Road Trips with Jasmine
We frequently travel with our dog Jasmine, and have never found it to be an issue. This however, is attributed to two facts. First, we always research where we are going for “Pet Friendly” hotels and environments. Secondly, we make sure that we have included a couple of Jasmine’s toys, her food, a water dish, leash and sundry other things that will help her feel secure in her travel space. However, this does not include a DVD player in the back of our station wagon where she rides.
On a recent trip to see the grandparents, our road trip took us two days and included a night at a hotel. Unfortunately, hotels that say “pet friendly” don’t always mean dogs over 10 pounds. So, before we left, I went to one of my favorite research sites for hotels, American Automobile Association, to ensure that Jasmine would be welcome. If there is any question at all, I will always call the hotel directly. It is not fun to show up at a hotel at 10:00PM only to find that it is not pet friendly. Also, check out the web for parks and other places that we might visit to ensure they allow pets.
Although she is 21 (human years) old, we still treat Jasmine like a 2 year old child when we go on a road trip. Her normal domain is our house, and our yard, so the new wide open spaces and zillions of new smells are just too tempting for her. Whenever we stop and get out of the car, the leash goes on first. There is no such thing as being too careful and I sure don’t want her to be harmed by something that my carelessness caused. Along that line, we always bring her food, her treats, and her dishes from home. Jasmine is a great traveler, but she is much more likely to enjoy new and strange things, if there is a “home base” in the car or hotel that she can return to.
Dogs can make a trip very happy and delightful, but they can also make it very stressful and restrictive. I never assume that other people, even family or friends that we are visiting on a trip have the same tolerance for dogs that I have. It may be normal in our home, for example, to allow Jazz to chew the daylights out of a bone on our living room carpet, but it isn’t fare to assume that others not having pets would be OK with that.
Jasmine is very comfortable, and rides well on long trips. And not once does she yip “Are we there yet?”. Stopping at roadside parks get her out to exercise and take care of bath-rooming. However, we don’t stop at every park. At home, Jasmine goes out on a fairly consistent schedule, and while traveling we try to hit that same schedule. It works well for all of us.
Her crate is her own private space. Sometimes during the day she goes there for a nap, and always in the evening she goes into it herself when it is nighttime. So it is very natural that we take it in the back of the station wagon, and that is where she rides. It is familiar, her space, and keeps her safe in the car. It also contains her so that our space in not infringed upon. When we are packing to go on a roadtrip, we’ll haul her crate out of the house and to the car. Whenever she sees this she becomes very concerned as if to say, “Hey, that’s my room, what are you all up to?”. But when she sees it in the car, she knows that she is included in the roadtrip. Then, she gets excited and begins Waggin’ Delightfully.
Let’s hear some of your trips, and adventures with your favorite four legged friend.
