the proper identification. Whether you microchip your dog or have an identification tag on their collar, it is critical to ensure your pet can always be traced back to you if you become separated.
- Prep enough food and treats for the trip. Dogs tend to get comfortable with the food they eat. If you switch things up on them, it can cause digestive issues. The last thing you’ll want during travel is a pup with an upset stomach. Make things easier on yourself and your dog and ensure they have enough food to last your entire time away from home. We feed Navy a raw diet which can be difficult when traveling without a freezer (lol). We switch her to a freeze-dried raw kibble from Vital Essentials when we hit the road.
- If flying or riding a train, ask to board first. Take advantage of the option to board with those who need a little extra assistance. Seriously, each time we flew with Navy, having a little extra time to get settled was so helpful. Not only did Navy get a chance to get comfortable, by boarding before the majority of the passengers we avoided causing extra attention to her and we were respectful to those who just don’t like dogs (hard to believe, right?).
- Traveling by car? Take a test drive! I cannot stress this enough: please make sure your dog is comfortable riding in a car. One of our family friends growing up had a dog that would vomit EVERY SINGLE TIME it was in the car. You’d think they would have realized this and done something to prevent it or make their dog more comfortable riding in the car… Navy used to be terrible in the car until we realized she preferred riding in a booster seat rather than a travel crate. Duke on the other hand will cry to sit in your lap and then vomit from the movement and motion of being held in the car.
- Pick a sturdy, comfortable travel carrier and get familiar with it! So many pets hate traveling. Just seeing their travel carrier come out of the closet will set them off. Luckily, Navy and Duke were never like that, largely because we made sure to properly socialize them to the carrier. In fact, Navy absolutely loves her travel carrier so much she sleeps in it! Our travel carrier is from Roverlund. We love how sturdy and durable the straps are. The straps actually double as a leash! The carrier comes lined with a fleece padding that can be removed, making the carrier incredibly easy to clean. The carrier has a storage pocket in the rear, perfect for our collapsible travel water bowl, some treats, and our travel information.
Our friends at Roverlund partnered with us to give away a travel carrier to one lucky winner! Please head over to our instagram for all the details. For those reading this blog post, if you subscribe to our blog and leave a comment on this post, we will offer your 20 additional entries to this giveaway. Good luck!
Will you be traveling at all for the holidays? I know we have one or two trips planned this season. Share this or save it for later using one of the buttons below. Check out our travel section for posts on pet travel tips, itinerary inspiration and more!
30 COMMENTS
Natalie Cannella
5 years agoThanks for the travel tips for the dogs. We will probably try the hemp and Cbd treats for Lilo. Love your instagram and all the chances at your giveaways. We appreciate all the effort you guys put into doing these specials things for your followers. I especially like all the reviews of products you do. Lastly-keep the pics coming of your adorable pups!! Xoxox Natalie
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORAw you are the sweetest things Natalie! Enjoy your holiday travels. The CBD is awesome!! 😊
Elizabeth
5 years agoCBD treats are a great idea!! Theo gets easily bored in the car, so they might help him just mellow out 😊
Nicole
5 years agoDid you ever have issues traveling on the plane with Navy? Hazel is 24 pounds and we were nervous she was getting too big for the carriers
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORNever! So Navy is actually about 21 pounds. We’ve never been asked to weigh her. She fits comfortably in a carrier so we are never questioned about it. I mean, it’s heavy to lug her around on my shoulder in the carrier, but luckily it fits nicely on our luggage.
Kristin Carrero
5 years agoI really appreciate this post! Nyx will be going on her first flight with me as my ESA. She is really good in public, but I am giving extra preparation for this trip. You gave me some great ideas! Thanks!
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORAw you are too sweet! I definitely recommend asking to board first. It will help her be more comfortable. ♥️
Natsu
5 years agoThank you so much for these travel tips! This really helps us prepare for our future trips with our pup 🙂
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORAbsolutely! I hope Natsu gets to travel somewhere fun soon 😉
Jessica Gerig
5 years agoSuch great travel tips! And we seriously appreciate them since this will be our first trip with Tofu. We also loved and square buy CBD treats for other two pops and will also be using them with We also loved and square buy CBD treats for other two pops and will also be using them withTofu. So grateful to have found this blog! ❤️
Luna (lunaloveloaf)
5 years agoThis was so helpful! We are a new military family and will start having to travel a lot. These tips really make me feel more comfortable about flying with Luna!
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORThank you for your service!!!😊
Emilie & Maxwell
5 years agoWoo! We are traveling with Maxwell for the first time for Christmas and the dog mama in me is so nervous that he’ll be good on the plane! These tips are very helpful – thank you! @maxwell_thecorgi on Instagram!
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORAhhh! Enjoy your travels!
Sylvan
5 years agoI have a 28 pound corgi, Gnocchi, and I make sure to pay the extra fee for the seats with additional legroom- depends on your airline but definitely worth having some extra space! You can also try calling the customer service line for a “complimentary upgrade” but that depends on the airline (and probably the agent on the other line as well).
Gnocchi is a very vocal dog (not barks all the time, but definitely will bark in response to a knock on the door, letting you know he wants something, etc). I was so worried he would bark at airports. I should also note that he went to work in an office with me for the first year of his life, so he is extremely well socialized, but he would bark in the office at similar stimuli. I gave him CBD treats to calm him, but he actually has been almost silent all 4 airplane rides he has been on. I think even though he rides in a car almost daily, the plane really scares him 🙁 we have decided to try to drive or get them dogsitters moving forward for trips because I can tell the flight is very taxing for him.
BONNIE gumpman
5 years agoThe travel tips are amazing
Subscribing now!
IG @bdgump
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORThanks so much 😊
_wine_wanderer_
5 years agoAmazingly helpful, going to take my corgi on his first flight in cabin and more than a little nervous about it! Will definitely be using your tips and tricks here.
Lydia Frost
5 years agoThis helped a TON!!! I travel a lot and my new corgi @corginamedpeach comes EVERYWHERE with me!
Liz & Pepper
5 years agoSuch great travel tips! Thank you! – @pepperthecardi
Winnie
5 years agoThese travel tips were much needed! Thank you!!
Capri (@corgicapri)
5 years agoThis was an awesome post! I have been doing a little research about traveling with your pup because I have never flown with my dog before and this has the best info yet! We are planning a few trips and would love to take Capri, but did not know where to start, so thank you for that!
Liz and Pepper
5 years agoLove these tips! Thank you! – @Pepperthecardi
Jen Cheung
5 years agoWe have yet to try CBD for Maki since she has not shown any extended anxiety with anything aside from initially getting worked up from hearing the doorbell, which rarely rings. I am so curious though!! We also would love to travel with her one day by air someplace, and I can imagine that those would help her be calm since it would be new and probably scary at first!! Thanks for all your tips, Alex!!!
Kelly (@kelley_elizabeth1776)
5 years agoSO helpful!! Will be taking my little corgi on his first flight in the cabin, eek! Wish us luck!
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORGood luck!!
Emily
5 years agoThanks for doing these awesome giveaways! Happy Holidays to you all.
Emily
5 years agoSorry! It wouldn’t let me post a comment before! Thank you for doing such great giveaways. Happy Holidays to you all!
Alex
5 years ago AUTHORHehehe no worries! We have to go in and approve comments — we get so much spam!!
Kyra
5 years agoWe’ll have to try those CBD treats! Hugo can get anxious in unfamiliar places when we travel with him.
Really helpful post! 🙂