Good Vacation Manners for Your Dog

From LoveToKnow Dogs

To quote the Tiffany’s table manners book for teenagers opening line, "Good manners are as important as good grooming and good behavior," you could think they are talking about your dog and not really your teenager. How wonderfully universal manners are to us, whether it is about our dogs or our children or even applied to ourselves. I believe that when it comes to manners, we can never have too many and it not embarrassing to take a refresher course.

Are your dog's manners travel ready?

Time to Brush Up

Especially when it comes to our dogs after a long winter and a wild spring, the start of summer and the travel season is a wonderful time to begin. Make sure both you and your best friend are both in sync to get ready for all the hoopla of graduations parties, weddings, BBQs, holidays, swimming and general summer fun and sun. Hotel living, airline style travel and train car sleeper; you just want to be sure Fido and yourself are in top-notch style wherever you both may go this season.

Whether you are going to be staying at your in-laws home or a motel, a resort or a five star hotel, a camper, a tent, a mobile home, boat, yacht or even a summer home, you and your dog are going to need to follow basic manners and the rules of the house. At every home or establishment you go to, there are going to be different rules and the most basic thing for both of you is going to be flexibility. For a dog to have flexibility, he needs to be very well trained. First, let me explain why flexibility and having a well-trained dog go together. The better trained your dog is, the more confident he is. The more confident your dog is, the more flexible and the easier it is to work with your dog. Funny, it is one big circle. Start with the basics and keep going; the more you do, the easier your dog becomes.

Teach Vacation Manners with Clicker Training

I have become addicted to clicker training and if you do not have a clicker then I'd use a snap of my fingers, as this will work also. I have to tell you this has been by far the best training tool I have ever use with my three boys to date. I just snap my fingers these days and they come running so fast; I just love this new technique.

To start to train with the clicker or the snap of your fingers, start by doing an action he knows already and replacing the command with a snap or click. Then, once he has learned it. you can start to teach the new command with the snap or use the clicker. You can buy a clicker training device online or at any pet store for very little money. They are great because the dog can hear them very well with no confusion and you don't need to yell (for example, at a fancy hotel).

Here is something to keep in mind: it only take but a few poorly mannered pooches to leave a bad taste in a hotel or campground management's memory to go back to the policy of NO PETS ALLOWED. So this could be the number one reason as to why each season you should go over your dog's manners and do a ten minute session, five days a week until you and your dog are back in sync again.

What to Remember for Vacation

Barking--Does your dog bark? If you have a dog that does a lot of barking when you are not home, when you are at a hotel you should be considerate and bring along a training tool to make sure your dog will not bark if you have to leave your dog in the room alone. There are several different options available. The citronella spray stop barking collar, for example, is a style of a stop barking collar. You will want to test it out at home before you leave to make sure it is comfortable for Fido and that, in fact, it does work for your dog.
Does your dog chew up the carpet and furniture? If you have a chewer, it would be a good idea to bring along your dog's crate with you. Should you again have to leave your dog alone in the room for a period of time, then it is the safest idea all around. Your dog will not escape when housekeeping comes in, and this way he cannot bite a stranger nor can he chew up the room. So you now have saved on several things by crating him while you leave the room.
Accidents will happen. Pee pee and the occasional poo can and will happen. It is always a good idea to travel with your disposal poo bags and a spray odor remover for the occasional accident that may happen in the hotel room. Some hotels will have you put down a large room deposit and you will want to be sure to clean up the room before checking out, so you can get your deposit back.
Food--Even if you are staying at the Four Seasons, which is known for its wonderful menu for Fido, it is always best to travel with Fido's own food. If you desire to order a special treat for your baby, that can be done. But remember, not too much because this can lead to an accident in the room and an upset stomach. This is something you want to avoid, especially on holiday.
Remember to pack a first-aid kit and be sure to pack all your dog’s medication.
All of your dog's toys (within reason).
Life vest for swimming.
Ear cleaning wipes in case your dog is swimming. You want to keep his ears as dry as you can.
The best advice I ever received when traveling with my dogs was to take a picture before we all invaded the room. This way I could remember what it looked liked when I checked in, and what I needed it to look like when I checked out.