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Essential dog gear to keep in your car

Here is a list of the dog gear I keep in the car for everyday use — some of these items are Chloe’s regular car equipment (like her car seat and a window shade), and some are things I’ve needed when a quick trip to the dog park turned into an unexpected afternoon away from home.

This is the kind of list I wish I had had when we first brought Chloe home — I would have bought everything on it before we picked her up, like a baby’s layette!

Snoozer Lookout car seat
Small towel (to improve the comfort of Chloe’s Snoozer)
Chew toy (usually a bully stick)
Treats
Gulpy dog water bottle
Chuckit! mini launcher and small tennis balls (all of the tennis balls recently disappeared from our local dog park, so now I come prepared)
Poop bags
Bitter Apple (to discourage Chloe from chewing on the door lock stem next to her)
Extra harness and leash
Window shade
Dog Bag collapsible crate (for when Chloe spends an afternoon at the office)
Travel bed (ditto)

I recently added a collapsible carrier to the list, but I haven’t had a reason to use it yet. It collapses neatly into a pancake shape, so it takes up little room, and I can imagine situations in which it would be useful. They haven’t occurred yet, but I’m ready.

Traveling by SuperShuttle with a dog

Photo by Steve Lyon

Photo by Steve Lyon

You’ve seen the SuperShuttle vans, and probably more than once — they’re blue, with gold lettering, and they’re all over the place — in 26 cities, it turns out, serving 33 airports. SuperShuttle’s like a shared taxi — the vans pick up and drop off passengers who live in roughly the same geographic area. You spend a little more time on the road, traveling to other passengers’ homes, but the price is pretty good.

A customer service representative told me that small dogs in carriers that can fit on your lap are allowed on board for no extra fee, but only one per passenger. Be sure to mention that you are traveling with a dog when you make your reservation (traveling to an airport) or when you meet your driver (leaving an airport), and be sure to make it clear what size your dog’s carrier is. If you are traveling with a carrier too large to fit on a lap, or with more than one carrier, call (800) BLUE-VAN (258-3826) ahead of time to discuss your options. [6/28/11 Chloe and I finally rode on a SuperShuttle van together this past weekend, going from SFO to downtown San Francisco, and no one turned a hair — I told the driver she was with me, but he never even looked at her carrier.]

I suggest, by the way, telling the reservations agent that your departing flight is leaving a half-hour or forty-five minutes earlier than it actually is. Otherwise, in my experience, vans sometimes arrive at the airport closer to departure time than I’d like (I prefer to get to the airport an hour and a half before a flight, especially with a dog). On one memorable occasion, the van broke down, and I was super-grateful for the extra hour’s cushion I had built in to our departure time.

Travel book review: The Pet Travel and Fun Authority

I kept hearing about this book, last published in 2001 and now out of print, and I finally bought a copy for myself. I was surprised to find that it’s a directory more than a guidebook — there is a bit of text at the beginning of each state’s listings, briefly describing the editors’ favorite dog-related activities in that state, but the bulk of the book consists of lists of dog-friendly places to “sit” (restaurants and shops — not very many of either), “play” (dog parks, dog camps, dog-friendly beaches, etc.) and “stay” (dog-friendly hotels).

Comments about the book on Amazon either praise the book as a invaluable resource, especially for dog owners on road trips, or lambast it for being incomplete and out of date. It is a bit out of date, of course, and it’s certainly incomplete. That said, it’s still a useful resource. The editors’ suggestions at the beginning of each state’s section, and for “Big City Vacations” (see page 12), are delightful and inspiring. Unlike the AAA Pet Book, reviewed in an earlier post, this book provides a list of the pet-friendly lodgings its editors like best in each state, and I appreciate that. The “blue ribbon” list for my own state of Washington is pretty good: I would replace some of the recommendations with hotels that have opened since 2001, and a couple of the listed hotels are now under different management, but it wouldn’t lead a visitor astray. Just be sure to call and confirm that a place you’re planning to visit still welcomes dogs, before you put your soda in the cup holder and turn on your driving music.

Amazon link:
The Pet Travel and Fun Authority: Best-of-State Places to Play, Stay & Have Fun Along the Way Guide (12th edition)

Fido Friendly magazine

I just received the first issue of my new subscription to Fido Friendly (August 2009), and I’ve dog-eared nearly every page in the extensive Travel section. The articles (three “notes” and eleven longer pieces) are informative and tempting. The locations range from Borrego Springs, CA to Madisonville, LA to Bruges, and include resorts, restaurants, campgrounds and dog-friendly cemeteries. Take a look at an issue — it certainly has me thinking about visiting places I would never have thought of otherwise.

I had signed up for the magazine thinking that it was exclusively focused on traveling with your dog, but it turns out that Travel shares the stage with Lifestyle, Health, Wellness and Fashion (why, I have to ask, are “Health” and “Wellness” separate categories?). Meh, is what I say to topics other than Travel, but you may feel differently. In any event, the travel section is good enough that I can live with the articles that don’t interest me.

Hands-free leash-holding: Clip on a carabiner

I first saw this on a dog-walking hip pack that I wasn’t otherwise enthused about, and I like it: You clip a carabiner or an S-Biner to your dog walking belt, or to a belt loop on your pants, and when you want to have your hands free you clip your dog’s leash handle to the carabiner. I’ve attached one to my OllyDog Walker, and I’ve used it a couple of times when I really wanted both hands free to pick up poop. It’s a simple idea that works beautifully. A low-end carabiner costs about $8, and an S-Biner is about half that price.

SnifNYCDogs and SnifBostonDogs shut down

In a couple of previous posts, I told you about the interactive dog maps offered by SnifNYCDogs and SnifBostonDogs. They were great, but if you click on the links I gave you, you can no longer reach them. I wrote to SNIF Tag and asked why. Here’s what they said: “Unfortunately, the SNIF Tag has recently been discontinued for sale.  As a result, we had to shut down all marketing-related efforts, including the Boston and NY blogs.”

Here’s hoping that someone buys SNIF Tag and decides to put the maps back up — they were a really nice resource.

Leashes for a small dog

A happy side-effect of getting a dog is that we’ve also gotten a lot of dog gear. I like gear. Looking at our bouquet of leashes, I thought I’d let you know which ones have worked best for Chloe, who’s fairly tall for a small dog (about 12″ high at the shoulders). The features we look for in a leash include: Sufficient length to allow a small dog room to move about 4-5″ away from us, a leash clip that won’t be forced open accidentally by pressure from the two metal rings on Chloe’s harness, a leash clip that swivels, and a comfortable handle.

We have a Flexi leash, but we only use it at the beach, for two reasons: We’re trying to train Chloe to trot nicely next to us, and it’s too easy to let her roam away on a retractable leash; and I don’t like the absence of a wrist loop on the Flexi leash. I fear dropping the handle and having Chloe take off after something tempting, and when I have to pick up poop, the handle is a pain to juggle. But it’s great at the beach, and I plan to buy a second one — the Classic Long Flexi — to give Chloe another seven feet to ramble with. Please note that I plan to buy the medium size, even though Chloe’s a small dog, because the medium leash clip is larger than the small clip — which is too small to safely contain the two metal loops on Chloe’s harness.

For everyday walking, though, our favorite is an Italian leather leash from Cinopelca. The Tubular Leash in Calfskin (look in the “Fashion” part of the site) is nearly perfect: The leash clip is on a swivel and the clip itself squeezes inwards (unlike normal leash clips, with their sliding trigger-type clip) so it won’t get pressed open by an unfortunate twist of your dog’s collar. The handle is snug, but my husband (who has very large hands) likes it because he’s confident it won’t slip off. The construction is excellent, the leather is beautiful and flexible, and the price is, well, high. It could also stand to be about 6″ longer. But I love it enough that I’ve bought two.

Other leashes we’ve tried include two from Stunt Puppy — as I said in a couple of previous posts, they are excellent products, but not meant for a dog under about 30 lbs. We also own RuffWear’s Knot-A-Leash, which is blessedly long, incredibly sturdy and secure (the clip is a carabiner that you screw down so it cannot come unclipped) and has a great padded handle — but the leash clip doesn’t swivel, so an active dog can kink it in a matter of minutes. I yearn for a Krebs Recycle leash, made of recycled climbing rope — they’re long, solidly-constructed, and super cool-looking, but I can’t love the trigger-style clip (even though it swivels).

We own, and used for a long time, the simple tape leashes that came with Chloe’s two Airness harnesses. They’re a nice freebie, but using them taught us to wish for a more secure leash clip and a padded handle, and to value a swiveling leash clip. Our first leash was a nylon leash with a nicely-padded handle from Petco or PetSmart — once again, we liked the padding and the swiveling clip, but the trigger-style clip was too small and tended to pop open if the loops on Chloe’s harness hit it just right.

Are there leashes you’ve used with your small dog and can recommend? I’d love to hear about them!

Dog jaunt: Alabama state parks with a dog

This year we went to a state park in southern Tennessee for my husband’s family’s reunion, but in past years we’ve gone to Joe Wheeler State Park in northwest Alabama. We didn’t have Chloe then, but she would have been welcome in three of the cabins. Highlights of Joe Wheeler’s pet policy? There is a fee of $10 per pet per night, and dogs must be leashed whenever they leave the cabin. Pets are not allowed on the beach or in the lodge or swimming pool. Bring documentation with you showing that your dog is up to date on her vaccinations, in case the park personnel ask for proof.

We stayed in the lodge when we visited, so I can’t comment about the cabins, but our experience was very positive: The lodge’s public rooms are attractive and welcoming, the guest rooms are basic but clean and pleasant, the pool and lake are great, and the restaurant is adequate.

Two other Alabama state parks have pet-friendly cabins, chalets or cottages: Cheaha State Park and Lake Guntersville State Park. In the remaining parks, dogs are allowed in the campgrounds. The rules regarding where dogs are allowed are generally the same as those for Joe Wheeler, but you should check with the park you’re visiting for specific rules.

Hunting season? Blaze orange for your dog

Each state has its own rules about hunting (in the case of migratory fowl, the states cooperate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to regulate hunting) and the dates of hunting seasons for different prey change a bit from year to year. Here in Washington there’s a spring wild turkey season (in about April and May), bear hunting begins in about August, and then nearly every kind of hunting is available from September to December. Some hunting, however, can happen year-round, e.g., hunting for mountain beaver, European rabbit and gophers.

If you’re going hiking or camping in the woods, therefore, you need to think about whether you’re likely to encounter hunters, and protect yourself and your dog accordingly. We used to strap a spare safety vest around our St. Bernard when I was growing up on a wooded Pennsylvania farm, but now there are safety vests made just for dogs. They’re generally sized for bigger dogs than Chloe, but Guardian Gear makes an inexpensive blaze orange safety vest with reflective stripes that will fit small dogs. The XS size is 8″ long, fits necks 10″-14″ and chests 12″ to 16″. The S size is 12″ long, fits necks 12″-16″ and chests 16″ to 18″.

An even cheaper option is the one I chose for Chloe: I bought her a blaze orange handkerchief for $1.99 plus shipping, and when it arrived I was pleased to find that it will easily tie around her neck and provide orange coverage on her shoulders. It’s not a perfect solution — no doubt she could shuck herself out of it with a little effort — but we aren’t serious hikers or campers and would likely only use it for casual hikes on trails. If your dog is likely to be running for some time off-leash in the woods, you would probably want to purchase a product that fastens more securely around neck and body, like the Guardian Gear vest.

Amazon links:
ORANGE – X-SMALL – Guardian Gear Bright Reflective Safety Vests
ORANGE – SMALL – Guardian Gear Bright Reflective Safety Vests
Camouflage/Hunting Cotton Bandanas

Biking with a small dog: Walky Dog Low Rider

In an earlier post I talked about options for carrying your small dog with you on your bicycle, including bike carriers and backpack carriers. Now one of my favorite manufacturers, PetEgo, has come out with an attachment for its Walky Dog Bicycle Leash that allows it to be used successfully by small dogs. The Walky Dog Low Rider attaches to the rear axle of your bicycle, unlike its predecessor, which attached just below a bike’s seat and positioned the leash so it could really only be used by large dogs. The new attachment would work well for a dog Chloe’s size or even smaller. Be sure to attach the leash to your dog’s harness, not her collar!

Now the trick will be to teach your small dog to use the Walky Dog safely, and to gauge how long she can run beside you before she wears out. Take it slowly — she’s a small dog, remember — bring lots of water, and keep an eye on her for signs of over-exertion. Consider bringing a bike carrier for your dog as well, so if your dog reaches her limit before you get home, you can chauffeur her.