Tips When Traveling With Dogs

                                         There's nothing more frustrating than preparing to go on a trip with your DOGS! Even though this is the case, it can also be one of the most exciting adventures! Below, you will find tips and tricks that will be beneficial for those who are traveling with multiple dogs.

Tip #1
Get a seat cover. This is great thing to have when you have four dogs and a ton of dog hair. It's much easier to clean a car seat cover than it is to get dog hair our of the seat. We've had this one for almost a couple of years now. It has a lifetime warranty if you register it. It has held up quite nicely with our furry family members.

Full disclosure, our senior dog had an accident (bowel movement) in the backseat on a long road trip and we were very relieved to have had the seat cover. All we had to do was bag the specimen and trash it, then place the seat cover into a garbage bag and throw it into the back of the truck and get on our way.

Tip #2
Have cleaning supplies readily available in case of an emergency. This goes back to the first tip. Luckily, we had just enough paper towels for the full clean up process, otherwise, we'd be in big trouble. Also, make sure you have gloves and air freshener. We won't leave on a trip without these essential items anymore.

Tip #3
Get a collapsible water bowl and keep water on hand. Every time we stopped, we gave them water and then let them go to the restroom. Originally, we didn't let them out every time, but we thought it would be a good idea after the accident with our senior dog occurred. There is not one great collapsible bowl that I recommend, although, we have thought above a non-spill bowl in the future so that we can give them water on the road as we're traveling. If there is one that anyone could recommend, I'd be grateful.

Tip #4
Don't forget the toys, beds, and blankets. You need to make sure that your dogs feel as at home as possible when traveling. Also, this cuts down on the anxiety that some dogs may have about the long journey.

Tip #5
Make sure that you have harnesses and leads. When you are camping in an RV park or State Park, you need to make sure not to leave your dogs off the leash due to safety reasons. If they are on leads, they are free to roam about on your campsite as long as the length of the lead doesn't exceed the size of your site. You don't want them to be able to access other sites.

If you are staying in a national forest, things are a bit different.  Your leads can extend much further in a national forest. You have a little more freedom, but you do want to make sure that they do not trample onto another site where people are staying. Most of the time, you won't have people that close to you if you are staying in a national forest.

Tip #6
Bring a first aid kit. I can't tell you how many times this will come in hand when you're camping in the forest. You'll find out when reading the next tip that we used it for our furry family members when they got a tick rash/bite. When you're camping in a national forest, there are bound to be things come up and are in need of first aid. On our next trip, we'll probably get a more legit first aid kit, but on this trip we just made our own with some bandages, ointment, alcohol, and peroxide.

Tip #7
Don't forget the preventatives. This will be important especially when you're on a long trip. We stayed in a national forest and thought that our Trifexis included tick prevention, but it doesn't. We found that out when two of our dogs developed tick rashes on their bellies. They were licking at them and then I saw them near their groin area. There were big round, red spots. We're thinking that it took about a day to show up after we'd gone on our hike with the pups in the forest. I was very worried. The first thing I did, obviously, was do some research and I found that you can put rubbing alcohol on it. I did this along with antibiotic ointment. This seemed to be helping, but I noticed another one pop up in the same general area the two dogs. Now it was time to find a vet and get some medication for tick prevention. We went to a vet in Monte Vista, Colorado that we'd recommend if you're passing through. They were very helpful and said we were smart in bringing them in just in case it was more serious. We bought some tick treatment for all three of our dogs and put it on them as soon as we got back to camp. We also continued to put ointment on them until the rashes went away completely. After that, we didn't have any issues with ticks and made sure that we checked them each time they were outside. We also tried to make sure that they didn't wonder off in tall grass (which was difficult).