Have you ever looked at families traveling with a pet and wondered how they actually do it? Here are some things you can do.
It does take quite a bit of preparation and organization, but this is all more than worthwhile. You will find it rewarding when you discover how much fun traveling with a pet can be. And the whole family will be happy to have brought your pet along.
Paperwork for Traveling with a Pet
The paperwork is often what puts many people off when it comes to traveling with a pet.
Understanding what you need can definitely be a little confusing, so here’s a little help. Check out the tips below:
- A health certificate signed by a vet. This usually needs to be issued within 10 days of travel if you are flying
- Vaccination certificates, including rabies
- Up-to-date identification tags, with both your home address as well as your travel address
- An in-date ESA letter signed by a licensed medical health professional (only required if your pet is an emotional support animal)
- A copy of your pet’s medical records
Advanced Planning
Traveling with a pet requires a good amount of advanced planning. Plus, there are a few other people who will need to get involved too.
You should begin by contacting your travel company or airline. Find out about their pet policy, as well as the paperwork that they require.
You can then move on to contacting your vet. This will enable you to book your pet in for a health check in order to acquire a health certificate in the time frame indicated by your travel company.
You will then need to speak to your family-friendly hotel representative to confirm that pets are allowed. Fortunately, finding pet-friendly accommodation is becoming increasingly easy nowadays. They are pretty much offered whether you may be staying at a hotel, motel, campground, or anywhere else.
If your pet is an ESA…
All accommodation providers are legally obliged to allow your pet to stay.
However, you should still speak to them in advance to let them know that you will be bringing an animal with you.
Your Pet’s Temperament and Personality
Every pet is an individual, meaning that not all pets will be suitable for travel.
Some pets simply don’t have the right temperament. This could be because they are easily stressed, overly anxious, extremely hyperactive, or anything else.
Some pets may also have an illness or medical condition that may make traveling tough.
While this may be the case, the majority of pets out there actually take to travel pretty well. You can test this out too by traveling for shorter distances with your pet.
A short road trip, train journey or boat ride are great ways to gauge your pet’s reaction to all of the new stimuli encountered while traveling.
Basic Obedience Training
If you have a dog or a cat, then basic obedience training is also important. A well-trained pet is always going to be so much easier to travel with!
Traveling with a pet may seem like a lot of work, but it really is worth it. Not only are you likely to have so much more fun while you’re away, thanks to your pet being there, but traveling together is also such a fantastic bonding opportunity.
Furthermore, you wouldn’t have to worry if your precious pet is being taken care of well at home.
Assign Responsibilities to the Kids
Just like at home, rotate the responsibilities pertaining to the taking care of your pet while traveling. Assign some duties to your children. Traveling means extra work and all will be well if all family members can take turns taking care of your pet.
Ahw ❤❤❤ we have a pet dog and her name is Bea. We love her so much that let her travel with us (our province in Cebu). It was a 5 hour bus trip and good thing my sister did a research to ensure Bea is not stressed while traveling.
In the bus, Bea was very bit anxious but she was able handle the entire trip.
We let her swim! I can never forget her face and short legs when she started to swim ?
I learn a lot from this blog post. We also have pet named “Gudeng” (dog). Medyo problemado din kami kapag may lakad kami kasi wala kami idea kung pano sila ita-travel. This article gives me a lot of informations on how to do it right.