Posted on 09/11/2017 10:38:19 AM PDT by davidgreenberg
As everyone here knows, I hit the road last month with my dogs Kyrie and Rawley, to spend the summer in Michigan. Our 2,400-mile trip wasn’t without its challenges, many of them due to the fact that Kyrie, at 12 years old, is not handling stress the way she used to.
In my column today for SFGate.com, I talk about the lessons I learned from our trip, and what dog-owners can do to make travel easier on senior pets:
1. Listen to your dog
The biggest mistake I made was thinking I could set a schedule to exercise, feed, walk and give water to my dogs during our five-day journey across the country.
For example, I had planned to walk Kyrie every two hours, to help keep her from getting stiff in the car. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as she would no sooner get comfy in the back of the car than I was waking her up and dragging her out to stand in a grassy rest area while big rigs whizzed by on the Interstate.
She’d look at me as if to say, “Are you out of your mind? Can I go back to sleep now?”
By the end of the second day, I was keeping a close eye on her restlessness level. If she seemed uncomfortable, we stopped. If she was sleeping happily, we drove.
2. Keep things as familiar as possible
Old dogs do not get over stress as easily as young ones do, and things that Kyrie got over in an hour in her puppyhood can set her back for days now.
That’s why it’s important to bring your dog’s familiar bedding, blankets, food, bowls, treats and toys on your trip, as they help him feel safe, and reduce stress.
Every night when we got to the hotel, I left Kyrie and Rawley in the car with my friend Dawn, who’d come along for the ride and to give me a hand with the dogs. I would make the trek back and forth to the car, lugging dog beds, bowls, food and blankets. It was all worth it, though, to see Kyrie trot into the strange room, take a nice, long drink from her water bowl, then settle down on her orthopedic dog bed with a little sigh.
3. Protect their joints
Eight or 10 hours in a car isn’t good for anyone’s joints, as I learned every time I got out of the car at a gas station. So it’s a good idea to provide memory or orthopedic foam bedding for your senior dog while traveling, instead of a simple dog travel mat.
Like me, Kyrie was extremely stiff when she got out of the car at night, and I’d walk her slowly around the hotel grounds until she’d loosened up a little. This let her settle down more comfortably once we got into our room.
Kyrie spent most of the night on the same memory foam bed that was in the car, but she also got on the bed with me for an hour or two every night. This was a problem because jumping up and down was hard on her — especially down, when she’d usually give a little cry on impact.
I realized that being on the bed was important to her; it kept her close to the most familiar thing of all in her life, me, which she seemed to find comforting. So if I had it to do over again, I’d bring some kind of portable ramp or stairs to help her get up and down safely.
Photo: Kyrie on my hotel room bed. I have no idea which state we were in, LOL!
I usually leave a 10 dollar tip when someone cares for my dog :)
Some good advice. I still think my first dog (elderly) died because of the long journey to Maine.
Where’s the link to the Washington Times story? I wanted to see Kylie!
Hire a pet sitter, leave the dog home in routine surroundings.
Great advice!
I love traveling with my dogs but my husband doesn’t because then everything revolves around whether the dogs are allowed or not - restaurants, hiking trails (some do not allow dogs), etc.
A great app I found is called “Bring Fido” - you put in the name of the city and it will list dog-friendly hotels, restaurants, parks and things to do.
The older dog never did travel well so he goes to (what my kids call “dog jail”) a no-cage dog boarding facility. He doesn’t like it much there either (I can access their cameras on my phone when I’m traveling).
My dogs are inconsolable when I am not around. If I left them home for over 3 days, I am sure the older one (17+) would probably give up, even though he is healthy other than his age related infirmities. The little guy is a rescue, and suffers the worst separation anxiety you can imagine. If I am out of sight he howls incessantly, even if I am just out on the sundeck.
You have seen the number of “pet-sitters” that have been charged with animal abuse have you not? I’ll not chance such a thing with my charges, thank you very much.
I’ll take the boys with me. They both travel well, and I am tuned (trained?< BG >) to their leg stretch/exercise/feeding/watering needs. You do what you think is right for your pets, I’ll do what’s right for mine.
Bring Fido Self-Ping
Thank You, B o B
That is exactly what we do at our house.
We pay our dogsitter $25 per day. All of our students have been young ladies who are students at the university where we work. They stay at the house while we are gone.
MFO
All of our dog sitters have been students..
As a matter of fact I have and most of them come from the 'gig' economy, not true pet sitting businesses. It is one of the biggest issues our niche business runs into. People hiring off 'app' style sites and not taking to account things like:
Is the sitter trained, background checked (a real one), insured for care custody and control, insured for your home, insured through worker's comp., has experience dealing with the challenges your pets may present. And lastly, is the pet sitter accountable to you, management, or an 'app.'
So many of the recent reports of bad pet sitters come from the 'gig' type economy. While Rover.com plans an IPO offering early next year and just acquired DogVacay, needless to say it gouges into the truly professional pet care industry. People who claim to love their pets like children often hire the lowest charging sitters off those 'apps' and the pets sadly pay dearly for it. And the owners are left literally holding the poopy bag as Rover.com is just an app platform and not a pet sitting company.
And you are right, not every pet sitter even if a pro, is going to be right for every situation. But that is where we don't hesitate recommending you to better resources because we want what's best for you and your pet.
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