In just the past week or so, I’ve had clients chased from their home by the fires in Mariposa, a medical emergency, a family emergency, and a vacation that turned out to have some unexpected challenges.
Preparing Your Dog For Emergencies and Vacations
- Crate train your dog, even if you don’t plan to use it much. A dog that will settle in a crate will be much easier to bring along with you, wherever you land, and will be much safer in unfamiliar environments. Friends will be more likely to open a spare bedroom if your dog enjoys resting peacefully in the crate.
- Have a non-slip collar or harness, and consider double leashing. In times of chaos, a dog who usually sticks right by you may get startled and dart. Make sure the collar with the tags is not also the only collar the leash is attached to. You want ID on the dog if something does happen. If your dog is microchipped, at each vet check up have them scan for the microchip to make sure it’s still there. If your dog is not microchipped, consider having this quick and inexpensive procedure done at your next visit.
- Keep a backup of all your dog’s medical records on file, and I recommend also scanning them into your phone. It can be helpful to have a copy in your glove compartment as well. This way if you need to board without much notice, you’ll be covered. Keep in mind that an emergency that sends you from your house (whether fire, flood, lost electricity, earthquake, or tornado) may also knock your local vet off-line.
- Have any medications in a basket that can easily be grabbed on your way out.
- From an obedience perspective, practicing calm around new situations can be very helpful. If you know you’re planning to take your dog somewhere on vacation, get them some training in new environments beforehand. A dog that only practices in the home will not excel in new environments.
- When in doubt, in a new environment, use the crate or leash. Always have one more level of safety than you think you’ll need. Take a look at an impeccably trained police or military dog. Marvel at their good manners and precise behaviors. And then notice the backup safety precautions in place. Dogs that don’t normally act up may sense the tension or chaos, not to mention that we the people are also likely more tired than usual in these situations, and may be a step slow. At the end of a long stressful Thanksgiving, I once clipped two leashes to one dog, and zero leashes to the other. Double check all equipment in stressful situations.
- If you have a Canine Good Citizen title or something similar that shows your dog is well-behaved, it can be helpful to bring them along if you’re asking a place to “bend” the pet acceptance rules a bit.
- It may be tempting to give your dog some extra freedom to run off pent up energy. Be careful with this. Dogs that are not in their normal routine are more likely to dart and less likely to find their way back.
- Unsure what to do instead? Join the free Dogspring Secrets email list and keep your eye on your inbox. Upcoming topics include proven ideas on how to tire out your dog — mentally and physically — when lots of room to run is not an option.
- If you want something to practice today that will make future travel and emergencies easier, focus on long duration behaviors: settling on a mat (not just running to it and then hopping right off), staying in a down (for minutes not seconds), waiting at thresholds (door, gate, car, etc). I teach “settle on a mat” and other calm default behaviors in pretty much all our dog training programs, because this makes life easier in so many situations.
Stay safe, train consistently, and I’ll talk to you again soon!
If you’re looking for personalized help in your training or board and train for your dog, just send us a quick message below to let us know what you’re struggling with. Let’s see how we can help.
Nate Hess is a dog behavior specialist and the owner of Dogspring Training, LLC., which provides premium dog training and behavior services in Fresno and Clovis, California. He is a graduate of Stanford University, a member of the International Association of Animal Behavioral Consultants (IAABC), and an evaluator for the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and S.T.A.R. Puppy programs. He lives in Clovis, CA, with his wife, Elaine, and some lovely dogs. He has survived earthquakes, tornados, fire evacuations, snow storms, ice storms, flooding, blackouts and burst pipes.