Episode #282 Puppy Travel Training – Cars, Hotels & Road Trips

Travel is becoming a normal part of life for many puppies, but successful travel doesn't happen by accident. In this episode, we're talking about how to build travel confidence from the very beginning. You'll learn how to introduce car rides, crate training for travel, potty planning, preventing motion sickness, preparing for hotels, and creating positive travel experiences that last a lifetime. Whether you're planning a weekend getaway or your puppy's very first road trip, these simple training strategies will help make every adventure safer, calmer, and more enjoyable for both you and your puppy.

Transcript

Hot Weather Safety And Travel Goals

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today, we're talking about an exciting part of life with a puppy: traveling together, and how to prepare your puppy for success, whether you're heading across town or across the country. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast, the show designed to help you raise a confident, well-behaved puppy using positive practical training methods. Each week we'll explore real-life training strategies, break down common puppy challenges, and give you clear, step-by-step guidance you can start using right away. Whether you're dealing with potty training, biting, jumping, or just want to build a stronger bond with your pupp as their handler, you're in the right place. Hey you guys, welcome back to the puppy training podcast. I'm not sure where you live. We have listeners all over the world, but I will tell you that here in Utah, it has been hot. I'm talking triple digits. So we've brought out the puppy pools, the sprinklers, having a good time keeping cool. We're our walks have moved to either early morning or late in the night. Make sure you guys are checking pavement before you head out on walks. Put your hand down. If you can't hold it there for more than 10 seconds, it's too hot for your pups. Go when it's cooler or find a grassy park. Also, reminder don't leave your dogs in your cars, you guys. It's too hot for that. So hopefully, wherever you live, you are staying cool. So on that note, we are talking about travel today. So we're going to talk about cars, hotels, road trips. I know people love to travel with their dogs. And why not, right? They're joining us on vacations and camping trips, maybe visits to family or weekend getaways. I know a lot of you like to hike. Um, it's awesome. But here's something that often surprises new dog handlers. Travel isn't something that puppies naturally know how to do. Just because a puppy is comfortable at home doesn't mean they're automatically gonna enjoy being in your car or sleeping in a hotel room that's completely foreign to them, or spending hours on a road trip. The good news is that travel is a skill, and like every other skill we teach our puppies, we can introduce it gradually and positively. So today we're gonna talk about how to build those skills early so your puppy grows into a confident travel companion.

Crate Training For Confident Trips

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Let's start with what I think is one of the most important foundations for traveling with any puppy, and that is crate training. Even if your long-term plan is for your dog to ride in a seatbelt harness or sleep on a dog bed in hotel rooms, every puppy benefits from learning that a crate is a safe, comfortable place. Now think about all the situations where your puppy may need to be in a crate during their lifetime: air travel, uh, veterinary visits, emergency situations, hotel stays, um, boarding, uh, recovery after surgery. So a puppy that happily enters a crate has a life skill that will benefit them for years. It's so worth it to introduce them to it in a kind, gentle, happy way so that they come to love their crates. Now, one mistake I see is waiting until the day before the trip to introduce the travel crate. So if you have a different crate that your puppy's going to be traveling in, let's make that crate part of everyday life. So, how do you do this? You can do things like feed their meals inside, you can hide food in the crate, you can offer their special chew toys in that crate, you can put that crate out and leave the door open, and that's where their chews are found. That's where they go to get them. Um, allow them to nap in the crate, sit next to them while they're napping, very much like we did with the initial crate introduction to whatever crate they're already used to. If you've never introduced your dog to a crate, then this is definitely where I would start. So, again, our goal isn't simply to teach our puppy to tolerate the crate, our goal is to get our puppy to relax inside it. So if your puppy's able to fall asleep in that crate, you know you've done it. They are able to relax. And that confidence is going to transfer really nicely when travel becomes part of

Happy Car Rides And Safe Setup

SPEAKER_00 3:53

your routine. So let's talk about car rides next. Now, many puppies experience their first car ride on the way home from the breeder or shelter. After that, every trip becomes part of their education. So one of the easiest ways to create a puppy who likes the car is to avoid making every ride end somewhere like the veterinarian, somewhere that they dread or don't love. I'm sorry, all of you veterinarians. I'm sure not all dogs dread you. In fact, many of you are doing great work to get dogs to like you. But if your dog is scared of going to the vet, they have to get shots every time they go there. Like, that's not what the car ride needs to be about. Instead, we want to create a lot of happy destinations, and hopefully that is your vet. My uh dog Bella loves the groomer, and not all dogs do, but we pull up to the groomer and she is excited. She's happy to get out of the car, she runs right to the door, she's happy, happy to be there. She likes runs right into her crate to wait for her turn. Like she just loves the groomer. So definitely for your puppy, figure out places they love. Oftentimes it's a play date, it's a park, um, it's an outing. Like we have a really fun hydro park here for dogs where there's a river that they can play in and splash around. So car rides need to be about happy destinations. So drive to the park, go to a friend's house, stop for a short walk somewhere, go sniff walk, go somewhere your puppy can safely explore. So when every car ride predicts something enjoyable, puppies are going to begin looking forward to getting in the vehicle. If you have a young puppy that's not fully vaccinated, yes, be careful where you take them. Obviously, I don't want you taking them to a dog park. But you could go for a short little drive around your block and come home and play their favorite game. You can definitely make this work for dogs who are vaccinated. You can get out and go other places. If your dog's not fully vaccinated yet, they have a very young puppy, then just go around the block and come back to your house, but make it a party when you get back. So keep the first ride super short. Five minutes is probably too much. Then 10, then 20. You can slowly build duration as you notice your puppies becoming comfortable. Inside the vehicle, we want to make sure that your dog is safe. Puppies, in my opinion, should ride in a secured crate or a properly fitted crash-tested travel harness designed for dogs. Not only is this safer during an accident, but it also prevents distractions while you're driving. We don't want your dog jumping up in the front seat and distracting you.

Motion Sickness Signs And Solutions

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I want to talk just a second about motion sickness because it's actually more common than you might realize. Young puppies sometimes become car sick simply because their inner ear is still developing. If your puppy is drooling or they're yawning repeatedly, they're whining, maybe they vomit, or they begin resisting getting into the cart. We don't want to immediately assume they're being difficult or stubborn. They may genuinely feel sick when they're in a moving vehicle. So you can try shorter trips. We can avoid feeding them right before traveling. Um, giving them fresh air, letting that airflow kind of hit their face often helps. If the problem continues, your veterinarian can recommend medications, but we want to assess first: is this because your dog's nervous or is this truly they feel motion sickness? So there's no reason for a puppy to repeatedly experience unpleasant car rides if help is available. Let's make sure that we're getting them the help they that they need. Okay, so a note on that, be aware of it. Just recognize it does happen. Um, if it's a nervous issue, we can help you um build confidence in your puppy around cars. If it's a motion sickness in issue, then definitely speak to your veterinarian.

Potty Planning And Calm Rest Stops

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Okay, let's talk a little bit about potty planning because travel days are going to mean routine change, right? Um, before leaving home, I want to always give our puppy enough time to eliminate, not just a quick trip outside, but actually wait, walk around, get them moving, give them an opportunity to fully empty their bladder before getting in the vehicle. And then during road trips, stop often. So every hour to two hours, I would stop and give your dog a break. Young puppies can't hold it as long as adult dogs, so you'll need to assess that for your particular situation. And whenever you stop, I head to a quiet area if possible. So busy rest stops can be overwhelming. If you have a puppy that's young and not fully vaccinated, going where other dogs frequently go is not a good idea. So you need to find somewhere where they you can stop and let them eliminate where you're not, you're gonna guess that there's not a lot of random dogs roaming around. We just want to protect them. You can also use pee pads in the back of your car. There's a lot of creative things you can do to help your young, young puppies. Um, you just want to be aware of that. So um recognize that at rest stops, there's a lot of unfamiliar people, unusual smells, traffic noise. It's sometimes just a little bit overwhelming for dogs. So if I'm just starting out and I have a new dog that's experiencing road travel, car travel, I try to find a less busy, more calm place to stop. So I like to keep my puppy close on leash if they can be on the ground, focus on giving them a calm opportunity to go to the bathroom and then get back in the car. I also always offer them a drink of water so that every hour to two hours they're getting that nice drink of fresh water. Okay, travel isn't exciting every minute. Recognize this. So sometimes you're waiting, right? You're waiting to get gas. Maybe you have to wait at a hotel, maybe you have to wait outside a restaurant for your food to come, maybe you're waiting while someone checks

Teaching Relaxation On A Travel Mat

SPEAKER_00 9:14

in. So it's a really good idea when we talk about travel to teach our dogs how to quietly relax on a travel mat or a blanket. Um, I think it's one of the most important skills you can build. So I like to reward calm. I reward sitting, I reward lying down, I reward my dog for simply just watching the world go by without feeling the need to investigate everything. I just keep a little pouch on me, I put some little food rewards in there. Anytime they look at me or check in with me, that's a food reward. So

Hotel Arrival And Good Pet Etiquette

SPEAKER_00 9:44

let's just imagine you've arrived at your hotel. And I want you to remember everything about this environment is a brand new to your dog. So they're gonna be maybe possibly excited because there's different smells, sounds, hallways. They might be scared because there's elevators, there's people passing the room, there's ice machines, there's doors opening and closing. So rather than expecting your puppy to immediately understand the rules, I want you to slow everything down. So make sure you walk into the room together, allow your puppy to sniff. Sniffing is going to relax them. Let them sniff around the room, check it all out, and just really become comfortable in the room. Show them where their crate or bed will be. And that's where this is really important about that crate again. If your puppy loves their crate, you're essentially bringing that bed with you wherever you go, which gives your dog a place that they recognize as home. It's super valuable. Offer them some water, a little bit of food, and then simply just spend a few quiet minutes relaxing before you now go back out into new territory. So help your puppy feel comfortable and familiar with the room or the place that you're actually staying in. Um, it also helps to bring familiar items from home that can make a big difference, maybe their favorite blanket or toy or their bed, just something. Again, that crate is super helpful if they're used to it already. Now, remember that hotel etiquette is also important because uh we want to keep our dog respectful such that hotels will keep welcoming pets. So just be a good citizen. Keep your puppy on leash in common areas. Not everybody loves dogs. I know it's bizarre. I don't really understand why not. We all love dogs, but not everybody does. It's okay. So recognize that. Keep your puppy with you. Unless others want to greet them. That's on your puppy's terms. If your puppy wants to say hi, great. If your puppy doesn't, let's advocate for them. So it goes both ways. Make sure you clean up after your pets, you guys. This is huge on keeping our parks dog friendly, hotels dog friendly, just clean up after them. Prevent excessive barking. Okay, barking is something that dogs do. I get it. That's how they talk and communicate. But when we're out in public, we want to keep that to a minimum. If your puppy isn't comfortable being left alone in unfamiliar places, then don't assume that they'll suddenly be okay by themselves in a hotel room. We might need to practice that gradually, give them a little test and see how they do. Maybe I leave the room for a minute and I come back. And I can do repetitions of that and see how they're doing, listen outside the door, see how quiet they're being. I don't want to stress my dog out. So recognize that, you know, they are in a new place and it might be stressful for them. We might need to help them through that.

Packing Checklist And Practice Outings

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Okay, what should you bring? We need to bring several things with us. Make sure that your dog always has plenty of fresh water. So you might need a collapsible bowl. That's an easy travel supply that you can purchase, and you'll probably use it constantly. Um, I would pack enough food for the entire trip, but I also would bring some extra. You need to make sure if your dog is taking any medications that you pack those. I always bring waste bags, cleaning supplies, like paper towels. Uh, make sure you remember food, water bowls, favorite toys, food rewards your dog likes, just things that are normal to them on a daily basis, a leash, a backup leash. You always bring a backup leash just in case. They're collar harness, ID tags. It's super valuable to have an ID tag on them in case they get away from you. Somebody can call you quickly. Um, vaccination records are important in case somebody asks for them. And then your puppy's crate or a little travel bed. I also recommend bringing some recent photos of your puppy that's saved on your phone and make sure that their identification information is always current. And then hopefully you'll never need those things, but being prepared just gives everyone peace of mind and you'll have a better trip or vacation. Lastly, you don't have to wait for a vacation to start teaching your dog travel skills. You can drive to a nearby park, you can visit a pet-friendly business, you can practice loading into the car and getting out of the car, you can practice settling on a blanket in a public space, you can take short outings simply just to build confidence in your dog. Every positive experience adds another layer to your puppy's understanding that the world is a safe place to explore with you. That's really what puppy training is all about. We're not just teaching behaviors, we're building confidence and we're teaching our dogs resilience. All right, you guys, thanks for listening. I hope this helps you on your next road trip. Have a great week. Happy training. Thanks for tuning in

Quick Wrap Up And How To Support

SPEAKER_00 14:08

today. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a training tip. And if you're enjoying the show, leaving a quick review really helps other handlers find us. For more training resources, tips, and support, visit me Amy Jensen at baxterandbella.com. Until next time, happy training.