Why did I start travelling with my dogs? There are two main reasons and the first one is that when I would travel without them, I would miss them and I really wanted to have them with me. The second reason is that if I left them behind, I would need to board them, and that adds to the travel costs.
It took me a while to get my system for travelling with Bella and Doodle sorted, so in the lines that follow, I am going to try and share as much as I can with you in the hopes that it will help you in one way or another. I’ll also leave links for you to find the products and get them for yourselves.
However, my system is still in its infancy, so it will evolve as I do more and more trips. Therefore, I’ll keep updating this article from time to time.
Before I start, the last, and most important thing I want you to keep in mind is that this is about taking your dogs on road trips. I have not travelled with them by air or by train so I have no inputs on that… yet.
The Dog-Car Equation
Step 1: Get a dog, or two. Why is this step 1? Simple, you need a dog for this article to be useful. But on a slightly serious note, if you already have a car then the car decides what kind of dog you can get and how many. If you have a tiny hatchback, you can’t get a Great Dane. If you don’t have a car already then the little dictator(s) will dictate which car is best. I’ll get into that in a bit.
Dog Travel Gear I Use
What I have compiled a list of the stuff I use and shared the amazon links for them in the table below. I have also shared my thoughts on what I think of them so that you can make an informed choice.
| Product Type | Product | Buy/Check price | My Verdict |
| General Accessories | |||
| Harness | HANK Dog Harness | https://link.amazon/B03KkrPtd | LOVE it. Been using it for years |
| Leash Regular | Amazon Basics Double Handle Light Reflecting Dog Leash | https://link.amazon/B0aqncZti | Must have. Been using it for years |
| Leash Long | Petlicious & More Nylon Dog Training Lead | https://link.amazon/B0awBZf9l | 20 ft long. Great for letting dogs explore |
| Leash retractable | Retractable Dog Leash | https://link.amazon/B0dehSu2j | 16 ft long. Works best for small dogs |
| Poop Bags | BarkButler x FOFOS Poop Bag | https://link.amazon/B0hVrkz5l | Good. Last a long time |
| Dog Kibble | Royal Canin Maxi Adult Pellet Dog Food | https://link.amazon/B0hnrd2dW | Good. It isn’t bone dry. 4 kg bag for 2 big dogs with 2 meals a day, lasts me about 8-9 days |
| Dog Wet Food | Royal Canin Maxi Adult Dog Wet Food | https://link.amazon/B02Dc49O0 | Good. I usually just mix it with a bit of kibble. Not a mandatory thing but again good to have |
| Dog Shoes | KUTKUT Dog Boots | https://link.amazon/B01bMD3eE | Good for situations like hot sand on beaches and roads which may have broken glass on them. Not cheap but worth every rupee |
| Rain coats | Heads Up For Tails Rain Dancers Raincoat | https://link.amazon/B0iyZ4cty | Good for protecting the tops and has a notch for the leash. |
| Doggie Car Accessories | |||
| Seat Cover | Qpets Dog Car Seat Cover | https://link.amazon/B04a9PWbj | BRILLIANT. Make sure to get a hard bottom one. Padded is overkill. Used it in the Thar and the Baleno, Fits both. |
| Seat Belt | Pet Car Seat Belt | https://link.amazon/B02Fj4E7v | Must have |
| Dog Brush | Paw Print Handle Double Sided Steel Needles Dog Grooming Comb | https://link.amazon/B0312S7g6 | Good to have to take care of on the spot grooming while travelling |
| Dog Collar With Name Tag | Nylon Dog Collar Belt With Name Tag | https://link.amazon/B05cnHHAa | LOVE it |
| Dog Bowls | Foodie Puppies Stainless Steel Paw Bone Printed Bowl | https://link.amazon/B0fxZuHTs | Good |
| Doggie Medical Care | |||
| Antimicrobial Skin Spray | Bark Out Loud Antimicrobial Skin Spray | https://link.amazon/B07d8JRLA | Must have |
| Wound Healing Spray | Natural Remedies Topicure Pet Wound Healing Spray | https://link.amazon/B07Gst6SQ | Must have |
| Antibacterial & Antifungal Formula | Himalaya Scavon Vet Spray | https://link.amazon/B00R6yP8Q | Similar to the previous 2 |
| Wet Wipes | The Better Pet’s Oatmeal & Shea Butter Soothing Pet Wipes | https://link.amazon/B0iy8ophM | Must have |
| Ticks and fleas | Himalaya Erina-EP Powder | https://link.amazon/B0eIbf48N | Must have |
| Ticks and flea skin drops | Vivaldis Spot On for Dogs | https://link.amazon/B0dYVvQEK | Good to have |
Affiliate disclosure: Some of the links in this section are affiliate links. If you purchase something through them, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
How Travelling with Dogs Affects Your Budget
Travelling with pets can add to the cost of your trip whether you take them along or not. The first question to ask is: if you don’t take them along, what happens to the budget?
If you are not taking them along, then you have to budget for a good boarding facility. The one I use belongs to a friend whom I trust 1000% and it costs me about Rs. 1,200 a day per dog. If you do take them along then you have to remember you may not be able to do 1000 km driving days so you may take longer to reach your destination and that means more hotel nights.
Speaking of hotel bookings, you have to confirm in advance that the hotel is pet-friendly. This could limit your choices or change the per-night budget you were working with to start with. Sometimes, hotels can charge extra for the pets, so confirm that charge before booking. Most of the places I have stayed at with Bella and Doodle did not charge anything extra for having them with me.
How to Find Pet-Friendly Hotels & Resorts in India
First things first, assuming you have arranged the dog and the car, you now need to find a place to stay. I won’t go into details of how to choose the destination here because that’s not the point of this article.
I’ve noticed that there are more and more pet-friendly hotels in India, especially after COVID. To find pet friendly hotels in India, you can switch on the pet-friendly filter on many of the popular booking apps. On Booking.com it is a simple toggle to switch between travelling with pets or not. It is the same on MakeMyTrip as well but on Airbnb it is much better. It is treated like a counter just like the ones for adults and children. This, in my opinion, is the better way to deal with it because the property is clear about how many pets you will bring. On Make My Trip it was just a toggle, or a filter option, and when I went into the property listing, I saw some of the properties say that only one pet per guest is allowed.
How Far Can You Drive?
The next thing you’ll need to know is how far you can travel with dogs in the car, without stressing them out. You can’t just get into the car one day, decide to drive 1,000 km, and hope to figure out how comfortable the dogs are along the way.
My suggestion, and what I did, is to start with a few weekend trips nearby. Some place that’s maybe 100 to 200 km away from you. Once you have done 2-3 such trips you can gradually increase the distance.
The advantage of doing this is that it’ll help you figure out things like:
- Just how comfortable your dog is with long periods in a car
- How they behave before and after the drive
- Do they get carsick
- How often you need to give them water
- How often you need to stop to let them relieve themselves and stretch their legs
- How much food you need to carry based on their daily consumption
- How fast you should drive on the highway to keep them comfortable, especially when you need to brake
- What rules the resort applies to guests travelling with pets
Once you have figured out the details you can gradually increase the distance till you find a distance that is comfortable for you and the dogs. For the moment, mine is usually set to 500-600 km a day.
When driving from Pune to Coorg I broke the journey into 500 km driving days which meant the drive itself took two days each way. However, while driving from Pune to Goa, I didn’t break the journey because my destination, Goa, was just about 500-550 km away.
Choosing the Right Car
The car you plan to take matters a lot when you are travelling with dogs by car in India, simply because the distances can be big. The number of people travelling with you and the number of dogs also matter.
While most of us would like to take the most economical car possible, you may realise that your dogs won’t fit in it comfortably. In that case, you may have to move up a size and find the best compromise between space and mileage. For example: A Baleno is FANTASTIC for mileage but not the best if you have two large dogs.
In the beginning, I was travelling with my dogs (a Labrador Retriever and a Golden Retriever) in a Baleno, and while they were fine in it, the space was just about enough for them. I felt they needed more space so I upgraded to a Thar Roxx which gave them enough room to chill in the back seat but created a new hiccup, they could no longer hop in on their own. Since the car is so high, I have to pick them up and put them in, which is something worth keeping in mind. You can get a ramp for them if you’d like. I, in the meantime, continue with the hoist method.
Note: If your car is too small, you can always rent a car too, but you’ll need to make sure that you check what the policy on pets in the car is for the car rental service. If you are hiring a long-distance cab the same check applies.
Suggestion: If you rent the car then please get the inside cleaned before returning it. It’s just the decent thing to do.
Keeping the Dogs Safe and Comfortable in the Car
One of the most important things to do when travelling with your dogs is to keep them in a harness instead of a collar. A harness also allows you to use safety belts for dogs. These are basically elastic straps with one end that goes into the seatbelt buckle and another that hooks onto the harness. This prevents the dogs from jumping out of the window or being thrown forward too violently if you brake suddenly.
When it comes to the dogs being on the back seat, you can get a seat cover that covers the entire rear seat. My suggestion would be to get one with a hard bottom because it extends over the gap between the front and back seats without sagging, making it more comfortable for the dogs. If you want some added support then you can use the space between the 2 seats to store some luggage which will provide support from below for the seat cover so it does not sag into that gap. To keep them comfortable I first put the seat cover in place and then lay 2 very fluffy comforters on top of it so that they don’t feel uncomfortable sitting on the hard seat cover. It’s comfortable enough for them to take a nap on too.
Some dogs get car sick, and some don’t. I have one of each. So, what I do to handle that situation is this. I feed them a slightly bigger meal before sleeping the night before the drive. Then next morning I don’t feed them before the drive. I feed them next only after we reach the overnight halt or destination that evening.
Dogs can get dehydrated just like us, possibly even faster, so you need to figure out intervals to stop and give them water and let them out for a little walk to do their business. When doing this make sure NOT to let them out from the right hand side of the car which is usually the highway side. Let them out from the left and always pick a spot that has enough ground away from the road. I usually check in on them once every two hours.
The rules of the road that I follow while driving are these:
- In the city, I keep the windows down if it is not too hot. If it’s hot then I keep the windows up and the AC working.
- On the highway, windows go up and no hanging out of the window is allowed because the speeds are higher and vehicles can pass each other too close. You wouldn’t want your dog to fall, or jump, out of a moving car onto the highway.
- The speed I don’t push too high to keep the drive smooth. Sudden braking and acceleration is not good. Also, the slower speed gives you more time to make decisions rather than reacting at the last minute and braking so that the dog goes flying into the back of your seat.
When it comes to halting for breakfast, lunch or dinner, DO NOT leave the dogs in the car with windows up, no matter how short you think your trip to the food counter will be. Cars can become ovens under the sun and kill your dog in no time. What I used to do with the Baleno was to leave the windows, all of them, open halfway so that they can stick their head out but not jump out. With the Thar, I would leave the windows and sunroof open. I also always sat in a place where I could see the car clearly. I still only did this if the weather was pleasant. If I couldn’t find favourable conditions I’d go to a fast-food joint instead, pack the food and have it by the car next to the dogs.
Dog Food for the Journey
When I was talking about dogs getting carsick, I mentioned that I feed them before I go to sleep the night before the drive. But what do you do after you have hit the road? What I do is carry a 4 kg bag of Royal Canin dog food. I know the rough amount that they generally consume in a day between 2 meals per dog so the 4 kg bag can easily last me about a week and a half. One of the reasons I like the Royal Canin food is that it isn’t bone dry. It’s slightly oily, so it’s comfortable for them to eat.
You can also carry both dry and wet food. Since wet food usually comes in portion-sized packets, it is easy to ration according to the number of days and meals. What works for me is giving them a mix of wet and dry food.
If you don’t carry food for the dogs yourself, you can always ask the resort or hotel if they provide food for dogs. In my experience, quite a few places will provide food for dogs at an extra charge. You can also tell them what you want, for example rice and curd, and they may be able to arrange it for you.
Tip: If I’m carrying only dry food, I add a little water to it and leave it for about 5–10 minutes before serving.
Dog Health and Safety While Travelling
So we have established that car safety equals gentle driving, a good seat cover, and safety belts. But what else do you need to keep in mind? Before you leave, a quick visit to the vet is also a good idea to make sure your dog is in good health and that their shots are up to date.
Let’s also talk about ticks and fleas. There are different preventive treatments available, including chewable tablets and medicines like Spot On. Spot On is a liquid treatment applied to the dog’s skin. How much you use and how often you apply it depends on the product and the size of the dog, so follow the instructions or check with your vet. For other medications that may be needed, consult your vet.
You should also carry a little first aid kit to deal with any injuries, just like you would with a human. The only thing I wanted to point out here is that I was advised not to use Dettol on their wounds. Instead, I was told to use saline solution to clean them.
Whether you are in the car or outside it, you must watch your dogs carefully, especially in hot weather. If they get heatstroke things could get pretty ugly pretty fast. On my last visit to Goa I wanted to take the dogs to Butterfly beach. I got a bit late while setting out in the morning. The result? I reached the parking spot for Butterfly beach after 8am. The sun was already out and getting hot. 5 minutes into the walk I noticed Bella whine in a way that was not normal so I stopped in a place with shade and gave her some water. She lapped it all up, which made me think she may be feeling too hot. So, I immediately abandoned the walk and went back to the car and the moment I reached the car she ran under it and lay down in the shade. Seeing that I opened the car, started it, switched on the AC and put her in the car once it had cooled down a bit. It was a close call.
Enjoying the Stay
Taking your dogs on a road trip and a vacation fundamentally alters the plan. An altercation with others over dogs can change the mood of any trip very quickly so let’s now talk about some things that could help minimise the chances of unnecessary bickering.
Impact on activities
When you have your dog(s) with you, there could be some places you can’t go as pets are not allowed. This could cover sight-seeing spots, monuments, national forests, etc. So, how can you manage these? There are three options, one is to leave your dogs back at the hotel with one of the people from your travel group. The other is to leave them behind alone in the room, provided they can behave and the hotel doesn’t object. The last option is to leave places that don’t allow dogs out of your itinerary.
One suggestion from me here would be to book pet-friendly hotels which have some ground around them so that your dogs can run around for a while and play freely.
Harness, Not Collars
Not only is this a personal preference of mine but I think it is better than collars; especially when travelling. I prefer a harness because it spreads the load along the shoulders instead of putting pressure on the neck. It is also more comfortable and easier to have when attaching them to the dog seat belt.
Short vs Long Leash
On long walks I prefer to carry a 20 ft long leash with me so that the dogs can explore peacefully. I avoid using it around tight spaces, near waterfalls or climbs but if it’s a nice trail then a long leash works best. You can carry both when travelling to keep your options open.
Care for Others Around You
This is where the temperament of your dog comes into the picture. If they are reactive and not very friendly, do not let them off the leash. If they are not comfortable with other dogs, don’t force interaction because that creates the potential for a fight. Even if your dog is friendly and on a leash, make sure they don’t keep approaching strangers unless that person has shown an interest in them. Not everyone is as comfortable with dogs as you and I, and forcing dogs on people who are not comfortable is just wrong.
Hygiene: Wet Wipes, Poop Bags and Towels
This is an important one. Always carry poop bags with you to pick up after your dog. Have pet-friendly wet wipes with you so that you can clean them while on the road. And keep their towels handy so that if they get wet or dirty you can easily wipe them off
Listen to your dog
Sounds strange? Well, it really isn’t and it is probably your best guide when travelling with dogs. By listening to them, I mean make sure you have a strong baseline of what is normal behaviour for your dog and what is not. This will hopefully help you spot trouble early enough for you to intervene. Remember the tale of Bella in Goa which I narrated a little earlier in this article?
Conclusion
The most crucial thing when travelling with dogs in India is to have fun and enjoy it. And the best way to do that is to make sure that you are prepared, you know all the rules, and you keep them safe and comfortable. Apart from that, the only other thing you need to make the trip happen is a CAN DO attitude and lots and lots of photos for your social media.
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