Assistance Dog Storm in the car

Ronald Wiedbusch | Contributor

Like most dog owners know, our best friends love car rides. Because travel is part of life though, for our pets, I believe it is important for people to know about ways to get their dog used to travel and the safety equipment that is available to help protect their animals.

Ever since I first picked up Assistance Dog Storm in 2007, he has been a constant passenger in many different types of vehicles. He has ridden in everything from my own personal “Safety Van” to more exotic forms of transportation such as helicopters and paddles boats.

Every one of these different forms of transportation brought a new reaction from Storm and also all presented unique safety challenges.

For Storm and me, these trips always go smoothly because I — as you should — have put in a lot of time preparing my animal for travel. If you want to make sure you have a stress-free and enjoyable vacation with your animal, you need to lay some ground work first.

There should be an understanding of what behavior is acceptable and what is not before you ever jump into the car for a six-hour trip up north this summer. The results of not properly preparing your dog are stress, distraction and making an hours-long drive seem to last days.

The first step to take is to get your pet used to traveling in a car. This is something you should start weeks before you are planning on setting out on a long trip. It lets you find out how they will react and if you need to spend time training them in any way.

Start small with trips just around town, and, as the opportunity allows, slowly lengthen the trips you take together. This allows your animal to get use to the movement of riding in a vehicle in a incremental way and also lets you find out if there are any bad behaviors that you need to work on with your pet.

Ronald Wiedbusch | Contributor

The second thing we need to do when were heading out is allow enough room for our dogs to be comfortable in the car. Packing all our clothes, tents, and other essentials can sometimes lead to a such a full car, we forget to plan where the actual passengers are going to sit.

Just like any of us, our dogs need enough room to be comfortable and move around a little bit. It’s not a huge burden to make sure this is available, but it’s easy to overlook until you have a dog who has nowhere to lay down but draped across your lap for six hours. It's uncomfortable for you and your pet alike.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just like us, our dogs need to eat, drink and go to the bathroom as the trip goes on. For food I always bring a large baggie of dry animal food along with a bowl for it.

Water can either be kept in a water bottle, or there are a number of sealed water products you can get from your local pet store or online. When we stop for everyone else to eat, I just put out the bowl for both food and water, and we all get to have our lunch together. This is also the perfect time to let your dog stretch his legs and do his business.

The last thing you should always take think about is how to make sure your animal is as safe as possible. There are a huge number of different safety options on the market to prevent injury to your dog should the worse happen when you're driving. Dogs are prone to many of the same accident injuries as we are, ranging from bruises and whiplash, to even death. Safety equipment makes these much less likely to be the result of a accident.

Some examples of effective safety equipment are dog seat belts, seat harnesses, pet carriers and even ramps to help older dogs get in and out of vehicles. The DMV has a nice little web page going over some of these options.

Something else to think about in regard to these many different safety solutions, though, is that you should, once again, prepare your dog for them. This is done by using the equipment on short trips first before you go for the long one. This way you know if your dog is unwilling to cooperate with a given piece of equipment, and you can find the very best solution to help keep everyone safe.

One thing to keep in mind if you choose a pet carrier to help your dog travel is the context the dog sees the carrier in. If at home you send your dog to a crate or box when he misbehaves, it could lead to a misunderstanding when you place him in a carrier.

In order for dogs to feel safe with a carrier, they need to be able to associate it with a second home. This once again can be accomplished with practice and positive reinforcement.

Traveling is the spice of life, as we all know, and bringing our pets with us can lead to a lot of fun for everyone. By following the few ideas I’ve laid out here, we can also make trips less stressful and safer for our animals.

For more tips and considerations regarding travel and pets, click here to read suggestions from the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Ron Wiedbusch is a regular contributor to AnnArbor.com's pets section and works in the community to raise awareness about Assistance and Therapy Dogs and the Americans with Disabilities Act with his certified Assistance, Service, Rescue and Therapy Dog, Storm. The pair can be found at various places in the community throughout the week, and each day patrolling the area around Ypsilanti Public Schools as part of the Safe Schools Program.