Travel with your pet: Items you need to pack
For the comfort and safety of your furry friends, make your pet’s trip easy and stress-free with these 8 important items.
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- Traveling with your pet can be rewarding, but requires careful planning and consideration for safety and comfort.
- Do not leave your pet in your car at extreme temperatures, even for short periods of time, as it can be life-threatening.
- We investigate pet-friendly accommodation, transportation options and local regulations before travel.
- Make sure your pet has the right identification, necessary vaccinations, and travel essential equipment.
- If you are flying with your pet, talk to your veterinarian for advice on medication, travel anxiety, and airline regulations.
Lori Karev will not take leave without three dogs towing. She often takes them around town as well.
However, Kalef has a difficult rule that if the temperature is too hot or too cold outside, it won’t leave it in the car. That’s because it can quickly get too hot in the car for your dog or too cold, putting your health at risk.
Karev, you know. As director of the Global Animal Rescue Group SPCA International’s program, Kalef is well versed in animal transport.
For example, about six years ago, SPCA International was part of an effort to bring dozens of dogs from Chernobyl in northern Ukraine to North America. The dog was a descendant of a pet left behind in 1986, and the explosion at the city’s nuclear power plant forced over 100,000 people to evacuate and leave the pet behind.
Most recently, in April 2024, SPCA International brought 70 dogs to the US from the West Bank. As the Detroit Free Press reported, ten dogs (who were caught up in the battle from the Israel-Hamas War) that were part of the USA Today network ended in Michigan for adoption.
Kalef said that being able to travel with your pet would be rewarding for both you and the animal.
“I don’t take vacation without a dog because dogs make everything better,” Karev said. “So I want to give them the best life I can. Also, for the pets, you are their entire life. So when you take them with you, they live your life with you.
So here are some tips that Kalef and others recommend if you want to travel with your pet.
When should you leave your dog at home?
Cory Keller, CEO of Rescue Group Friends for Animals in Metro Detroit, said every summer he was flooded with calls from people reporting his organization leaving their dogs in his car, and that callers were worried that it would be too hot in the car. However, the caller doesn’t know what to do. The group encourages police to contact their local police station as they try to find the owner and try to break the car windows if necessary.
However, to avoid being someone with broken windows, Keller recommends deliberately making your plans. Because even if you think you’re driving in the store for 10 minutes, if the outside is 70 degrees, the interior of the car can heat up to 90 degrees in 10 minutes.
“So it’s very hot to have your dog there for ten minutes,” Keller said. “And if you get longer, that’s when your dog gets a heat stroke. Or, if someone sees the dog in the car and calls 911, someone will come and break the window.”
If you think the solution is to leave your car on the air conditioner, Keller said.
“We didn’t leave the dog in the car when he was running because it could get bored and get bored where there’s a pedal or bite the wire,” Keller said. “The safety of my dog is easy to keep my animals at home.”
That’s true unless you have Tesla, says Brian Moody, executive editor of AutoTrader. Moody said one thing Tesla absolutely nailed was “dog mode.”
“This is an A/C setting,” Moody said. “So, because the car is electricity, you can lock the car and keep it running, and on the central touchscreen, “The driver will come back soon. Don’t worry about the air conditioner being on. Whatever they set it up.
Dog-friendly car brands
If you know you drive a lot with your dog mates, Moody said there are certain brands other than Tesla that provide ammunition that makes travel easier and safer for you and your pet.
Many brands sell seat belt harnesses to tie your dog to a seat to prevent him from flying forward if he stops fast. There are also seat belt extenders that can be purchased at most pet stores. One end snaps to the car’s seat belt receptor, while the other end snaps to the animal’s harness or collar, helping to hold them in place when it stops.
Moody often travels in the car with his dog DJ and says it is the key to making sure his dog is safe. Volvo offers cages specifically installed to fit Volvo and dogs, while others use common wooden frames in cargo areas.
“This is a very elegant solution that can take up either half the cargo space or the entire cargo space, with a small door,” Moody said. “This is a great solution” shows the cost of a website under $200.
Similarly, Subaru sells many pet accessories, including weighted travel water bowls with anti-splash guards, Moody said. Drivers can also get small fans connecting to the rear cargo area if the dog is traveling to keep the animal comfortable.
“Subaru’s commitment to dogs isn’t just because they put their dogs in the commercial,” Moody said. “They even require dealers to contribute to local pet shelters. They often have dog-friendly spaces for dealers and have branded chew toys.”
Many other car manufacturers also sell dog accessories. Nissan, for example, offers dog lamps, he said.
“The reason that’s important is that Nissan has a lamp that can get into a small SUV, especially since the best car for dogs is a low-ground vehicle, so it’s not that big over time. “It’s $280 and it’s folded so you can carry it around.”
Road rules
Before deciding to take your pet anywhere, Keller told him to ask himself: Do you know how well my pet is traveling? Do they need sedatives to avoid stress?
“My cat, Dave, she crys every time she puts her in a career to go to the vet,” Keller said. “A very long distance, if I should take medicine to help her travel, I’ll talk to the vet.”
Keller said preparation is important and knows whether there is a local vet in the area if you need it, whatever your final destination is.
Kalef recommends not feeding them about an hour before the trip, as some pets feel sick when they are on a car or plane.
If you have successfully decided on a pet trip, you are ready. Kalef said it’s important to make sure your pets are up to date with vaccines.
Basics that bring:
- Snacks and food they are used to eating.
- You know where you can stop to get water, a bowl of running water, or animal water.
- For dogs, poop bag. For cats, kitten trash, and pots.
- Just in case your first aid kit with gauze and bandages gets injured.
- Veterinarian contact information or destination veterinarian.
- The medicine they take.
- For dogs, a very long leash gives them freedom without leaning.
- I draw my ID and phone number. Microchip the animal with contact information registered.
- In the case of cats, if the cat hooks the collar on something, get a breakaway collar to avoid suffocating the cat and make sure the cat hooks the collar.
- If you plan to go near a boat or water, breathe life into the animal’s suitable for you.
- If you are camping, make sure there are no toxic plants nearby and prove the area to be aware of wildlife.
Find a place to stay with your pet
Kalef said that most hotels and Airbnbs that allow pets are limited to two, so it can be difficult to find a place to allow them to stay with their three dogs.
There is a site called Bringfido that lists pet-friendly hotels and Airbns, but she warns that many places advertise as pet-friendly, but it’s a good idea to call and confirm.
“They advertised as pet friendly two years ago, and some say they’re no longer allowed,” Karev said. “And some will allow you to bring more than two pets. And while most pet-friendly hotels allow dogs, not cats, so it’s important to be careful.”
If you frequently return to the location, you can develop a relationship with the Airbnb host, helping them know what you and your dog look like, and make it easier for them to re-book there in the future, Kalef said.
Kalef said most places can’t leave your animals alone in hotels or Airbnb. Kalef said they could search for pet sitters in the area. There is a site called Rover that offers pet sitters. If you do research first, Kalef said there are plenty of pet-friendly patios in the restaurant.
Finally, Kalef uses tracker collars for his dogs. Essentially, it’s a GPS device that fits her dog’s collar, where she can see where the dog is in real time if one of the dogs gets lost. The tracker comes in a variety of options and price ranges listed at www.chewy.com.
“There are limitations to accepting cells,” Kalef said. “But 99% of the time, it was a life-saving technique.”
Keller added a final suggestion. Make sure the owner’s name and phone number are sewn or embroidered on your pet collar as the tag may fall off.
“If anything happens, I want to check everything out, as my name is everywhere in the animal,” Keller said.
Fly with Fido
Kalef said if you’re going on a short trip that you have to take into the air, airline travel is stressful to animals and hence keeps your pets at home. SPCA International does not recommend using sedation because side effects are unknown, she said.
If you need to fly to relocate, or for other reasons, Kalef and Keller said there are airlines where your pets can fly in the cabin with you at an additional fee. Kalef said some pet-friendly airlines allow animals to fly without cages such as K9 jets and bark.
“If you plan to fly with your pet, all airlines have different policies, so there’s a lot of planning,” Kalef said.
For example, to fly internationally, you need to make sure you don’t go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are around 113 high-risk rabies countries. If you are there, there are some rules to keep a dog in that country or to return to the US after visiting such a country. Meeting these rules can potentially exceed the extra $750 to $1,000.
If you are flying domestically, you will get a direct flight, know the airline’s policies, and have a wooden frame approved by the pet airline. Keller said some airlines do not allow short-nosed dogs, such as French bulldogs, to fly at all due to the stress that dogs have on breathing ability.
If the airline allows pets, it is always better to fly by plane than to cargo. If they have to go for cargo, talk to your vet first, Keller said.
“Or we travel a lot with animals, so people are always welcome to reach out to us,” Karev said. “There are quite a few travel tips on our website at Answers@spcai.org.”
Jamie L. Larrow is a senior Autos writer covering Ford Motor Company for the Detroit Free Press. Please contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jarouan. Sign up for our car newsletter. Become a subscriber.
