September 1, 2015
Ensuring Safety When Out with Pets
Ensuring Safety When Out with Pets
Wanting to share his knowledge about animals to everyone, Jordan Walker pursued the career of being a content curator for the Coops And Cages blog. Today, Jordan shares with us some safety tips when travelling out with pets.
Pets are considered a part of the family. In every family activity, pet lovers make sure that their pets are not left behind, such as travelling. Hence, travelling with pets is now common these days. We see lovely pets hogging the passenger’s seat on vehicles, or securely seated at the back of pickup trucks.
There’s nothing wrong with driving around with a pet and sometimes circumstances will call for it. However, one should ensure that this is done properly as safety is always a concern especially when they are in a moving vehicle and would be brought out in public. Below are some travel tips to help you out.
Prepare them for the unknown
Travelling for the first time with your pet can solicit various reactions from them. Often, you won’t know what to expect. Just like shoes, it would be better if you “break them in.” You can easily do this by going around the block or circling the neighbourhood a few times. This is important as you will be able to detect if the pet gets anxious, cautious or suffers motion sickness. Also, it helps if you feed your pet hours before the trip and not just before.
Consider Crates
While some pets may feel comfortable roaming around the car, it isn’t especially safe especially if you are driving alone with them. Crates come in handy for such occasions as they keep the pets in place which minimises distractions on the driver’s part. If you feel that your pet won’t grow fond of crates, try to get them acquainted first by leaving the crate around the house. Sooner or later, their curiosity will get the best of them and soon they’ll get used to it.
Rest Stops
Pets aren’t so accustomed to travelling for long periods of time without using their own feet. As such, it is important to allow them to go out for some time to stretch, exercise and do their deeds. You’d want to take them out every one to two hours so as to keep them from being bored.
These rest stops can also be considered opportunities to feed the pet. Also, be sure to give it enough time to digest after feeding it. You wouldn’t want motion sickness to kick in when you resume the trip.
It is also a good practice to keep the pet on a leash whenever you exit the vehicle. If they find themselves in an environment other than one they’re accustomed to, they may react differently. If you’re unlucky, they could grow violent. In order to minimise the possibility of tragedies, just keep them on a leash.
Travel Kits
Like us, pets would also do well with a travel kit packed. This helps ensure that the vital things are close at hand. Things to bring include wet wipes, travel bowls, bandages, leash, toys, medication and food among others.
Travelling with pets has become a pretty common occurrence. People who consider doing this should always keep the pet’s safety as well as theirs and others in check. By doing so, we help continue to promote a happy and safe community for both humans and animals.
Author: Jordan Walker
Jordan is the lead content curator for Coops and Cages as well as a couple of other pet related blogs. His passion for animals is only matched by his love for ‘attempting’ to play the guitar.