My household loves travelling and it's something that we enjoy doing with our two pooches. Travelling with our furry friends can be an amazing bonding experience, but it requires careful planning and the appropriate accessories to ensure a smooth and enjoyable journey. Dog travel accessories and gadgets have been evolving over the last few years to make travelling more comfortable and safer for everyone involved, but it can be difficult to choose the correct equipment for your journey.
Whether you're planning a road trip or a simple day out, here's our comprehensive guide to the best dog travel accessories and gadgets in 2024.
The Perfect Car Organisation
This is a major one for us because both of our dogs are huge shedders. We use a boot cover in our car, which has saved us hours of vacuuming and cleaning. Owning a St. Bernard is no small feat, as we're dealing with muckiness and copious amounts of drool daily . Our car is currently organised using the products below, which we've tested on dozens of road trips both big and small, and can't recommend them enough.
PetProved Dog Travel Crate
For our smaller dog, we use a soft crate for his car journeys. He's not a good traveller and if left attached on the back seat to a seat belt, he would shriek the entire car ride. This crate has been a blessing for us as it replicates his at-home crate and he feels safe inside. Often we'll give him a long-lasting chew to enjoy during the journey and we won't hear a peep the entire ride.
The Toozey Car Boot Protector
Another tested and loved product for us - this particular boot cover was a game-changer with its waterproof material and side protection. As mentioned, we own a St. Bernard that gets drool absolutely everywhere, so we need something that has high sides and is easy to vacuum and wipe down. Before getting this boot cover cleaning the car truly was a battle and sometimes I swore that I would never let the dogs back into it! However, we all know that isn't the case as we love to bring our pooches out on adventures. This boot protector comes in standard and large sizes, as well as premium styles. We use the standard size for our Jeep and it works a treat.
Pecute Dog Travel Bag Large
Another beneficial item we've added to our travel arsenal is this travel bag. We often leave it sitting on our porch ready to go with food, treats, water, and microfiber towels. Whenever we decide to go out on an impromptu daytrip, this bag has been the perfect thing to grab and go. There's a tonne of different options on Amazon (and some other brands available from independent suppliers in the United Kingdom), but this is the one we purchased due to its cost-effectiveness.
The Best Accessories for Feeding and Hydration
If your dogs are anything like ours, they love to eat. They also love to drink copious amounts of water and get drool and slobber absolutely everywhere during car journeys. Anyway, we can't hate them for it. Some of the accessories below you probably already have in your collection of doggie things, so we're going to keep this one short.
Collapsible Food and Water Bowls
These are perfect for space-saving and so convenient for feeding and watering your dog on the go. We need larger bowls for our giant breed dog, so have purchased this 1000ml Collapsible Travel Silicone Bowl in the past.
Travel Water Bottle
Having a bottle with an attached bowl makes it easy to hydrate your dog without spills. The quality of designs can differ for these, but I typically go for something like this for hiking and longer walks.
Portable Food Container
It goes without saying that if you're on a longer journey, you need a container to keep your dog's food fresh and easy to access. These Collapsible Silicone Food Storage Containers aren't specifically sold as a dog product, but we throw them in a backpack if we're going out on a day trip for both our dogs and they work a treat. Once empty, collapse them down for extra space.
Entertainment For When You're Travelling
Traveling with your dog can be a delightful experience, but keeping your furry friend entertained during the journey is also essential to avoid restlessness and ensure a smooth trip. Whether you're embarking on a long road trip or a train journey, here are some of the best entertainment options to keep your dog happy and engaged while traveling in the UK (and beyond!)
Benebone Wishbone Dog Chew Toy
Shaped like a wishbone and infused with real flavours, the Benebone Wishbone Dog Chew is designed to be easy for dogs to hold and chew. It's available in bacon, chicken, and peanut butter flavours. The Wishbone is virtually indestructible and tough for dogs who are aggressive chewers. While they are long-lasting, we recommend discarding or recycling after a month, or sooner, to be on the safe side. If more than a sugar cube's worth of product is missing, it’s time to go.
PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher
If your dog loves to play fetch, this automatic ball launcher is a great option during travels. It is relatively portable and can keep your dog entertained by tossing balls for them to retrieve, even in confined spaces like a hotel room. The Ball Launcher can function off batteries for the outdoors but also includes an indoor plug.
Safety Accessories
Going beyond food and entertainment, the next couple of items on our list have been so important for our travels with dogs. Of course, you can always use standard dog gear and accessories while travelling, but these accessories provide us with extra peace of mind while staying overnight in locations that are foreign to our pooches.
LED Dog Collar
Using a bright LED collar for your dog is honestly one of the best travel accessories I've purchased. They're cheap and fairly replaceable in case they get lost, but they help a lot when we're camping. Good collars will be exceptionally bright and you should be able to see your dog from miles away (not that they should be that far away!) This is a decent option available on Amazon.
GPS Devices
We've discussed some of the available options for GPS devices in the United Kingdom previously. We've all heard horror stories of going on holidays and the family dog escaping. I couldn't count on two hands how many times I've seen a frantic post on Facebook about families having to return home without the dog, having no idea where they've gone. So the solution to this? A GPS device that can attach to your dog's collar! One of our recommendations is the Tractive GPS Dog Tracker.
While travelling with your dog can be a joyous adventure with the right preparations, it's important to remember the essentials.
We hope you keep some of these options in mind for your next holiday or car trip so that you can make sure your furry friend is as happy and comfortable as possible on your travels across the UK. Safe travels!
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