I need advice on travelling alone, by minivan, with two dogs--from NY to ME.?

I do a lot of traveling with my dogs here in the south where it is a lot hotter. I travel late at night when they are bed down in the back, it is cooler out and I don't feel so bad leaving them in the car for about 5 minutes after the a/c has been on for a long time. The car does not heat up quick like it does in the summer sun. As a matter of fact, my black car still feels cool after I go to the bathroom, get the dogs out and walk them for a few minutes. Maybe parked for 20 minutes and it is still cool in there.

Your instincts are good. If you are a night owl, travel at night. If you are a morning person, leave at like 5am when it is still cool out. You should be able to get to your destination before the hottest part of the day.

Unfortunately, you may not take dogs into public restrooms at rest areas. I would also advise against tieing them out. People are sometimes mean to animals or steal animals or if another animal comes up, you are not there to controle your dogs.

Also, do not give your dogs ice. Especially to cool down. They do not cool like we do, and so it can cause the stomache to cramp and start bloat. "room temp" water is best for a thirsty dog. If one of your dogs starts to over heat, take a cool damp towl and put it on the inner thigh. offer tappid water and turn up the a/c.

Best of luck... and no matter how much they beg, you be the one to do the driving.

The best thing you can do is leave about 3 a.m. Have everything packed the night before so all you need to do is toilet the dogs and yourself and get in the van. Do not slurp away on coffee, water, or soda. Just sips if necessary. That should eliminate at least 2 of the bathroom stops. You will be traveling in the cooler part of the day. Also, if you are driving along an interstate, there is always a place for you to toilet the dogs. However, I would feel much better if you would just stop along a side road somewhere. Sometimes those rest stops have undesirable people lurking around. Also, you cannot bring the dog into the restroom. Why not bring a friend along and your problem is solved. Wouldn't you like to enjoy your vacation with a friend anyway?

Well, I think it is possible, as long as you are talking about taking 2 adult dogs in and not puppies. If you get them from a rescue organization that works with foster homes you could be lucky to get one that live in the same household already. Also the foster home can already tell you if and how long the doggies can be left alone and if they have to be crated or not. Maybe you can have a dog walker at least for a few months, so that they can adjust to be left that long by and by. I live with a male Aussie (10-12years) and a female Aussie mix (15months) in a two room apartment. My dogs get a 2 hours walk - including some obedience training to tire them out mentally - before I leave for work at 8.45am and when I return around 3.15pm they get another long walk. Plus that I visit nursing homes with them a few times a months after work. Of course there are breeds that don´t need that much exercise. :-) When my old female Aussie died last August I got the new female just a couple of weeks later because my male was literally depressed. They had only a few days to get along and than I had to go back to work. Here in Germany it is not very common to crate dogs. (Even if my have crates and go in if told. But only because I got my old female from the US.) So they had the run of the apartment together with my two cats. Only thing that ever happened is that the female chewed up a book. (And yes I know that this could also depends on the dogs and is not always the best way to handle things.) So if you made up your mind if you really want to have dogs and how much time before and after work you are able and willing to put into walking and training do some research what breed or mix you want . Then find a rescue organization and contact them. Tell them your circumstances and I´m sure you´ll find the right dogs for you. I think it is a good idea that you want to get them when you are off for a couple of weeks so you can bond. Good luck!

One thing I would make sure that you do when traveling with your dogs it to take along another set of keys to your van. Leave the van on with the ac running but, please set the emergency brake!!! You hear horror stories where vans are left running and someone bumps the gearshift.

Try to stop places that other dog owners may not stop, when I travel with my dogs I always worry about what my dogs can pick up in "pet only areas". Like parvo, fleas, etc. Just take along a method of cleaning up after your dogs and normally no one says anything.

Good luck and safe trip.

I travel from SE MASS to northern ME about 3X's/year with my black lab, the 3 rest stops I stop at are very dog friendly, I would leave him in the car with the a/c running, bring a spare car key so I could lock up, most rest areas have dog areas to walk, water, let them do their thing, The dogs and you should be fine!!

Enjoy your trip.Go ahead and travel with them . my uncle of 82 years old went from Miami to San Antonio in only 2 days with 2 dogs and a bird, He stay at a motel with the pets one night , he park with the ac on for only 3 o 4 minutes and took water and food for himself and the dogs and no problem .Enjoy your trip.

well when i went to a restroom i saw 5 dogs in there and the workers were petting him. there not a loud in the bathroom so if you have a husband or someone your going with to hold the dog while you go to the bathroom and then you hold it while he/she goes. when you are driving keep the air on high so they dont get ho i sujest you take them out every 3 hours. when you stop at a rest stop let them poop and have waer and food.