Hi guys,my lab,Eddy is 8years old and doing great. He gets a little nervouse in the car but really wants to be with us. I am taking my wife to chicago for her birthday,driving from Detroit. About 5 hrs. He has been in the car when we drove to Florida last year and was ok. Should I take him with us to Chicago or do you think he would be happier at home on the couch?
We have done a lot of road trips Portland OR to Kansas City MO. with our various labs, and they have always gone well. They do 1 and 2 hour trips all the time, going to our cabin or the coast. Ours would not like being left at home, unless there was someone there to walk/play with. If we are flying somewhere, they stay at a gun dog kennel where they get to go out with the other dogs.
If the weather was decent I would say take him with. Mine are much happier going with us. When it's nice we can stop at dog parks here and there. Mine are happy to stay in the truck while we shop for an hour or stop to eat or pop in to a museum. And they like to look out window. We can put the insulated kennels in the topper area and lock them in for short periods of time. I am wondering about safety for you. You said car and I know the weather in Michigan is a little cold right now. When are you going? And where are you staying? If he is a little nervous and you are in the city might this stress him out? Where will he be when you are places where he can't go? In the end you know your dog and will make the right decision.
Hi Mrjlube. I bet Eddy will be happier going with you. We just returned from a road trip Arizona to Alaska and back with our Sarge and his Golden Retriever brother Rocky. They loved the new places, new sniffs, new experiences. Their favorite thing was new hotels to sniff and elevators to ride and new people to admire them! We traveled for 2 months with them and would do it again in a heart beat. We have a crew cab pickup with fold up back seats. We put foam and blankets on the floor and they could sit up and look out at the scenery—Sarge— or lay down and drowse—-Rocky. Besides, I would have been very homesick without them
