All the Gear You Need to Holiday Road Trip With Your Dog

Dogs want to get out of town as much as their humans do. (Photo: Glynnis MacNicol)

Animal lovers enjoy little more than being able to bring their furry family member along with them on vacation. But it isn’t always easy.

I’m the proud owner of a giant, slobbery Rhodesian Ridgeback Lab mix named Lady Piazza. Traveling with her typically requires the same amount of forethought and equipment packed as traveling with a small child. She is large, sometimes gross, and unpredictable. As an animal lover myself, I have traveled with animals of all shapes and sizes, sometimes my own and sometimes rescues that I have helped transport around the country. Experience has taught me that having good gear is paramount to pet travel success.

Here are the five things you need to travel with any dog:

1. A way to secure the animal in a car. One time I was transporting a box of rescue kittens from Manhattan to Brooklyn in my Fiat. Since kittens are some of the cleverest of creatures, they managed to find their way out of their cardboard box and onto my head halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge. To say this is a safety hazard is the same as saying it would be slightly unsafe to have the kitten drive the car for you. If your animal is small enough to fit in one and doesn’t mind being cooped up, make sure you have a great travel carrier for it. The Pet Ego Tube Kennel is a great option for small animals.

We don’t recommend putting the cat and dog in the same tube. (Photo: Petco)

For larger dogs, consider a durable and safety-tested harness. Kurgo’s Impact Dog Harness has been crash-tested at the University of Michigan, an accredited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) lab, using Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for child restraint systems.

Related: Delta Stops Accepting Pets as Checked Baggage

Dogs need seat belts too. (Photo: Kurgo)

3. A backpack. Let your dog do the work. Seriously. Dog trainers often say that dogs are calmer and adapt more easily to a new place when they are given a specific task to accomplish. We make Lady carry as much of her own stuff as possible when we hit the road. To do this we use the Baxter Dog backpack. You’d be amazed at what can fit into this little thing. She carries everything from her food to her toys to her water bowl to an extra flask of whiskey for her humans for long camping trips.

Related: This Man Drove a Million Miles to Save 30,000 Dogs

Lady Piazza is always well-outfitted for the road. (Photo: Jo Piazza)

4. Something to protect the back seat of a car. I am wildly partial to Kurgo’s Wander Hammock, a durable, waterproof car seat cover. Because it hangs over the back seat, it also creates extra space for your dog, which is very comfortable for traveling longer distances. It widens the space where dogs can lie down and prevents them from falling into the foot well. It also has openings to use seat belts.

I also use the Loft Hammock, which folds up into the teeniest of sacks. This one is great when we are traveling in a friend’s car or a rental car, because it is easy to transport.

Related: I Took My Dying Dog on a Bucket List Adventure

Mud washes right off of the hammock, so don’t even worry about your furry friend getting a little dirty on the road. (Photo: Jo Piazza)

5. Food. You may think it will be easy to get your pet food and water on the road. It isn’t. You never want to shake up an animal’s diet when they are in a new environment. This is a recipe for a messy situation. Literally. Orvis makes a great food-carrying bag that comes with its very own food and water bowls. Think of it as a diaper bag for your pet.

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