Dog Wellness while travelling

by Queenie1

Summer's here - family vacations and outings sometimes include our precious pet dogs.

If you feed your dog kibble or canned foods packing food for your dog is easy. Put the dogs dry food in daily portions in a zip lock bag before you leave. If your dog eats canned food buy a small can so you don't have left overs to keep cool. Organize your pet food, treats, dish, etc by putting all his items in a separate plastic bin.

If you cook your own dog's food or give him raw food you will need a refrigerator. Hotels, RVs, or tent trailers have refrigerators for your pets food but if you're tenting you will need a cooler to keep the dogs food cool unless you shop daily. You can preplan your trip by making an itinerary and find the local pet food stores on the web so you know where they are if you plan to buy it daily.

I usually get small water bottles and freeze them before our journey and use them instead of ice cubes to keep the food cool and as drinking water later when they melt. Some parks post signs to let you know if their water has bacteria some don't so ask. It's better for your pet dog to drink water from his regular environment so he doesn't get sick or give him some of the bottled water.

Sometimes while travelling your dog gets stressed and won't eat normally. Pepto Bismol may help or light foods like rice. Some people also give their pet dog a live "active" bacteria culture like plain yogurt to ease their stomachs or a pro biotic pill before they go on their trip but discuss this with your vet before you go.

Take your pet on a few short trips before before you go on your vacation to help prepare the dog for the journey so he will become a better dog traveller.

Dog Walking during the Summer Heat

by Queenie1


Your dog needs lots of exercise and the summer heat is high for more than one week so what do you do?

Most dogs in the summer heat just pant while they lay around. They really don't want to go out anymore. Heat stroke, burned foot pads can happen to your dog as well as dehydration.

Walking your dog late at night or very early in the morning when it's cooler maybe a better time to take your dog walking. If you have a woods near you can take your dog there as the trees will shade you from the sun. If you can't take your dog at those times you should take a water bottle with you so that your dog can have a drink to cool him down.

If you want another great exercise for your dog during the summer heat you could take your dog swimming or buy a child's swimming pool so the dog can exercise and stay cool at the same time.