Frequent Flyer Pugs & Road Trips

Frequent Flyer Pugs

Airports are a mixture of emotions depending on the intention of your travel.  In our case, we feel a sense of excitement about visiting  extended family and we feel anticipation of upcoming holiday plans. This is soon followed by that lump in your throat when you have to say goodbye to extended family, though it is soothed by the comfort of returning to home surrounds.

Gypsy and Poppet with their Qantas travel crates. They now also have a 'Fragile' Sticker on top thanks to a lovely lady at the Qantas desk who thought they were precious!

I often wonder how holiday travel impacts our dogs. Do they feel the goodbyes like we do?The pugs travel with us where possible. To others, we look like a traveling circus in airport terminals, but to us it feels relatively normal now.  The more attached you become to your dogs, the harder it is to enjoy travel holidays without them. The Qantas staff are wonderful to our pugs and we are grateful that Qantas make it affordable for us to travel with them. If you are interested in finding out more information about flying with your dog, please visit the link below:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/travelling-with-pets/global/en

Prefer to stay on land? Perhaps a road trip or long drive to your destination?

Does your dog suffer from car-sickness? We are blessed with dogs who LOVE to travel in the car. They are extremely intuitive and know when we have reached our destination. They will start screaming with joy and pacing the back seat (within the confines of their seatbelt of course).

Whilst not based in Melbourne, Seeing Dog Seat is Australian made and couriers to Melbourne, and may offer you a solution to your dog’s travel sickness.

I can See Dog Car Seat is an elevated seat that allows small dogs to see out while being restrained.

How adorable does Hamish look in his car seat?!

Why buy a dog car seat?

1. Keep Your Dog Restrained

The main reason to use a dog car seat is to keep your dog restrained. Dogs should never ride in the front seat in case the airbag deploys which could cause death or serious injury. Many dogs jump around the car which can be very distracting to the driver and dangerous for both you and your dog. An unrestrained 4.5kg dog in a crash at 81km/h would exert 227kgs of force on whatever it strikes :(

2. Ensure Your Dog's Comfort.

Your dog will be able to see out the window. Dogs love to see what's going on. They are less likely to slide around, this can also help with motion sickness. The seat is like a bed so your dog feels more secure and can even lie down and have a sleep on longer trips!

3. Benefits For You

You are able to concentrate on driving and not be distracted by your dog on your lap or jumping around the car. The car seat protects your car's upholstery. Avoid a fine and loss of demerit points for having your dog on your lap or unrestrained.

                 

       For further information, email helen@icanseedogcarseat.com or visit their website http://www.icanseedogcarseat.com/

If you do decide to road trip with your dog(s), remember we have included links to Pet-Friendly Accommodation in Melbourne and Greater Melbourne in a past blog which you can revisit via this link:

http://gypsyju.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/pet-friendly-accommodation-links.html

If traveling with your dog isn’t a viable option, then you need to carefully consider how your dog will enjoy their holiday away from you too! Do you have friends or family who love your dog as much as you do? Could you team up with other dog owners with similar breeds and socialise your pets together so that you can both dog sit for each other?  If you decide to put your dog in a kennel or pet hotel, does the environment mirror what you have at home? These are all questions you need to answer honestly in order to provide your companion with a wonderful holiday experience also. While we miss our pugs extremely when we travel away, we feel no guilt as they are surrounded by the same, if not more love in our extended family ~ in a similar environment to that of which they have at home.

Happy travels.