A great vacation always starts with being packed and prepared, especially when you’re traveling with a dog. This post lists all of the dog essentials I’ve had success with when traveling with my dog. Now that they’ve been tried and true, I won’t travel with my dog without them!
Bringing your dog on a road trip with you is THE BEST. Yes, you’ll have to adjust your plans and make some sacrifices compared to traveling without a dog, but it’s so worth it.
One of the best ways to set you and your dog up for success on your road trip is to pack all the essential gear. Below are the products I use for my dog when we travel. Some of them have been absolute lifesavers!
What to bring for a dog on a road trip
Before trekking out on your next road trip adventure, make sure you’ve packed the following:
- Water & food bowls
- Treats
- Bones & favorite toys
- Dog bed
- Blanket or car seat cover
- Harness
- 6 ft leash
- 15 ft leash
- Medication
- Poop bags
- Lint roller
- Crate
- Muzzle
- Towel
Check out some fantastic products below if you need to stock up on any of these road trip dog essentials.
Water & Food Bowls
This set is BRILLIANT. I’m so glad I purchased this doggy travel pack before a 6-week road trip with my dog. It came in handy over and over again.
It comes with two collapsible bowls, which are excellent on the road. The food containers are big enough to store about a week’s worth of food for my 70 lb dog. The bag has loads of pockets to stash away other goodies, like leashes, treats and toys.
This travel bag made it super easy to carry all of my dog’s must-haves in and out of hotels every day. The removable shoulder strap allowed me to bring in all my bags + my dog in one trip.
If you travel with your dog often and only consider one of the dog essentials on this list, this should be it!
Treats
These are the BEST dog treats for three reasons. First, they are small so they’re great for training and can be handed out liberally. Second, they are crunchy. If you leave one in your pocket, it won’t turn into a gunky mess. Third, and most notably, they smell fantastic. These literally smell like freshly baked blueberry muffins.
Bones and/or Favorite Toys
You know your dog best, so this one should come easily for you. If your dog loves fetch, don’t forget a toy or ball to use to tire them out. Do you have a tug-of-war fan on your hands? Don’t forget the rope!
My dog loves playing fetch with stuffed toys and chewing on bones, so I pack a couple of each.
Pro-tip: Bring some edible chews or a stuffed Kong for when you inevitably need to keep your dog occupied or distracted for a few minutes.
Dog Bed
Keep your dog comfortable by bringing their bed on your trip. This will give them something comfy to lay on in the car, somewhere familiar to sleep at night and is good for their joints after long days of exploring.
If you want to buy a new bed and you’re not in a rush, I recommend shopping around in-store for a dog bed. I’ve seen incredible sale prices at stores like Meijer and Target compared to beds on Amazon or at big box pet stores.
The bed linked above is a great one for the car or as a crate liner, but I’d be leading you astray to recommend a single bed – we’re not really committed to one yet.
My fluffy dog prefers a memory foam mat in warmer temperatures and a plush, cozy bed in winter. If your dog runs warm or cool, keep that in mind, along with the temperatures of where you’re traveling to.
Blanket/Seat Cover
If you know the secret to removing dog hair from the felty material on car floors and the backs of seats, then please share it with me. I’m convinced the only way I can ever get all the hair out is to pick each hair out by hand, which means the hair will be there forever.
To reduce the amount of loose dog hair that infiltrates your car, invest in some seat covers or bring a good old-fashioned blanket.
Taking a couple of blankets has always come in handy on trips with my dog. They protect your car seats, can act as a makeshift dog bed, protect Airbnb/hotel furniture, lay the groundwork for a picnic, can be used as a privacy curtain to change in your car and, of course, keep you warm.
I love, LOVE these blankets. You can buy them online or on the road since they often sell them at gift shops in touristy destinations. They’re super durable and get softer after each wash. If you’re a sucker for the colorful boho look, these are definitely a score.
Harness
I prefer using a harness over a collar for walks and travel. It’s more comfortable for my dog and it gives me more control over him while we’re walking than a collar does.
The front clip option is great for dogs that pull. When they tug, instead of dragging you, they are forced to spin around and face you. I’ve found using it to be super effective in discouraging pulling since pulling actually slows him down!
This harness is great because it has mesh padding on the inside to prevent chafing, comes in fun colors and has reflective strips for evening walks.
My dog is a 70 lb Australian Shepherd and the XL size fits him perfectly. All of the straps are adjustable, so if you’re in between sizes, size up and tighten the straps.
Read More: Hiking with Dogs | 9 Important Things to Know Before Your Next Adventure
6 ft Leash
The 6 ft leash you have, as long as it’s in working condition, is perfect. No need to buy a new one just for a road trip.
Keep in mind that many city ordinances that require dogs to be leashed (in parks, on hiking trails, etc.) specify a 6 ft leash or shorter. If you’re only going to bring one leash with you, let it be your normal 6-footer.
Don’t have a 6 ft leash? Head to any pet or department store and choose the one you like best. There are endless options online as well.
15 ft Leash
Where dogs are permitted off-leash, I love using this extra-long 15 ft lead. Letting my dog off leash makes me anxious since he’s been known to get reactive around strange people and dogs. This lead gives him enough freedom to run ahead and explore, while also leaving me with some level of control.
A super-long lead is also great for dogs that are still working on recall. They can be free to explore without you having to worry about them getting lost.
This lead comes in several fun colors. It also has a foam-covered handle and secured clasp. The foam handle makes for a very comfortable walking experience!
My only work of caution with a lead this long is that you’ll likely find yourself untangling your dog far more often than you would with a shorter leash.
Medications
Don’t forget to pack prescriptions or other medications your dog takes! If you’ll be traveling during your dog’s next dose of flea & tick preventative, bring that too.
Pro-tip: Pack their meds with something you look at every day, so you don’t forget about them, like with their food or in your toiletry bag.
Poop Bags
I’ve had dogs nearly my entire life. It wasn’t until very recently that I decided to give the poop bag keychains a try. I’LL NEVER GO BACK.
These things make so much more sense than stuffing a grocery bag (that probably has a hole in it) into my pocket. These also give me even more reason to use reusable bags at the grocery store since I don’t need the stash of plastic bags for doggy duty anymore.
This product makes the dog essentials list whether you’re going on a trip or not. If you walk your dog, you’ll love this thing. Game. Changer.
Check out this one. It even comes with a flashlight for nighttime walks.
Lint Roller
Thank goodness for the invention of the lint roller. It’s such a simple little tool, but it can help clean up some serious messes. It’s not only on the list of dog essentials but life essentials.
A lint roller can be used to do a once over on dog hair in your car, clean up hair on hotel bedding, make the sofa at your Airbnb look like it did when you first checked in and, of course, freshen up your clothes.
Any lint roller will do just fine, but I especially like these ones. They come with a nice bulky roll of sticky sheets that tear cleanly on the perforated lines.
Crate
Crating dogs can be a touchy subject these days. I’m pro-crate training puppies but my senior dog, on the other hand, hasn’t seen a crate in years now. There just hasn’t been a need for one.
That said, many pet-friendly hotels have rules that dogs must be crated in the room if left unattended. It’s also recommended that you crate your dog in the car for safety. Let’s chalk this one up to do what I say, not what I do. Or don’t. It’s honestly completely up to you.
For smaller dogs, untrained dogs or dogs that rely on their crate as their bed, there’s no reason not to bring it with you on your road trip. I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.
For dogs that aren’t used to a crate and well-trained dogs, I find it hard to justify buying one just for a trip. If I locked my dog in a crate after not having used one in so long and left him alone, he’d be terrified (and noisy about it)!
Just know that crating on the road is not a bad idea. Please use your own judgment on whether or not that makes sense for you and your dog.
AMENDMENT: I now have a puppy and could not survive without a crate. This soft crate has been a lifesaver on the road since it fits in my compact SUV and is collapsible. My Aussie fits well in the 36″ size.
Muzzle
This one is for all the fur buddies that need it to stay safe. There are two muzzle options out there: soft muzzles that wrap around the snout and basket muzzles.
Regardless of the type, muzzles are to be used as a short-term solution for barking, chewing, biting, etc. If you think your dog will need to be muzzled most of the trip, then I’d strongly urge you to reconsider taking them.
To read up on muzzles, check out this post on the AKC website: Dog Muzzles: When, Why, and How to Correctly Use Them.
I choose to muzzle my dog when passing through busy, indoor places, like hotel lobbies. He’s certainly a barker around strangers, so using a soft muzzle for the short time it takes to get from the car to our room keeps him quiet. As soon as we get into our room, we lose the muzzle.
This one gets some mixed reviews on Amazon, but I’ve had a lot of success with it. Kobe is muzzle trained, so he doesn’t try to pull it off. It’s padded and has soft edges, which feels far more comfortable than others we’ve used before. It’s also adjustable around the snout and head.
Towel
This is one of those dog essentials that few people think to bring, but it just always comes in handy. Whether you need to dry off your wet dog, sop up a spilled mess or clean muddy footprints on the floor, you can’t go wrong with a spare towel.
Stash an old towel in your car. Ideally, one that you wouldn’t mind throwing away if you had to. 9 trips out of 10, you’ll be glad you had it.
Pro Tip: Same goes for packing a spare set of utensils (fork, spoon, knife) and a few gallon-sized Ziploc bags for a road trip. They never don’t end up saving the day!
Read More: Bringing a Dog to a Hotel
That’s a wrap! These are my top road trip dog essentials to have you setting off on your next adventure well-prepared for the road ahead.
Is there anything missing from this list that you and your dog can’t live without while traveling? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
I hope your next road trip with your dog is the best adventure you’ve had yet.
Sincerely,
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