What's The Best Way To Travel With Your Dogs?

My husband and I travel with our dogs a lot. We visit family, take little vacations and do sightseeing together. We’ve had Mocha four years now, and we’ve learned a lot about taking trips with our dogs.

When we first got Mocha, we tried putting him in the crate in the car. Well, he didn’t like that very much and would just bark at me from inside the crate. That’s a little unsettling when you need to drive six hours!

We realized that we couldn’t just leave him out on the seat to fend for himself while we were driving. The interstate speed limit is 70mph (can you imagine what would happen to him if we got in an accident?), and he’d thump face first off the seat at just about every stoplight. Plus, if we ever got pulled over or in an accident, I wanted him secured down so he couldn’t just run right out of the car.

The hovering car seat thing. It hooked into his harness. Mocha was really good at throwing up over the edge onto the seat...

Yes, that's the same dog...

We started out with this hovering car seat thing. I think he liked it, for the most part. Problem was, since he was up high and could see out the windows, he would throw up. A lot. Like, every time. And sometimes he’d throw up when we got to our destination too.

Then one time we left him hooked in there while we went in a restaurant to eat. (It wasn’t too hot or cold out, I promise, and he could see us through the back window the whole time.) Well, it got dark and he completely freaked out. From that point forward, any time we hooked him in that car seat he shook so hard his teeth chattered. (He’s a little sensitive…)

Then we got Ninja. Now there were two! They couldn’t both fit in the carseat, so we got them harnesses that clipped into the seatbelts. Mocha figured out how to slip out of that in about five minutes and Ninja would twist around so many times he couldn’t move, so that didn’t work.

Here’s our solution: We got a bigger crate and put them in it together while we travel in the backseat. It’s secured by bungee cords and has a blanket in it.

Mocha is calmer when they’re together. We tried separate crates and Mocha had a panic attack: panting, shaking, and drooling. It was bad.

See? Room for both plus a cozy blanky.

Why crate your dogs in the car?

An airbag will kill a small dog, just like it could injure or kill a small child. If you drive with your doggie on your lap or in the passenger seat, you risk them getting really hurt or even killed if that airbag goes off.

The crate keeps them safer if we get in an accident. It’s protection for them and peace of mind for us. They have a little bit of protection in the crate, and they also can’t be ejected out the window or thrown off the seat. Also, if we get stopped by the police or open a car door, we don’t have to worry about them bounding out.

What if my dog freaks out?

Start with small trips to somewhere fun. If the only time you put your dog in the crate in the car is to go to the vet, they’re going to be upset. Go across town with your dog to see friends or to hike.

Also, make sure you’ve exercised your dog first. Here is a video of my former foster dog Fozzie. I took him on a 20 minute car ride to go on a super fun hike. About 10 minutes in he started singing to me:

Believe it or not, on the way home he was sound asleep. The hike wore him out! And I didn’t give in to or patronize his panic attack. There was nothing to worry about, we went somewhere fun, he had a good time and we came home. Next time I take him somewhere, he’ll probably handle it a little better.

I’ve found that the best thing to do when your dog is singing or crying in the crate is to ignore it. If you try to coddle them or pet them you’ll just positively reinforce the behavior. Start with short, fun trips where they don’t have enough time to stress out, and eventually you’ll be able to drive for hours without a peep.

Another idea (some people won’t agree with this) is to give your dog a calming herbal remedy or a wee bit of Benadryl. Some dogs do actually have an anxiety problem and that could help keep them calm if they really need it. We gave Mocha Benadryl when he was a puppy but it didn’t really seem to help so we stopped.

However you choose to travel with your pup, remember a few things:

Don’t leave them in the car when it’s hot out (like above 70), especially if it’s sunny. Dogs can’t sweat. They’ll overheat and die.

If you don’t secure your dog in a crate or with a harness, beware of loose leashes and collars. I saw a terrible story on Facebook where this lady went into a store and her dog hanged himself with his leash from the clothes hook in the backseat. OMG, I can’t even imagine…

Bring water if it’s a long trip, over 2 hours, and a dish to pour it in.

Let them out to stretch their legs every 2 or 3 hours. You think your butt hurts from sitting in the car? So does theirs. Our dogs start to sing us the song of their people when they need to stretch their legs. At first we think it’s the radio…

Have some poop bags in your car and a towel too. Nothing like visiting a friend and leaving your dog’s crap on their yard. Or you take them out in the rain and they get your backseat sopping wet.

Don’t obsess.

Now, I’m not saying you should crate your dog that every single time you get in the car. I definitely take them to the park or the pet store and let them hang out on the back seat. But if you’re on the highway with your doggie, please consider crating them for their own protection.

How do you travel with your dog?

Do you crate your dog in the car? Do you board your dog instead so you don’t have to worry about it? Or do you have one of those little doggies that lays in the back window? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Do I Really Need to Crate Train?

This was one of my first questions when we got Mocha as a puppy. I mean, I didn’t get this little 3 pounds of love to have him in a crate all day while we worked. But we did crate train him because if we left him out he’d get into trouble. One day I came home and he’d pulled out all my yarn and was playing with it like a cat!

Also, I always use a crate with my foster dogs. Most dogs that come out of a shelter need a little time to decompress. For some, the crate works wonders and will always be a safe place when they need some quiet time. All my foster dogs go in their crate for a little quiet time every day.

Let’s break down this crate training thing a bit:

What is crate training?

This is where you train your dog to spend some quiet time in the crate every day. Most people crate their dogs while they’re at work. We did this when our boys were young. Some people don’t want the dog in the bed, and crate them at night. If done properly, the crate will become a safe haven for the dog. It’s their quiet place.

Crate training pros:

• Great potty training resource
• Nice to have if you need them out of the way (painting, teaching, having guests over)
• Safety feature for car rides
• Safe place for your dog

Crate training cons:

• Dogs can get a little stir crazy, especially if they’re crated for many hours at a time
• May exacerbate separation anxiety, especially if you crate train wrong
• Can be seriously messed up, and mess up your dog

Types of crates:

Mocha in his wire crate as a puppy.

Wire – These are pretty cheap and common, but I’m not a fan of the wire crate. Puppies will chew on the wires, and can really hurt their teeth. Also, if they have a tray that slides out of the bottom, dogs can really make a mess with that, pushing it out, chewing on it and getting stressed out.  

I’ve also found that a dog is less calm if they can see out of the crate at all angles. If you get a crate like this, you’ll want to put a towel or blanket over part of it.

A word of warning about the wire crate: I’ve heard of dogs getting stressed out and hooking their collar on the crate wires and hanging themselves. This was one of the lovely horror stories we heard at puppy kindergarten. If you do use this type of crate, please take off your dog’s collar before leaving them in it unattended.

Plastic – If I use a crate, I prefer the more solid, plastic kind. Less visibility means they’ll be calmer (generally). It’s also darker inside and noise is better muffled, all leading to a safer atmosphere. You can put a towel over this one too, maybe over the door, to reduce what they can see.

Mesh/soft – We have a pop-up X-pen that we use for agility trials, for when we have guests or for when I’m teaching piano. We spent some serious time training the boys to sit nicely in it. They’re never left in it unsupervised because they can open the zipper or chew/scratch right through the mesh. This is not for long-term, unsupervised crating.

End table/other – There are some cool designer crates out there that fit right into home décor. I saw one recently that was wood and looks like an end table.

Crate training 101:

1. Get the right sized crate. The crate should be big enough for the dog to walk in, turn around and lay down. That’s it. Any bigger and they’ll have room to potty in there.

2. Feed your dog in the crate. Some trainers swear by this. Giving them their food inside their crate is instant positive reinforcement because at least this one wonderful thing happens in their crate. Feeding your dog in their crate also helps with potty training because the dog won’t potty where they eat and sleep.

3. Start small. When you first start crate training your dog, do it in short increments. Five minutes at first, then 10, then 15. Don’t let them out while they’re barking or crying because then you’re reinforcing that behavior. Also, make sure you’re in the room at first, it helps keep them calm. If you put them in the crate and leave for three hours the very first time, you’re setting yourself up for disaster.

4. Make sure they’re comfy. Give them a couple toys, some treats and something soft to lay on. We ended up having to take the bedding out of the crates because our boys ate it.

5. Reinforce while you’re home. This one was key for us. We always crated the boys while at work, so they came to understand that if we were crating them, we were leaving. Then they didn’t want to get in the crate. So every weekend we would spend a little time at home with our dogs in their crates.

6. They don’t have to live like this forever. I feel like once a dog hits about a year to 18 months old and is reliably housebroken, you don’t have to crate them all day while you’re gone.

Here’s my opinion:

I think crating is a useful tool, especially for puppies. It keeps them from getting hurt (hopefully) when you’re not home. It also helps to house train your dog if you do it right. However, I don’t feel like dogs were designed to live in a crate most of the day, like many dogs do. An adult dog that is properly trained and exercised every day shouldn’t need to be crated on a regular basis.

Un-crate training.

Ok, you made it! Your dog grew up, doesn’t chew on the furniture when you’re not looking, and they haven’t peed in the house recently. I think that this is the time you can ease up on the crating.

What not to do – Don’t just leave one day without crating them if they’re used to being in the crate! 

And don’t give them the run of the house at first. Maybe just the kitchen or the dining room at first. You can also attach a wire pen to the crate and leave the crate open to the pen. Just make sure they can't jump out of the pen.

We started small, leaving the boys out when we went out to get the mail. Then we left them out when we got dinner or went to the mall.

Our boys at their customary place: right near the front door.

One day, I came home from work at lunch to walk them and didn’t crate them when I left. They did just fine (I think…). If you’re nervous about what they’re doing, you can set up Skype to automatically answer and go to video when you dial in. We did this for a while with a laptop in our kitchen until I realized they just lay by the door the whole time we’re gone.

Remember, every dog is different. My in-laws’ dog loves her crate, she wants to sleep in it every night and goes in it on her own when they’re not home. My dogs, on the other hand, are much more restless and anxious in the crate, so now we use it sparingly when we need to.

Have you used the crate to train your dog? Share your success or obstacles in the comments below. J

Where to start with dog training.

My little Mocha Bear that first week we got him.

I've talked a bit about specific training ideas, including teaching your dog to come to you, and teaching them to go outside in a way that is easy to handle.

When Nathan and I were planning on getting Mocha, we got a book by Victoria Stilwell. We'd watched her show, It's Me or the Dog, on Animal Planet, and we got her book as a kind of "in print" version of her advice. We read it cover to cover, and it helped so much. I love that she always uses positive reinforcement. I think that's the best way to train a dog that's forever loyal. This is the book we got:

                                                                   

The book did not, however, prepare us for Mocha's little personality quirks. For example, Mocha learned super fast that if he went potty, we praised him and gave him attention. This resulted in him trying to pee every 15 seconds or so, and if we didn't pay attention to him, he'd bark at us until we looked at him and then go pee.

One night, I got up to go to the bathroom (Mocha was sleeping in his pen in our bedroom at the time), and by the time I came back, Mocha had laid out a huge poop for me. He knew that if he pooped, I'd come back and give him lots of attention.

Needless to say, we needed professional help! (Mocha has always been smarter than me...) We took him to puppy kindergarten, the S.T.A.R. puppy program, in Columbia, Missouri. It was a great experience for him, even though he was the teeniest, tiniest dog there. (This picture on the left is Mocha at about eight months old next to a four month old lab,)

 The S.T.A.R. puppy class focuses on socializing your dog with other people and dogs. This is so so important. Mocha learned that it was OK to be petted by other people and to greet other dogs. He also learned sit, down, and how to walk on a leash. You can see everything on the test here.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are lucky enough to get a puppy, either from a breeder or a rescue, please enroll them in a class. There are just some things that dogs learn better in groups, and it will help your dog a lot with behavior in the future.

Finding a dog training facility.

Honestly, the way we found ours was by doing a Google search for dog trainer. You can also search for All-Breed.The AKC has many clubs with good trainers, you can do a search for their training facilities here.

Do be sure you read the reviews. The first place we tried, the people were super nice but it wasn't very clean. Because we lived in a rural area at the time...let's just say there were bug problems. 

Also, sometimes dog people/trainers can be a little...socially awkward. Sometimes they're downright rude. I'll get into that another day, but it's not you, it's the people who treat dogs poorly that have turned otherwise caring, compassionate people into short-tempered people who can be more direct that we're used to.

Good luck! And let me know if you have any trouble finding a class, I'll try to help!

Training your dog to “leave it”.

At first glance, "leave it" may not be the fanciest trick you teach your dog, but it is incredibly important. Our goal is for you to be able to say “leave it” and your dog stops what he’s doing. We’re going to start with food, but with a little practice you can get your dog to leave the window, stop barking at people or other dogs, and come away from objects that you feel are unsafe.

Before we start, your dog needs to know how to sit. Make sure if you have a puppy or other high energy dog that he’s had plenty of exercise. It’ll be super hard to do this if your dog keeps leaping at you!

All you need for this is a little pile of treats. With my dogs, I sit on the floor with them because they’re so small. Feel free to sit in a chair if you have a bigger dog, this one takes a few tries.

Keep the treat a safe distance away and at eye level.

Step 1: Have your dog sit. You’re going to need a treat in each hand. Hold one hand out at eye level several feet from your dog’s nose with a treat on your palm, like your hand is a little plate. Your dog will probably leap at it. Just close your hand over the treat, taking it away and saying something like “nope” or “oops.”

After a few tries your dog will realize he can’t get the treat by leaping at your hand. Stay patient, he’ll figure it out. But we’re looking for one more step. When you hold out the treat on your hand and he stays seated, wait until he looks away from the treat. Then, immediately say “yes, leave it” and give him a treat from your other hand. Don’t give him the treat you showed him, always give a treat from the other hand.

Practice this step two more times then take a break until later, especially if your dog is young. In other words, quit while you’re ahead. Spend 5 minutes a day once or twice a day on this step until it’s very comfortable and your dog knows what to expect.

Keys to success:

1. At this step, keep the treat at eye level a few feet in front of your dog’s nose.

2. Always treat from your other hand, not from the treat you’ve been telling him to leave.

3. Work for short periods of time – 4 or 5 successful “leave its” in a row should do.

Lower your hand to the floor. (Ninja thought this meant "down" lol)

Step 2: We’re going to do the same thing as step one, but move your hand to your dog’s chest level. If he can successfully “leave it” a couple times, then progress to having your hand on the floor. Believe it or not, every time you change the position of your hand, you need to retrain this a bit. That’s ok, our dogs just don’t think the same way we do. Spend a couple days transitioning slowly from having your hand at chest level to having it flat on the floor.

Step 3: This is the trickiest step. Some dogs are super smart and won’t have a problem, some dogs will completely forget what you’ve been working on.

Put the treat on the floor. Set yourself up for success by
keeping the treat a few feet from your dog's nose.
You can move it closer later.

Practice “leave it” once or twice with the treat on your hand on the floor. Be sure you’re a couple feet in front of your dog so you can snatch the treat away if he goes for it. Now, slowly put the treat on the floor while saying “leave it.” You want him to look away from the treat, hopefully at you but any direction will do. If he lunges for it, pick it up and say “nope.” Put him back in a sit and try again.

It may take a couple tries, but he’ll get it, I promise.

That’s it!

Those are the basics, and you should be able to train this in a week, maybe less if your dog is super smart and you work on it every day.

How does this translate into real life?

There are a lot of foods your dog shouldn’t eat. Have you ever dropped some onion you were chopping? Do you have a toddler that pushes food off the table? I’ll bet you’ve accidently knocked something over or spilled pop on the floor. These are the times that you want to be able to say “leave it” and not have to wrestle your dog away from what he shouldn’t eat.

You can also use “leave it” in other contexts. In our house, it means “please stop barking at the mailman.” Because when you say “leave it,” they know to look around at you and expect a nice treat. I also use it with Mocha when someone doesn’t want him to sniff them or if I drop my chapstick or something.

Such a good dog! 

Turn it into a cool trick:

When we only had Mocha, we did a lot of training with him. If you go back to step 3, you can move the treat closer and closer every time you train. Eventually, we had the treat on Mocha’s paw and told him to leave it and he totally did. One day, my husband lined treats all up both his paws, poor thing. He’s so devoted he just sat very very still until we gave him the treat he had earned. So when people put a treat on their dog’s nose and the dog waits until they’re told to eat the treat, that’s “leave it.”

As a therapy dog:

“Leave it” is one of the key points in a therapy dog test. Your dog has to be able to “leave it” to pass the test. For our test, they put a piece of cheese on the floor and I had to walk Mocha past it twice. He was allowed to look at it, but had to come away when I told him to “leave it.”

He also had to be able to “leave it” when offered food from a stranger. This was hard for him, he’s a very trusting dog, and she offered him more cheese. But we’d practiced and he did listen.

Why is this important? When you’re visiting a nursing home or a hospital, or any other medical facility, there are lots of things on the floor you don’t want your dog to lick up. Patients bleed and throw up and ooze on the floor. They can drop their medications too, and you really don’t want your dog to eat that. People drop random things too, like bits of paper, pen caps, or used tissues. It’s really important to be able to keep your dog away from things that may be harmful, and to keep a sharp eye on the floor when you’re visiting.

A video on “leave it”

Here’s a nice YouTube video by Victoria Stillwell for all you visual learners on how to train “leave it.” Every trainer will be a little different, but the principle is the same. I like her because she only uses positive reinforcement. You may wonder why I don’t use a fist like she did. Honestly, I don’t like to be licked that much. Also, I’ve worked with rescues that would just start gnawing on my hand, and that’s no fun at all. So I skipped that step. If you go to 4:20 in the video, that’s my step 1.

Good luck! And feel free to ask if you have any questions.

The road to becoming a therapy dog

If doing visits with a therapy dog sounds like something you want to do, and you have a dog that would enjoy it, then there's no better time to get started! Unless you've been doing regular training with your dog, it's going to take some time to get there.

Mocha doesn't like to be picked up.
Here he's being held by a stranger,
begging me with his eyes to save him.

Before I tell you what Mocha and I did to become therapy dogs, I want to be clear that this is not for every person and not for every dog. Some dogs are just not interested in people. Some dogs are afraid of sudden noises. Other dogs don't want to be picked up, or hate being touched on the head or the paw. Although I believe that most dogs can be trained to be therapy dogs, there will be dogs out there for whom it's not a good idea.

Also, be sure that you're ready to make therapy visits. Here's an example straight from my life: I can't do hospice, so I can't take Mocha to hospice. I'd cry the whole time and it would make him nervous and the patients uncomfortable. I used to work for hospice (pharmacy) and I know that it just gets me down, and that's not the person they need to see. Mocha and I do best with people who are up and about, functioning semi-independently. He also loves children, and I'd like to get him into a library or school one day. But there are just some situations that we wouldn't be right for.

Basic Training:
You're going to need to take some basic obedience classes before
you really get into the therapy dog training. This could be a puppy class or beginning obedience if your dog is older. Any dog at any age will benefit from obedience class! It's never too late to learn.

Mocha and Ninja both took Star Puppy, which is a puppy obedience class that awards a certificate at the end though the AKC. This class teaches the basics, like sit, down, heel, stay, leave it and wait. You'll want another obedience class after that, maybe Puppy II or Obedience II. These classes get a little tougher. You learn to walk the dog in any direction on either side. You teach them to wait before going through a door and how to greet other people and dogs, and many other skills.

A Little More Advanced:
Mocha and I took a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class, which prepares you to take the CGC test that's administered through AKC. Not all pet therapy programs require this! However, some training clubs do, it all depends on where you're training and which therapy program you want to get into.

In the CGC class, we practiced walking through crowds of people and dogs. We also learned how to greet other people and dogs nicely. This is key to your therapy dog training! Some people love dogs, some are afraid of them. It's very important that your dog learns to greet people with all four paws on the ground and his tongue in his mouth!

Does your dog cry when he's not with
you? Could you leave him with
someone and walk out of the room?

Mocha also had to be ok when left with another person. I had to be able to leave him for a period of time (30 seconds maybe, I don't remember) and have him behave ok. No barking, lunging or freaking out.

The End Result:
Finally after all this practice we took the TDI test. I didn't take a class specifically designed for TDI, I just went ahead and took the test, but I'm sure you can find classes or programs out there to help finish that last phase of testing for certification.

The very hardest part of this test for Mocha was walking past food without eating it. Of course, it had to be cheese. Mocha loves cheese. But I told him to leave it and he did, because he knows I might have a very super awesome treat for him sometime soon. He also had to be able to resist food offered by another person (at my command). This is really important, especially if you're visiting a medical facility. Patients often drop their medication and the last thing you want is your dog scarfing it up, thinking it's a wonderful cookie.


How long did this take? About 3 years, off and on. We did some agility training in between obedience and CGC, so that helped a lot with his behavior. But last summer I think I spent 3 months specifically working with Mocha so he could pass the test.

So that's it! Remember, not all dogs are meant to be therapy dogs. But, if you think you have the patience and time to train your dog, pick a program and just go for it!