Travel Tips

So remember that calendar reminder I set for myself so I’d post more regularly? Like, the one I set months ago, and then posted less than half a dozen times since then?

-fast forward-

I wrote before about how I learned to handle Greta’s travel-induced stress behaviours, the use of the gentle leader and consistent and accurate tones of voice in order to enforce a zero-tolerance policy of behaviour. Now I’d like to write about how I’ve learned to reduce travel stress, because I’m fairly certain Greta doesn’t actually enjoy traveling. That’s a bit of a bummer for me; I love traveling. I also have an understood trip to Oregon every eighteen months to two years to see my ophthalmologist – because apparently just any old ophthalmologist won’t cut it when you have a condition less than 300 people in the US have. I enjoy these trips; I get to see friends and family. Greta, however, does not seem to enjoy traveling at all. So I’m researching ways to make traveling less stressful for her and how to reduce the recurrence of negative stress behaviours like barking and distraction and lunging.

1.      Attachment Object: Pack it, Please!

Some dogs have attachment objects the way infants and toddlers have binkies and blankies and teddies. It can be a toy or a mat or a blanket, or, in Greta’s case, her crate. This last March my husband and I drove to Missouri and back, with about a week of sight-seeing and a Weekend to Remember marriage conference in the middle. Because we were driving, we were able to bring Greta’s crate. It’s a wonderfully collapsible contraption of fabric sides and jointed metal framework that simply folds up like a camping chair, and fits nicely in the trunk of our car. Being able to retreat to her crate and getting safely zipped up in it every night in our condo helped Greta settle in much more comfortably. Every time we returned to the condo she ran into our bedroom the minute I took her off leash to make sure it was still there.

2.      Beam Me Up, Scotty!

The trick with the attachment object is to make use of dogs’ tenuous grasp of object permanency. Translation: don’t let the dog see you packing away that special object. For Greta, this meant shutting her up in a separate room when collapsing and packing the crate, and doing the same thing when we set it up again. We learned this halfway through the trip when I realised she was pacing laps around our halfway point hotel room in Tennessee as Derek collapsed her crate. She even tried to unfold it, tugging at the straps and nosing it anxiously. On the trip back, we put her in the bathroom, packed it up, then put her in the car, and only brought her out when everything was safely stowed out of site. The disassembling of “normal” in the form of putting things in suitcases and moving suitcases out to cars can be extremely disorienting and confusing to dogs, but if they don’t see the process, they only see things missing, not actively disappearing in front of their eyes. Still stressful, but not as bad.

3.      The Gentle Leader:

Yeah, I’ll be using this on Greta every time we work when we travel. Beyond giving me additional control over her behaviour, the gentle leader pus pressure on natural trigger points for releasing calming endorphins into her bloodstream. While she’s busy trying to paw that annoying strap off her nose, it’s pumping chill-out juice into her puppy brain, taking her stress level down a notch. Another major benefit is that the gentle leader helps keep Greta’s attention on her work, which calms her and produces confidence and reassurance in our essential relationship.

4.      Routine;

A lot of people travel in order to break routine, but when you’re traveling with a dog, especially across time zones like I do, routine is your friend, not your enemy. Incidentally, it also helps reduce jetlag and travel fatigue and the potential for travel-acquired illnesses in people, so traveling with a dog is good for you, too. Feeding and parktime, brushing, getting up and going to bed can help reduce travel stress in dogs. Their environment might change, but the working relationship that means so much and the markers of the passage of time during the day means the universe itself hasn’t folded up and changed dimensions.

5.      Senses:

A dog’s most effective sensory organ is its nose. This can be the greatest cause of excitement and stress in travel; nothing smells the same. One of my trainers at The Seeing Eye recommended that I avoid washing my dog’s mat or blanket or pillow (depending on what I have) within a week of traveling so that it still smells familiar. This may seem counterintuitive; we want to minimize the amount of dog hair we tote around, right? But a little extra vacuuming before leaving the hotel or condo or cabin might be worth it if Greta has her beloved mat that smells just like her and has its corner chewed off nestled in the back of her crate. In order to reduce the amount of hair in my suitcase, though, I do wrap it up in a plastic bag for travel. I also refrain from washing it for a week after returning from a trip so Greta can settle back in at home more comfortably.

Not every dog dislikes travel. Some of them even like it, the change in routes, new places to sniff, lots of extra work – assuming you’re not the type that likes to watch TV in different cities and calls it a vacation. But dogs have the processing comprehension of a two-year-old, in most situations, and toddlers find change to be extremely unnerving so, for your dog’s comfort and your safety, it’s important to put out a little extra effort to make the new environment as comfortable and familiar as possible and to reinforce good working behaviour. I’ll be traveling to Oregon for the obligatory eye exam and to see the eclipse in about a month, now, and I’m looking forward to practicing the skills I’ve gained on my last couple of trips, and learning new tricks and pics to share with you.