Summer …
The beautiful, sunny and hot bank holiday weekend is behind us, but let’s hope we will get more days like these! We have another bank holiday at the end of this month, so if you decide to travel with your dogs, here are few things you should know/consider before setting off.
Travelling & travel sickness
Dogs can suffer from motion sickness, just the same as us humans. Dog motion sickness is more common in puppies and young dogs, and the reason is that the ear structure used for balance is not yet fully developed. In some dogs, however, the motion sickness continues into old age, and if a dog has experienced travel sickness, he or she can quickly connect the car journey with not feeling well, which can cause stress. Typical signs of stress are panting, wide open eyes, lip licking, and shaking.
To help your dog it is very important to change his associations with the vehicle. Make sure your dog is facing forward, don’t feed your dog before traveling, or keep to a minimum, make frequent stops, and offer him water. Use natural calming products like Casper’s owner Kristy:
“My dog has suffered from car sickness since a puppy. I’ve tried everything but he would still have anxiety and sickness. I was introduced to Calming Floral Spray from Vita Canis with amazing results. Casper calms straight away and slept most of the way. I did build the spray up through the journey and he kept calm all the way for the first time, making the holiday less stressful for all the family” Kristy Worsell with Casper
Before going on holiday in a car, gradually accustom your dog to car travel by taking him or her on short journeys.
NEVER LEAVE A DOG IN A CAR!
When the weather is heating up it is more important than ever not to leave a dog in a car. I don’t think people realise when the temperature outside is about 20 degree Celsius, in the car it is well over 40. And this happens in minutes! As dogs don’t sweat and they regulate their temperature by panting, in a small closed space like a car they will run out of fresh air very quickly …
Traveling abroad
It is pretty easy to travel with your pet to Europe these days. All you need to do is get a passport, and your vet will be able to help you with that. Your dogs must be microchipped and he/she will need a rabies vaccination. When you are planning your journey back to the UK don’t forget that one to five days before you return to the UK you must visit a local vet. He will check your dog, scan his microchip, and give him a tapeworm tablet. The vet will also sign your dog’s passport. If you fail to do this, your dog may face quarantine or be sent back to the country you have travelled from. So make sure you check the passport, again and again and again!
If you can’t take your dog with you
If for some reason you can’t take your dog with you on your holiday you have many options to consider. You can ask your relative or a friend to move to your house, you can take your dog to his/hers dog sitter, find a home boarding, find a boarding kennel or you can even ask your neighbour to look after your dog. From my experience as an owner of a small boarding
kennel, dogs adapt pretty quickly to the new surroundings. Sometimes with a little help of the Comfort Blend [https://www.vitacanis.co.uk/product/comfort-blend/], a natural product specifically designed for separation anxiety.
“I’ve been having major
problems with my young pups’ separation anxiety for 4 months now and was at my wits end after her howling and barking for 4 hours solid when I went out on Friday evening. Today I used Vita Canis Comfort Blend on her when we went out in the car and she had to be left a few times and then I left her in the house for just over an hour. I left my phone on to record her to see what noise she made and returned to find only 6 minutes of crying & then nothing!! Amazing results from an amazing product!!” Sarah Bakewell, Birmingham