Training Your Dog to Be a Good Traveler

By Beverly Eschberger

Before you jump into your car with your pet dog on a trip, you will want to make certain that both you and your dog are prepared for the trip. This means training your dog to be a good traveler.

The old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” is not entirely true, but it does have some truth to it. Older dogs, like older people, do become set in their ways and do not always like change. An older dog also does have more difficulty in retaining new experiences, so it can take an older dog longer to learn new commands. So, the younger you begin training your dog to be a good traveler, the better he will be. If you can begin working with your dog when he is still a puppy that is even better.

The most important thing to teach your dog is discipline. An obedience class with a trained professional is the best way. As your pet’s “parent,” your pet may be prone to ignore your commands if his past experience tells him that he can, and you may be tempted to allow him to do this, teaching him that he can continue to ignore you. The obedience instructor will keep both of you on task and will remind you that you are not demanding obedience from your pet in order to be mean to him, you are doing it to keep him safe. Your command could stop your pet from running into traffic, chasing another animal into the woods, or eating something harmful. So keep this in mind when you give your dog a command.

Ask your friends who also own dogs to recommend an obedience trainer, or talk to your vet. Your local YMCA or community center may offer classes, and your vet may even offer evening obedience or “puppy civilization” classes. Being in the class will accustom your dog to being around other dogs and people so he is more relaxed in public and less likely to be distracted. In addition to walking on a lead, you and your dog will learn commands such as: come, front, sit, lie down, up, heel, down, quiet, and drop it. These are important in training your dog to come to you when called, to stay with you, to not jump on people, to not bark, and to leave an object alone.

As you and your dog are going through obedience training, take your dog on short trips in the car to accustom him to riding with you. Start with your dog in his carrier to make him feel safer, and to keep him from getting too excited. After you accustom him to taking short trips in town, try taking him on longer drives. Once he is good about behaving while you are in the car with him, start training him to stay in the car unsupervised for increasing amounts of time. Start with him in his carrier so he does not damage your car if he gets too excited then allow him out of his carrier once you feel he can behave himself. Remember to lock the car doors and crack the windows slightly.

You may need to accustom your dog to his carrier before he feels comfortable enough to ride in the car in it. Start by leaving the carrier open in a room where your dog feels comfortable so he can investigate it and lie inside. Leave t-shirts that you have worn inside the carrier so your dog will have a familiar, comforting scent to reassure him. You may want to feed your dog and let him sleep in the carrier, especially when you are away from home, so you dog will associate the carrier with feeling safe and protected. Your dog will think of the carrier as a den, a family area which wild dogs feel safe in. Having a place where he can be contained while you are away from home is also useful to you because you will know that your pet will not be getting into mischief while he is at home unsupervised.

Make certain your dog travels well in the car before you take him in an airplane or on a train.

About the Author:

I live with my husband, Everyday Geology editor Geoff Habiger, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. We have three children of the furry variety--two cats, Motley and Nero, and an Irish Setter named Clancy Marie. By day I am a chemist with Abbott Laboratories.

When I am not writing about Paleontology or Travelling with Pets, I like to spend as much time as possible outside, I enjoy hiking, bird-watching, and gardening. I am an avid reader of "just about everything," and I love to visit museums of all types, especially those that feature science and natural history.

My husband and I enjoy travelling to all sorts of different places whenever we get the opportunity, and we like to take Clancy with us.

In addition to writing about science and travelling, I enjoy writing fiction and poetry, and I enjoy combining my love of science education with my love of the literary.

Beverly may be contacted by email at paleoartisans@hotmail.com.

Article courtesy of Suite101.com.