It’s hard to believe but the holiday season is officially here. A lot of people will be traveling by car to their destination, many with the family dog. While some pets enjoy riding in the family car, others find it stressful.
The American Humane Society has provided us with a great list of tips, whether traveling by car or air, to help minimize stress. Making this an enjoyable trip for both the two and four legged family members.
General Tips for Safe Travel With Pets:
1. Properly identify pets with ID tags and microchips — Make sure your pets have ID and current rabies tags and are microchipped. To be extra cautious, give your pet an extra tag with the address and phone number of where you will be staying for the duration of the trip, in case they get lost after you arrive.
2. Train pets to travel in their crates — Whether you’re heading to your holiday destination by plane, train or automobile, getting your pets used to their crates will make the entire traveling experience less stressful. Even when not at home, pets still view their crates as a safe haven from stressful situations. With a crate, size does matter — Crates should be large enough for pets to stand and turn around in comfortably. Remember to keep water inside the crate or allow for breaks every 3 hours where your pet can drink and stretch. Stainless steel water containers that hook onto wire crates are easy to use and clean up well.
3. Never leave your pets unattended – Just as you would never leave a child unattended, never leave your pet alone in a car.
4. Bring their health records– Many of us can’t remember the last time we got a tetanus shot, let alone remember all the shots and medications our pets have had. Take your pet’s health records just in case he needs to see a veterinarian during your trip. Be sure to check with your veterinarian to see if they would recommend heartworm prevention or treatment for fleas or ticks for the area you are traveling.
Bo isn’t the only dog vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, pups abound. You don’t need to be the First Dog to have a good time on this island.
Although you can’t bring dogs to the main beaches in the summer, you can usually find a quiet place for a secret swim. There’s also a new dog park where you can go enjoy an afternoon of fun with your pooch.
If you feel like shopping you can stop by the very popular Black Dog to get some fun tee shirts and Good Dog Goods to buy necessities for your pup.
One of the biggest draws on the island is the Black Dog, a general store full of branded merchandise, along with a bakery and a popular restaurant.
But now, with talk of the arrival of Bo, there’s some competition.
Dogster member Christy is a volunteer for a wonderful organization, Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen, which provides food to pet owners who can no longer afford to feed their pet.
Daffy’s has hooked up with the Making Of Miracle Stories Rescue Group for a puppy caravan. Since Christy is directly involved and knows much more about it than I do she was kind enough to write something up on the upcoming event
Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen welcomes and supports the Georgia Puppy Caravan. You’ve read blogs on Dogster about Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen, a pet food bank in Lawrenceville, GA.
Daffy’s and the SOS Club were founded by Tom Wargo 12 years ago to provide pet food and services to families in need. Volunteers at Daffy’s work diligently to keep families and their pets together, they work continuously and hold a variety of fundraising events. This Friday, Daffy’s is lending a helping hand to The MOMS (Making of Miracle Stories) Rescue group by supporting the Georgia Puppy Caravan. MOMS was formed by two New Jersey women with their children in an effort to bring awareness to the millions of homeless animals in our country. They believe children to be the rescuers of the future.
The GA Puppy Caravan is (literally) a caravan of RVs, cars, motorcycles and planes traveling from New Jersey to Georgia on August 19-23, 2009. They are making this crusade because of their intense love and devotion to animals with support from Animal Rescue Flights (ARF), Freedom Train Animal Rescue Transports, Barking Hound Village, Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen, Animal Adoption Center, Georgia SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), Dogs On Death Row, Rescue Ink, Save Our Pets Foodbank, Chattooga County Animal Control Shelter, Ningun Films, Bodhi, Grove Productions, OFG Productions. In addition, The Animal Adoption Center of Lindenwold, NJ travels with MOMS as a receiving rescue to transport rescued animals “Home”.
Hi again everybody – just wanted to pop in and let you know that travelers and bloggers Helen Fazio and her dog Raja are dishing out the tips on The Daily Dog Tip, the Dogster blog that serves up a juicy tidbit of canine information every weekday.
The pair have loads of great pet travel information and will be joining us every now and then as a guest tipster on both Dogster and Catster. Their first tip is live already and can be seen here.
More about Helen and her dog Raja:
Helen feels most comfortable in places where she doesn’t speak the language; she likes to do almost everything, except hunt and watch TV sports. Raja is a Shih Tzu. Directly descended from the Mongolian wolf, Raja is hardy and loves to roam with his pack. Tamed in the monasteries of Tibet, he takes the long view. Finished in the palaces of 16th century China, he is elegant. Rescued from China by the artistocrats of Europe, he is a ham. Make sure you check out their blog, which is here, and follow them on Twitter.
And here’s a video about Raja and the website!
The best way to get The Daily Dog Tip is via email, and if you sign up now, you won’t miss a single tip from our grrreat pet experts. Or to add the RSS feed to your reader, click here. Want it all? You can also get them via Twitter when you follow @dogster.
We’re halfway through the summer, but there’s still plenty of time to squeeze a trip in.
If you plan on traveling and taking your pet with you here’s some good information from the Animal Health Care Center newsletter.
Traveling with your pet can be rewarding but challenging if not enough preparation has been made. Planning will help your trip go smoother and should include acquiring any paperwork that is needed, consideration of the temperatures to be experienced and how to deal with them, and obtaining equipment that will make the trip easier.
It is a good idea to first consult with your veterinarian. Make sure your pet is current on all vaccinations. Ask your pet’s doctor about the region to which you will be traveling and whether there are any diseases that require additional vaccines, i.e. Lyme or Lepto, or other measures, i.e. heartworm preventative. It is important your pet have identification; make sure the tag on the collar is current and the printing is legible. Your veterinarian should also implant a microchip into your pet as a form of permanent identification because collars can be lost easily.
We’re a nation of pet lovers: According to a 2005-2006 study by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 63 percent of U.S. households own at least one pet. Here’s how to take care of them (and their owners):
1. On the menu
If you allow dogs in your store or restaurant, why not take it a step further by putting something for them on the menu? Chef Eric May of Charcuterie — located in Sierra Madre, CA — created a special menu for the town’s second largest species of inhabitants: Dogs. In addition to the restaurant’s traditional lineup of sandwiches and pasta, they also offer special dishes and portion sizes for any pets that may be looking for a meal.
The Lesson: If you’re opening your doors to pets, why not offer them a few special dishes or products?
2. On loyalty
If you’d like pets (and their owners) to keep coming back, try extending your loyalty programs to your four-legged customers. Red Lion Hotels recently launched a special loyalty program that awards pets 500 points for each stay that can be redeemed for pets-only gifts. And while their rewards program is fairly high-tech and involves a point system, yours could be as simple as a punch card or a series of coupons that frequent visitors and their pets can use toward future visits.
We seem to be on a theme today, dogs who take the fall.
A Wisconsin teen on a class trip to Peru ran into a little trouble with customs before he even got off the ground. Just like the story before this, involving the checkbook, the family dog got blamed.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — A Wisconsin teenager using a classic excuse for evading schoolwork missed a class trip to Peru despite his tale being true: The dog ate his passport.
Officials at Chicago’s O’Hare airport told 17-year-old Jon Meier the chewed-on document was fine, but authorities in Miami rejected it and wouldn’t let him board the southbound aircraft.
His family’s 1-year-old golden retriever, Sunshine, chewed a corner of the document, obscuring some numbers. Meier couldn’t get another passport in time to join the trip with his Spanish class from Eau Claire North High School. The 12-day trip ended Monday.
Meier says he can’t blame anyone, not even Sunshine: “I love her too much.”
Okay, I guess in this case the dog is actually guilty. I’m sure Meier must have been very disappointed not being allowed on the flight, I give him kudos for being such a good sport.
*ADOPTABLE: Beethoven is a 12-year-old golden mix, he’s a Muttville foster dog, they rescue senior dogs.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I was reading the AJC this morning and came across an article offering advice on places to vacation with your dog.
Towles Kintz shares five dog friendly locations to visit and have a little summer fun. He goes from the beach to the mountains, and a few places in between.
1) Washington, DC
Although monuments and great museums might first leap to mind when you think of the nation’s capital, the city and its Northern Virginia suburbs offer a surprising number of dog-friendly and dog-centric activities. Take a boat ride with your pooch to tour Alexandria’s seaport with Potomac Riverboat Co.’s Canine Cruises (dogs ride free), hike the Mount Vernon Trail, which runs between Alexandria and Mount Vernon, take a hike on Roosevelt Island. Dog-friendly bars and restaurants abound here.
Dog Treat: There are more than 20 off-leash dog parks in the area, and open-air monuments mean that families and their dogs can take in great tourist attractions together.
2) Orlando, FL.
Disney may have a corner on the market in Orlando, but the city has recently been applauded for its efforts to become more dog-friendly. The Winter Park area, which is home to a great off-leash dog park and Sam Snead’s, a restaurant made famous when Gov. Jeb Bush signed the doggy dining law, is particularly welcoming to pets, and there are plenty of hotels – and even some posh resorts – that now accommodate families traveling with their canine companions. Add to that Florida’s natural beauty and state parks (there are eight in the Orlando area), and you’ve got yourself one happy dog.
Dog Treat: Lots of dog-friendly outdoor dining and more than seven off-leash dog parks in the area.
When Lisa and I moved to Atlanta from Albany, NY we decided to drive because we couldn’t stand the thought of putting Bo on a plane. There was no way we would let him be stuck in the cold cargo area, terrified and alone.
Nope, instead we drove the nineteen hours with Bo and our cat Moose, who meowed for pretty much the entire ride. I was just reading about a brand new airline, Pet Airways, that has literally gone to the dogs. If they were around when we moved it’s something we definitely would have considered.
Pet Airways, which begins flights next month between five cities, is exactly what it sounds like: an airline just for pets. But before boa constrictor fans get any ideas, passengers are currently limited to dogs and cats.
Nobody flies in cargo on Pet Airways — it’s first class all the way for Fluffy and Buddy in the cabin of the airlines’ Beechcraft 1900. The plane normally seats 19 humans, but there are no seats for pets, just straps to hold animal carriers (supplied by the airline). The plane holds about 50 average-sized animals, two pilots and one pet attendant. Mind you, the pet need not be “average-sized.” Back in April, the Pet Airways people told me how thrilled they were to get their first reservation for a Great Dane.
I just came across this article which refers to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but I think this can serve as a good warning for dog lovers across the country.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials are warning the public about a scam in which customers spend upwards of a $1,000 on pets that will supposedly be shipped from overseas to the airport for pick-up, only to be detained while the sellers ask for more cash.
The scam, which typically originates in West Africa, involves online ads or unsolicited e-mails offering to ship pets such as dogs, birds and monkeys to the U.S., said airport spokeswoman Katena Carvajales. But once the buyer spends the cash, the seller, posing as an airport official, requests more money and claims the pet is sick and being detained at the airport until it receives vaccinations needed to pass through customs.
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