Close Driving With Your Dog: A How-To
In some ways, driving with your dog is like driving with children. You need to make sure your dog stays safe by giving the dog a safe place to ride, stopping for breaks, and keeping essential dog-care items in your car. Although most states don’t have laws about safely transporting dogs in vehicles, letting your dog roam free around the car is a bad idea. Learn about some ways you can safely transport your dog in the car.
Keep Your Dog Restrained
Despite what you see in movies and around your neighborhood, driving with your dog in the front seat or in your lap is dangerous. Letting your dog freely wander around the car is likewise dangerous.
Inside a station wagon or a crossover, make a bed for your dog in the cargo area. Set up a barrier between the dog and the back seat, and allow your dog to enter the vehicle through the rear of the car. You can also crate your dog and secure the crate in the back seat or use a safety harness.
Provide a Water Bowl and Toys
Toys are essential no matter how short your journey. They occupy your dog during travel time, and they’re familiar items from home.
During a longer journey, bring a water bowl with you and a bottle of water with you. Leaving water in the bowl while driving can create spills, so every time you take a break from driving, pore some water in your dog’s bowl so they can have a long drink.
Drive to Fun Places First
The first few times you transport your dog in the car, make your trips short and go someplace fun.
Do you two go to a favorite dog park? Does your canine love to splash around at a nearby pond or lake? If you end the first car rides with a pleasant experience, your dog will associate getting in the car with receiving good things. That way, when you need to drive to the vet or take a road trip, your dog will be ready to get into the car.
Give the Dog a Break
Dogs need more breaks from driving than you do. Make sure you stop every hour or two to give your canine some water, the chance to go to the bathroom, and exercise. You’re probably used to stopping only at gas stations and restaurants on road trips, but the state’s rest areas offer much more space for you to give your dog a good walk.
Don’t Give Too Much Comfort
When your dog starts whining, your natural pet-owner instincts may entice you to reach out for a stroke behind the ears. Resist the temptation: Not only does reaching for your dog distract you from driving, but it also teaches the dog that making a fuss in the car results in attention. Look out for real problems, like carsickness, but don’t encourage nervousness.
Thankfully, dogs adapt to car rides fairly well. Make it easier on your canine family member by giving your best friend a safe place to ride, toys, breaks, and water along the way.