Whether you are simply making a short journey to the vet or you need to embark upon a longer trip, it is certainly worth doing all that you can to get your pet ready for it successfully. With this in mind, there is plenty that you need to do to make it much more likely that everything will go nice and smoothly. Here are a few useful steps that you can follow.
Get your pet used to the carrier
If you have never put your pet in a certain carrier before, it is certainly going to be worth getting them used to it before you get in the car. You could put in their favorite blanket or some toys as a way of making sure that they feel comfortable. Allowing them to associate the carrier with positive feelings can help to reduce some of the stress levels that are naturally involved with heading out on a longer trip or journey.
Take them on a shorter journey
If you have never taken your pet in a vehicle before and you need to go on a longer trip, it certainly may well be worth doing a shorter one in advance. This way, you know more about exactly how they are going to respond to it. While some pets are going to be absolutely fine, there are bound to be many more that get stressed out along the way. It is even worth doing this if you have booked in some pet transport, as this could provide some useful insights and advice that you can pass on to the pet transport company.
Travel with someone else
Ideally, there will be two of you in the vehicle, as there is then going to be someone else who can focus on keeping your pet calm along the way. Ideally, this is going to be a person who already has a connection with the pet, but at the very least, it should certainly be someone who is good with animals. Ultimately, it can be as simple as handing some treats to your pet or providing a calming voice in their ear that tells them everything is going to be alright.
Prepare to take rest stops
While there are bound to be some journeys that are so short that you do not have to worry about taking breaks along the way, there are others that are going to require you to take some stops along the way. There is no point in powering through if you do not have to. After all, a break can give your pet the opportunity to eat and drink as needed too.
All of these are amongst the most useful steps out there that can help your pet to get travel ready and be fully prepared for a potentially long journey that they may need to deal with. Ultimately, the more prep work that you have put in, the better that it is likely to be as a whole.
