The Traveling Dog – Preparing Your Dog For An Overnight Visit To A Friend s House
By: Kelly Marshall
Submitted: 2008-08-11 12:58:32 | Word Count: 503
Often during traveling season, such as the holidays, we have no choice but to take our puppy or adult dog with us and stay overnight at a friend or family s house. This overnight adventure can prove to be a ton of fun or quite the exact opposite, and an unnerving disaster. Of course this situation can go either way which depends on how you handle it the situation.
For beginners, do your very best to pack all of the items necessary in which your dog may need ahead of time, don’t wait until the last minute. Some overnight stays with dogs in another person s home can be quite troublesome when important doggy items are left behind and especially when the person you are staying by doesn’t particularly like pets. Perfect example, it is essential that you bring a crate that properly fits the size of your dog. Make certain to take along plenty of dog snacks as well as his standard food for feeding times.
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Bringing a doggy bed is a great way of making your dog feel comfortable while sleeping in a strange place; he will feel like he is sleeping at home. It will also make your host feel more comfortable knowing that your dog will not be shedding hair all over their furniture and slobbering all over the place as he sleeps.
Giving your dog chew toys are also a great idea to carry along when traveling with your dog and staying at a friend s house. Remember that everything in your host’s home will be up for grabs to your dog s mouth. In your home, rules should have been established beforehand. So, your dog should already know what to chew and what not chew. The last thing you want to see happen is your friend or family s expensive Thomasville couch being ripped up by your dog. That is very annoying! Trust me – I know. This is why having chew toys along is a must item to pack. This will give your dog an alternative and save you and your host a large expensive throbbing headache!
Does the home you and your dog are staying at have kids?
Children are not nearly as careful as we would like them to be, especially around pets. When you arrive at your host’s home and they have small kids living in the house, make very sure to introduce your dog to the family as cautiously as possible.
Even though your pet is probably very calm around other people and loves kids, these children may be overly excited and actually startle your dog. These types of unexpected surprises could lead to aggressive behavior and possibly nipping or biting. If you think that your dog will have hostile behavior then the best thing to do is leave him at home with a dog sitter or take him to a dog kennel – that’s if you want to be invited back to your friend’s home anytime soon.
