Traveling Crate and suggestions

[kristier25]

Hi everyone,

The boys and I will be traveling from Texas to Georgia to visit my family in late July. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for travel crate size. They have the midstage crates at home but I do not plan on taking those with us. This will be the boys first trip and it will be a 14 hour one...I welcome any suggestions that will make their trip as comfortable as possible.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Let's get a couple members here who travel with Bully's!
@Davidh... [MENTION=8699]Casper[/MENTION]

 

[Casper]

I have no problems with travel with my Bully's. Rocky and Rambo wear a harness, That I found at Pet Smart, that is a step in Harness, and is very comfortable, It also snaps together on their back, and has the two "D" rings on top of the clasp that holds the harness together just in case the plastic snap were to break, Here is a picture of it…


Then I went to Amazon, and I ordered a Pet Safety restraint, It's a strap that fastens into the child car seat restraint in your back seat, You should have four (4) of them in your back seat, The other end fastens to your pet….. Here is a Picture of it….

This safety restraint comes in different lengths, and is adjustable. Recently, I traveled from Lake City FL to New Orleans LA with my Bully. I set the restraint long enough to allow his movement in the rear seat, to sit, Lay or stand, and even jump up on the seat and look out the back window, But also short enough to keep him from jumping across the center console into the front seat. Both my Bullys are clumsy on car rides. Rambo and Rocky will fall over in the seat when I turn, They will fall to the floor board from the seat when I hit the brakes. I am a safe driver, They just are not car steady. They both use the restraint to balance themselves, Which allows for a much better ride for them. The restraint is also made as a safety seat belt in case of a collision. At a low speed or city accident, I have no doubt my Bully would be safe, using this restraint, at High speeds, it's a gamble for anyones survival. Also, Pet Smart and probably Amazon, sells a seat cover, That covers your back seat, personally, my seats are cloth, which allows my kids to grip and hold on better. Another helpful tip, Get a plastic water bottle fill it with water and chill, Teach your bully to drink from the bottle, Slow, small amounts, no mess, This way in transit, if he does get anxious, or warm, you can always cool him down with chilled water. The last thing I do, is keep an ice chest in my back seat floor board, filled with Ice, Drinks for me and my boys, Both love ice cubes, So thats an added treat to travel. When we go outside for walk time, They both head straight to my truck, wanting to go ride. The last thing I'll add, is I don't use a crate to transport either in travel, My thought is the bottom tray is plastic, No grip for their claws, and footing would be poor at best, Hitting your brakes in a hurry, would seem to be a nightmare, and it seems to me, may cause injury, sliding into the cage walls. The last thing to say is there are Rest Areas with security about 30 minutes apart from one another. Each of these rest areas have an area to walk your pet, marked off. Traveling with your pet is simple and easy, safety and common sense in mind, I have no fear traveling anywhere by car with mine, wouldn't hesitate one minute over it. Also, There are plenty of Pet Friendly Hotels, So if your traveling further than a one day drive, Just do a little planning ahead of time. My Boys love car rides, and trips…. They can't get enough of it. If you have any questions or anything I haven't covered, please feel free to ask.

 

[truffle shuffle]

i do the same with Chunk, use a harness and restraint, i put his be in the backseat, when we stop for gas and a potty break we'll take turns doing sprints with Chunk so by the time we hit the road again he's sleepy! We also give him a toy for chewing on (with out a squeeker) and hes great!

 

[bullmama]

I always use a crate, the kind for cargo travel, very solid hard plastic. After reading about the 100% failure rate on the dog harness/safety restraints I will never use one of those.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Vikinggirl]

We haven't been on any long car trips with the dogs yet, but we do take them in the car locally a lot, like to the park, Petsmart, etc. we have a SUV with a hatchback, we have a dog car barrier at the back, and we lay a blanket down and the two of them lay down together in the back.

 

[dalmatina38]

Amber is a world class traveler with my husband and daughter; they have made multiple trips to Grapeland Texas where our land and cattle are and some things that come to mind are: nice sleeping pallet for her to get comfortable in the back seat, spray bottle with a mix of water and lemon juice just in case she has breathing issues (hasn't been a problem, just are prepared), toys, a good harness and leash (tags for identification or permenant markings on harness with contact information), food and water with bowls, first aid kit (always in the truck anyway), wipes, frebreeze for those gassy moments, puppy pads and towels just in case they get sick, a can of carpet shampoo if you have to clean anything up, and make sure you lock the windows so they can only be opened by the driver (Amber likes to put her paws on the arm rest and opened the window once, that got our attention), ice chest full of ice (they love ice on the road and anytime else), and a roll of paper towels because you just never know. I think that about covers it, if I think of anything else I will add to the list but this is what we do every time mine are on the road. We usually stop every two hours and make sure you check for goat head stickers so they don't get in their paws, we experienced that once, upset us all. As for the crate, we have harnesses because the crates are ok if no one else is traveling in the backseat but we usually have our daughter in the back with the bullies and each has their own seatbelt and everyone is secured. Good luck.

 

[Davidh]

We use wire crates when we travel. They have excellent air flow, easy to fold up and carry into a hotel, plus the bullies have some room to move around and lay down. We travel quite a bit from Texas to Georgia, sometimes Florida and Mississippi for dog shows and to our handlers house. The bullies do great. I have found when it's time to stop and take a bathroom break and walk the bullies, I stop at the state rest areas, as the restrooms are usually clean, not a bunch of people around the dog walk area, and they have security at night. My SUV can get two 36" wire crates in it, and still has room for our stuff.

 

[Baconator]

We went on vacation and took Bacon's normal crate from home since it takes up no room once it's folded down. When we travel Bacon sits on the floor at the passengers feet, we use the travel harness if we are in the car alone with him because it's against the law to not have them secured in NJ.

 

[hnhammond]

You are driving not flying correct?

If driving, we do the same as everyone else. Tilly has a seatbelt for the car (and we'll put her bedding back there too for long drives), and fold up her wire MidStage crate into the trunk. It's really easy to just set it up again, and it's actually safer to have the pup in a seatbelt than the crate in the car. Happy travels!

 

[kristier25]

Thank you for all the suggestions. There was alot of information that I didnt even think about..lol. I have some shopping to do!!! Thanks again.

 

[Jennifer Clark]

I have no problems with travel with my Bully's. Rocky and Rambo wear a harness, That I found at Pet Smart, that is a step in Harness, and is very comfortable, It also snaps together on their back, and has the two "D" rings on top of the clasp that holds the harness together just in case the plastic snap were to break, Here is a picture of it…
View attachment 47246

Then I went to Amazon, and I ordered a Pet Safety restraint, It's a strap that fastens into the child car seat restraint in your back seat, You should have four (4) of them in your back seat, The other end fastens to your pet….. Here is a Picture of it….
View attachment 47247
This safety restraint comes in different lengths, and is adjustable. Recently, I traveled from Lake City FL to New Orleans LA with my Bully. I set the restraint long enough to allow his movement in the rear seat, to sit, Lay or stand, and even jump up on the seat and look out the back window, But also short enough to keep him from jumping across the center console into the front seat. Both my Bullys are clumsy on car rides. Rambo and Rocky will fall over in the seat when I turn, They will fall to the floor board from the seat when I hit the brakes. I am a safe driver, They just are not car steady. They both use the restraint to balance themselves, Which allows for a much better ride for them. The restraint is also made as a safety seat belt in case of a collision. At a low speed or city accident, I have no doubt my Bully would be safe, using this restraint, at High speeds, it's a gamble for anyones survival. Also, Pet Smart and probably Amazon, sells a seat cover, That covers your back seat, personally, my seats are cloth, which allows my kids to grip and hold on better. Another helpful tip, Get a plastic water bottle fill it with water and chill, Teach your bully to drink from the bottle, Slow, small amounts, no mess, This way in transit, if he does get anxious, or warm, you can always cool him down with chilled water. The last thing I do, is keep an ice chest in my back seat floor board, filled with Ice, Drinks for me and my boys, Both love ice cubes, So thats an added treat to travel. When we go outside for walk time, They both head straight to my truck, wanting to go ride. The last thing I'll add, is I don't use a crate to transport either in travel, My thought is the bottom tray is plastic, No grip for their claws, and footing would be poor at best, Hitting your brakes in a hurry, would seem to be a nightmare, and it seems to me, may cause injury, sliding into the cage walls. The last thing to say is there are Rest Areas with security about 30 minutes apart from one another. Each of these rest areas have an area to walk your pet, marked off. Traveling with your pet is simple and easy, safety and common sense in mind, I have no fear traveling anywhere by car with mine, wouldn't hesitate one minute over it. Also, There are plenty of Pet Friendly Hotels, So if your traveling further than a one day drive, Just do a little planning ahead of time. My Boys love car rides, and trips…. They can't get enough of it. If you have any questions or anything I haven't covered, please feel free to ask.

Thank you so much this information is helpful for next year for us when we travel to Florida for vacation.

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3

 

[Lisabear123]

We took Brie on a 15 hour road trip from Georgia to NYC, for a week, then 5 hours to Cape Cod for a week. Then, we drove back from the cape to Georgia. We used her normal wire crate with her kong bedding it. Of course we stopped at about the half way mark and stayed in a pet friendly hotel overnight. We made several potty stops allowed her stretch her legs a little and gave her water every time we stopped. We brought dog first aid stuff, a bag w her toys, food, treats, water bowls, bottled water etc. she did fine.

 

[Jennifer Clark]

We took Brie on a 15 hour road trip from Georgia to NYC, for a week, then 5 hours to Cape Cod for a week. Then, we drove back from the cape to Georgia. We used her normal wire crate with her kong bedding it. Of course we stopped at about the half way mark and stayed in a pet friendly hotel overnight. We made several potty stops allowed her stretch her legs a little and gave her water every time we stopped. We brought dog first aid stuff, a bag w her toys, food, treats, water bowls, bottled water etc. she did fine.

I can see I will need to plan way ahead for this because I don't have anyone I can trust to care for him while we are away so I have to take him with.

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3

 

[Lisabear123]

We didn't either and I couldn't just board her somewhere. I needed to make sure she was going to be taken care of so I felt more comfy just taking her w us. She really did well. She needed the stops to pee, stretch her legs n drink etc but honestly she slept a lot of the time.