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I am relocating and putting my 75lb Lab in a car for 800 miles..about 12 hours. Its our first road trip. Any suggestions? She is only 2.5 yrs old and pretty calm. Thanks.
Does she get car sick? I would just have a very sturdy harness and leash....and pull into rest stops, or at least well off the road. I'd also limit her food and water except for water at your stops. Take her favorite blankie and a toy or two.
If she is calm she'll be fine as long as you are with her.
Also, I'd check ahead just in case for hotels that allow dogs. Also, they sell nice tags at PetCo that you can make and put your pet's name, your identification, phone number etc. I did that for my dog and 2 cats last time we were expecting a flood, just in case. Have a safe trip.
Last edited by JanND; 03-07-2013 at 07:08 PM..
Reason: edit text
Every weekend hundreds of dogs go on transport with many, many drivers taking a "leg" of the trip. Many of the journeys for these dogs going to new homes or rescues last 10 or 12 hours per day and run two days, covering a thousand miles or more. The vast majority of these dogs do just fine and they are traveling with so many strangers and often other dogs that they don't know either.
Leave the squeaky toy home or she will drive you crazy in the first hundred miles. See the following recent post:
We road trip with the dogs all the time. I stop every 2 or 3 hours for a quick walk, helps me stay alert and lets all of us get some fresh air. Be sure to have your cell number on her tag, always leash her before opening the car door and good luck with the move.
She might surprise you! When we were househunting in KC, we loaded up our luggage, two lab mixes, my grown stepdaughter, my husband and me into our Jeep. We got two miles into our 550 mile trip to Kansas City and the Jeep began making awful noises, expensive sounding noises. And it was a Sunday! So we drove back home and decided we'd try to do the trip in my husband's Acura sedan. It's a beautiful car, but it's still really crowded with three adults, two large dogs and more luggage than the trunk could hold.
Well, we did it. The dogs were amazing, never complained for a second. They slept a lot, looked out the windows, and snuggled into whatever speces they could find. I think you'll be fine.
In addition to mapping out hotels that accept pets, also map out veterinarians along the way. I never thought about this until my dog became very ill on a thousand mile road trip. I had to call hubby to look up vet offices on google while I was driving on the interstate.
The trip should be easy. After the first 30 minutes, I guarantee you that she'll sleep most of the time.
well i relocated 1800 miles with 2 dogs, 2 cats a macaw and 2 parakeets in a sebring convertable...
heres my suggestions to you.
1: is she already used to car rides? if so great, if not, start now! start with short trips and keep them postivie, go fun places that she nejoys (the park) go someplace shell get a treat (petco the drivethrough (i always get dozer a PLAIN cheese burger and toss out the bread lol)) and end on a positie note, start trips short and sweet and sloly build up a bit of tolerance.
2: get a car harness and clip her in, a crate is good bu a crate for a dog her sizewould be cumbersom and unweildy, but she should be RESTRAINED while in the vehicle at all times, it only takes an accident for a dog to get loose or a stop at a rest stop so make sure shes in a secure car harness and clipped into the car. before getting her out for pitstops clip the leash BEFORE unclipping her form however shes attatched to the car...
3: get a temporary tag made, ust a simple "moving, if lost please call *insert CELLPHONE and another emergency contact (ie a family member who wud be able to get intouc with yout) here*
and ifshes ot already get her microchipped and the chip registered with the same name and CURRENT contact infomration (your cell and a family member who can get intouch with you) you can update your new home number adress ect late, for now you want CURRENT information only.
4: pack a doggy emergency box...bottled water emergency food paper towls, plastic bgs, extra blankets ect...add an extra leash or 2 too! many eople end up loosing leashes on trips.
i also always suggest bachs rescue remedy in the emergency box...all natural calmant, WONT sedate but will help take the edge off in most cases.
5: PLAN YOUR ROUTE...
nothign worse than driving all dy being exhausted and wanting to stop for the night only to find out none of the hotels will allow dogs...
make a note of a pet frinedly chain and all their locations along your route...this way in case of emergency you know, "well theres a motel 6 2 miles off the next exit"
same goes for rest stops...make sure you plan some in...she may not need to go potty every few hours (though shoudl be given the opportunity) but if you want to stretch your legs she should eb able to too so add them in and factor that into your driving time too...
6: ENJOY...its very likley that shell be nervous at first then fal asleep...
Thank you all for the encouragement and tips! She looked at me a little weird packing her tub of food in the car. Great idea on the tag!
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