Taking your dog with on family trips can be a fun and enjoyable time for everyone, but it can also cause problems, if you aren’t prepared.  Things like your dog getting sick, getting lost or panicking can quickly ruin a trip.  So be sure to plan carefully and take care of your dog before and during your trip.

You will want to make sure that you bring the food that your dog eats at home.  The new food may cause stomach problems or worse.  A long car trip is not the time you want your dog to be having stomach problems.  A dog traveling on a full stomach can also cause stomach problems.  If the trip will be too long for your dog to travel on an empty stomach, allow plenty of time for your dog to eat and walk around a bit before jumping back in the car.

Some dogs can handle being in the car for long periods of time and thus travel very well, some dogs, not so much.  This is something that you may have to find out, if you don’t already know.  One way to test this is to take your dog on a short trip and see how he reacts.  If he is squirming or jumping around or panicked you may have to train your dog.  You can try putting your dog in the car while it is in the driveway.  Slowly take him for longer and longer rides until he is accustom to being in the car.  It’s a lengthy process, but will save you a lot of problems once your trip starts.  Also consider getting your dog a crate to travel in or a harness to strap him in.  This will keep your dog safe in the car, and also prevent him from jumping around and distracting you from driving.

Something that is always a good idea and really a necessity on trips is to ensure your dog has proper tags and identification on.  Many dogs are lost on vacations and can’t be returned because they have no owner information on their tags. When you go on a vacation you want to bring home all the members of your family so make sure your dog has his tags on at all times to ensure he will always return home too.

These few, simple steps can make your car trip with your dog a lot less stressful and allow you to enjoy your vacation and your dog at the same time.