Dog travelling tips #1

Eight weeks into our trip, I thought I’d jot down some discoveries that I’ve made while travelling with dogs. A bit of a do and don’t list that anybody can refer to, and that I can refer back to.

I’m very lucky in the fact that Halle and Louie are good car travellers. I know many dogs get motion sickness and are just miserable in a car. When this happens, not only are they down in the dumps but usually the whole family feel it too, especially if you have to clean up any doggy vomit, or worse! In that scenario, I would probably recommend a trusted pet sitter while you go on holidays.

Things to note when travelling with dogs:

• If you don’t look after yourself, then you can’t look after them. Keep yourself healthy, hydrated and don’t push yourself too hard. It’s easy to get overtired on the road.
•  Have regular rest stops. Travelling through South Australia and Western Australia I’ve found the rest stops very well signed. The signs will tell you if there are toilets, picnic tables, and even if you’re allowed to camp there overnight. In saying that, I’ve become a little particular about the type of rest stops I pull over in. They need to have trees for shade and, of course, for Louie to cock his leg on! They need to be set well back from the road with a decent vegetation buffer so that there’s less risk of the dogs running on the road. Toilets are a bonus. Even if you don’t desperately need to go, it’s a good idea to use them while the opportunity presents itself, because you don’t know when you’ll have another chance. If there’s a tap to wash your hands and fill a bowl for the dogs, that is also a good thing. And lastly, if the stop is beside a picturesque river, lake, or shoreline, then PULL OVER! Louie and Halle’s favourite rest spot was in a lovely little recreation reserve in a small town in South Australia where a fellow traveller fed them leftover lamb roast for morning tea;)
• Water, water, water. Take it with you, fill a bowl and make sure they have an opportunity to drink whenever you stop, even if they don’t drink it. They can’t tell you when they’re thirsty and they can get dehydrated very easily. Early on in our journey I was remiss in not offering them water at every stop, until one day when we returned from a beach I saw them both go straight to their water bowl and drank deeply from it at the same time. I felt so guilty I immediately took them out for a swim to cool down.
•  Think about where you park. If you need to go to the shops, or to the bathroom, then think about where you’re parking the car and van for the dogs’ sakes. I have driven round in circles many times (with a van on the back!) until I found a suitably shady parking spot that’s quiet and safe. Crack both the windows, leave a bowl of water on the floor for them, and make sure they’re comfortable. If they need to be walked first to do their business, then do that first before shopping. If there’s more than one of you, then tag team so that one of you remains with the dogs.
•  Try not to leave them for very long alone. I have become something of a speed shopper, knowing the dogs are in the car waiting. It’s easy for 10 minutes to turn into 30 minutes, and we all know how hot cars can get, even in the shade.
• Keep the dogs on lead! This is a no brainer, but it’s easy to get complacent. I was given a wake-up call when I went through the quarantine checkpoint on the South Australia/Western Australia border. A lovely inspector there told me that the state governments had laid strychnine baits everywhere to try to eradicate a population explosion in dingos and wild dogs. She said even though they were laid well away from the roads, these baits were often ingested by birds, which could then eliminate them as tiny pellets along the roadside. Having my mum lose a beloved dog to fox bait, I know it’s a terrible, painful way for them to die.
• Quarantine restrictions. Another helpful hint I learned from the lady at the quarantine checkpoint is that long-haired dogs will be checked for grass seeds and prickles. Make sure your dog has been brushed thoroughly before passing through this checkpoint, particularly if they don’t like strangers handling them.

Stayed tuned for the next instalment!