How to road trip with dog?

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=Eye in the Sky;7061223]

Anyway, dog, boy and mom will soon embark on a road-trip from Baltimore, MD to Durham, NC.

1. how do we human take bathroom breaks with dog? Can I leave him in the car briefly? I have no idea what the temperatures will be on the date of travel, but it will likely be hot. I do not want to cause Blue ANY problems!

2. I assume drive-thru’s will be our only option for food - if I’m wrong, please tell me!

3. I am not expecting to have to get a room for the night - I normally drive straight thru, but it will be on 95 (unless I opt for US 1), and I’m leaving this Friday morning. It will inevitably take longer than desired. With that said, what hotels are “dog friendly”?

Any other advice? I’m open to all suggestions![/QUOTE]

Isn’t that like a 5 hour drive? I just did that last month to a dog show and I think I stopped once!

[bits619]

Honestly, I don’t think it should be that impossible to do. If you can get on the road early in the morning, even better- the drive isn’t THAT long and your stops shouldn’t be in the early pm when it’s hottest.
Exercise the pup in the morning so he’s got some energy out, and that’ll be one less thing to worry about.
I agree with the previous poster that it’s probably just a one to two stop distance, but then again I don’t know how kids are to travel with. A quick potty break while the car is parked in the shade and the dog has a bowl of water available should be fine. I’d not go pee AND order food at once but that’s what the drive through is for!
If the dog might be car sick I’d reconsider breakfast that morning, but otherwise it should be relatively manageable. Have fun!

[2ndyrgal]

Check to make sure your remote will work with doors locked and car running!!!

Before you try it with dogs/kids inside!!
Because a F350 Ford will NOT UNLOCK THE DOOR if the motor is running and the doors are locked. How do I know?

It’s a lovely but cold Kentucky Sunday morning. I’m at the Embassy Suites getting ready to head over to the KHP, but the windows are frosted over on the truck. I want the yummy hot breakfast, so… I start the truck, turn on the defrost, pocket the remote and it’s all good.

Until I get back out to the truck and discover the remote, the same one I locked the doors with, will not unlock them. I call DH who says “It won’t unlock the doors with the motor running, everyone knows that”. Well, everyone knows NOW, and there is not a locksmith to be had at o’dark early on Sunday. Crap. DH calls me back and says “Honey, Ed rode in the back seat on Tuesday and he smokes and he never shuts the little back window window thing all the way, see if it’s open a little or at least unlocked”. I climb into the truckbed , and jackpot! It’s not locked. It is however, only about 12 inches wide. My hips are way more than 12 inches wide. I’m looking around for a skinny kid I can bribe and all I can find are little old ladies from a DOC rally in period costumes and all of them are bigger than I am. I take off everything I can take off in a public parking lot and manage to squish myself through the opening, landing on all the pointy stuff my husband told me to put in the tack room of the trailer.

So check first, and make sure you have a spare key before you do. It’s no fun with blue haired ladies pointing and laughing.

[bits619]

And having the dog in a crate while the car is running is a good idea. A friend of ours ran inside with the car running (no remote access) and a dog inside. Dog locked her out of the car, thankfully the air still on full blast. Oooops.
Also my dad has a car with remote access, and went into the mcds. Car running, air on full blast, slightly neurotic but usually well behaved dog in the car. He came back to find her in the footwell of the drivers side, pressed up against the accelerator, smoking the engine. Yeeeeeah, not a good idea!! Sooooo, crating is probably best, especially with an unknown entity like a young, untraveled dog. (and yes he’s aware how badly that could have gone!)

[arab_roots]

I have driven from NC to WA with my Dutch shepherd. I only stopped to fuel up or go to the bathroom. I got a car with keyless entry for the sole reason that i can keep the car running and and get back in when she locks me out lol. I don’t worry about anyone trying to steal the car because she takes protecting the car quite seriously…she will throw herself at the windows and bare her teeth and bark her head off. She loves people but not when it comes to the car or the house.

[animaldoc]

This website is usually fairly up to date and can tell you pet-friendly hotels:
http://www.officialpethotels.com/?refclickid=1385~G~(E)~pet%20friendly%20hotels&gclid=CNnJ5vfepbgCFVIV7AodOkIA0A#axzz2Yfx8KVtf

Other options for lunch include Panera Bread or McAllister’s Deli etc. (places with outdoor seating). We travel with our JRT all the time and we can zip in and order and then all sit outside and eat. Or we have done the drive through thing where we park and eat in the parking lot with the AC on (my youngest is a little too young to eat lunch while I’m driving)…

[yellowbritches]

Just wanted to update now that Stella the dog and I arrived home from Chicago late last night. Now that the road trip is fresh in mind, I can give a clearer idea of what works.

First, packing snacks, including something that resembles lunch, and plenty to drink for everyone, REALLY makes a big difference, both for time needed to be away from the vehicle and for arriving at your destination not feeling gross from gas station/truck stop/fast food.

When we left for Chicago, our weather wasn’t god awful (low 80s…but VERY stormy). Yesterday was hot and humid all the way, though. Stella was always comfortable when I left her in the car WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN (she got a little more hot yesterday and drank more than when we went out). Like I said earlier in the thread, she is a very seasoned traveler and I trust her to stay. Not necessarily the safest thing to do, but I was usually no more than 5 minutes (if that) and I choose busy truck stops and gas stations over rest areas.

I think for a young dog or one not as trustworthy, a good solution may be a crate (a full wire one, though) where they can get a good breeze. Some say that’s a safer way of going, anyway.

When you get the dog out, use a collar or harness that they CAN NOT SLIP. I never take Stella out of the car without a choke chain, even though she is very good, doesn’t pull, etc. Truck stops and rest areas along busy highways can be a little overwhelming with noise and traffic, so I like knowing that if she gets spooked, she can’t pull out of her collar. This is also why I prefer to stop at truck stops or gas stations…because they are OFF the highway. I get squirrely with vehicles going 80 miles an hour with only a hundred yards or so of open parking lot between my dog and them.

Having snacks should help keep you from having to make LONG stops. I drink a ton of water (otherwise I get to where I’m going feeling like crap), so I DO have to stop frequently. But most are quick pee breaks with MAYBE a minute or two to grab something caffeinated or a quick snack (the further into the trip I get, the more I need something sweet). Every couple of stops for me, I get Stella out for a stroll and a pee of her own. Let’s us both stretch our legs, too.

If you do stop for a meal or just need a break, try to pick somewhere you can sit outside with your dog. Stella and I did this last night coming home.

We traveled 1500 miles to Chicago and back and spent about 30 hours traveling. It was easy peasy.

[andreab]

It is WAY too hot to leave a dog in a car. Several sources state it can get to 100F in a car in 10 minutes if it is 75F outside. It is currently in the 90s on the East coast. It is deadly to leave your dog in a car right now, even with the windows down and parked in the shade. Cracking the windows does not prevent the temperature from rising in the car.

[yellowbritches]

[QUOTE=andreab;7081711]
It is WAY too hot to leave a dog in a car. Several sources state it can get to 100F in a car in 10 minutes if it is 75F outside. It is currently in the 90s on the East coast. It is deadly to leave your dog in a car right now, even with the windows down and parked in the shade. Cracking the windows does not prevent the temperature from rising in the car.[/QUOTE]
I’m not talking CRACKING the windows. I roll them almost ALL THE WAY DOWN. Ideal situation? No. But for a 3 minute pee break on a long road trip, it got us by. I totally agree that leaving a dog in a mostly closed up car is a bad, bad, bad idea (and actually sat in a parking lot yesterday until the owners of a closed up car with a dog in it came back), but I wasn’t talking about leaving my dog in a closed up car.