A pooch can be a great travel partner, but pup ownership is also a lot of work. Training and caring for your dog involves time and cash, and adopting a puppy is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’ll focus on the negative aspects since most people looking for a pup are already aware of the positives. This is a pretty extensive question; so let’s assume you have already found a breed that will work for you
Young puppies are about twenty times more difficult for the first 1-2 years than an adopted pooch. If you don’t spend the time, you’ll pay in other ways (like lost shoes, noise complaints from next-door neighbors, hostile behavior, and more). It will take multiple hours every day to educate and exercise your pup, but it will really payoff in the long run. A good way of controlling your dog while traveling is by using a martingale collar or soft choke collar. Also, nails need to be clipped, hair needs to be brushed, and they need to be bathed. And speaking of fur, it will be almost everywhere. It will be on your clothes, in your child’s mouth, and sometimes in your food. Lint rollers are great, but you’ll never achieve pre-dog levels again. I find my doggy’s fur at friend’s houses that my pup has never visited. It’s a torment.
If you live somewhere where lead laws are strictly enforced (or somewhere that does not have open places where pooches can play unleashed with each other), you’ll probably need to pay for dog day care or a dog walker. Without this, your dog will likely form aggressive behaviors toward other canines, which can be very alarming. Pooches are inherently social and separating them can be very destructive.
Outdoors / Adventure Travel
Do you have squirrels, skunks, pigs, or other potentially dangerous or undesirable wild animals in your region that your doggy will bump into? What will you do to stay away from conflicts?
You’re committing to coming home right after work for the following 9-14 years of your life. What will you do when you take a trip? Are you going to guarantee your dog is socialized well enough that you can leave him with another dog owner or dog day care center? Unless you expect to seriously breed dogs, you’ll need to sterilize your dog. Not only do you avoid surprise puppies, but also it lowers aggressive and odd behaviors (by yours as well as other dogs).
You’ll require to learn how to discipline your dog and set boundaries, and you’ll need to be honest with yourself about your capacity to apply them. Even if they’re arbitrary, boundaries are vital to help keep your doggy comfortable with you being in charge. With larger pooches, if you struggle to establish boundaries and keep disciplined conduct, they could become a very major issue.
Traveling with Children
It can be very tough to travel with your pup if you have children. Our doggy was incredibly well behaved around food before we had our child, but now he’ll loot food from plates near the floor (a mortal sin in my home). Getting this under control with a newborn that tosses meals as a sport is demanding.
As unfortunate as it is, your doggy will die and you’ll probably be the one to decide when that will be. You’ll also probably be there throughout the final moments. I’ve had bad dreams about this myself. I favor the terminology of “adopting a pooch” to “purchasing a dog” because this is more about family and love than it is about a possession. This is a lifetime– your dog’s life commitment and I recognize I didn’t entirely realized what that implied until I had a doggy of my own. I believe the theme of what I’m saying is go into it counting on it to be hard. If you’re all set for a challenge, you’ll be far more prepared to handle it and you’ll be conscious of the parts that go well. Happy travel!
This author’s life has been an adventure. He has visited over 30 countries, and lived in four different states. He is a traveler at heart, but he also loves exploring the outdoors on his bicycle or hiking with his canine companion.
