Does anyone else travel alot with their dog or dogs? Robb, my
>previous main traveling companion, always ate a little less on the road but
>not like Quinn. Quinn likes traveling and he doesn't have a nervous
>temperment but boy does he stop eating. >
>        jan
>
>

Hi Jan,

I've logged 1,000s of miles of travel with my dogs to destinations
near and far, staying with friends, at motels and camp grounds.
Here are some things I've discovered.

Dogs get badly dehydrated by car travel (in my case truck travel)
so I always bring lots of water and make frequent stops. At every
stop I pour water into their dish and encourage them to have
a little. Of course, more water means more pit-stops, but walks
help reduce travel stress.  Signs of stress include excessive
panting, tail wagging, or restlessness.  Sometimes a quite walk
helps - as far from highway noise as possible, but sometimes
just parking somewhere for a while helps more.  While we are on
the road, the truck becomes "home" and the dogs feel safe sitting
inside it on their own dog beds. Of course NEVER ever do I leave
them in the truck alone - dogs can get heat stoke in just a few
minutes in a closed vehicle.  Also, I NEVER ever trust my dogs
to voice command on the road. I always use a chain, slip collar
instead of their usual buckle-type collar and have the leash
attached before I step out of the truck near any super highway.

To keep them eating (I've had the same problem of not eating on
the road) I bring their familiar dog dishes and dry food, but
I stock small cans of premium dog food and mix it in. This has
never failed to spark their appetites.  I try to keep their
meal time the same as at home.  I have also found my dogs
quite anxious (restless, panting, not eating) the first
few travel days - especially if we stop at a motel. I found
it worth the effort to bring their dog beds into the motel
room.  It lets them know we were here to stay (at least for
today).  I also let them take a quite walk just before dinner
and keep the first travel day short.

If you have to stay at a motel, the Red Roof Inn, welcomes
dogs at all their motels.  I keep a directory of all the
Red Roof Inns in my truck and plan my stops.  Of course
one of our favorite trips is to Vermont where we get to
run through the fields and woods and never worry about
noisy truck stops.



Pam