Your pet can get all jittery the moment you’re about to board the flight or take off on a road trip. This nervousness that your pet exhibits can put your plans on hold or make the entire journey especially unbearable for you and your co-passengers. No matter how much you try to limit your pet’s travel, you will have to face this situation someday. Instead of waiting out the dread, you can train your pet so they have a better experience while traveling.
8 Tips to Follow Before Traveling With Your Nervous Pet
Your pet is a source of emotional support during hard times. But there are times when you might have to support them instead. Even if your pet is a certified Emotional Support Animal (ESA), they still need you to care for them in their moment of weakness. Here are 8 tips you can follow to make the process easier for your ESA.
Travel With Your Pet Early On
Your pet might get anxious if you introduce them to something at a later stage. However, if you do that early on, when they’re still a baby and getting accustomed to everything else around them, they might not get as anxious. In the case of pups, you can take up the first 12 weeks to socialize them by traveling in your car or via air. After the first 12 weeks, it might get harder to introduce new things to your dog, especially if it has a nervous temperament.
Carry a Favorite Toy or Comfort Object
Once you’re already traveling with your furry friend, it’s better to carry a soft toy, a chewie, or a blanket they especially like. You can make this a part of their training during the early stages. Introduce them to an object with positive associations. For instance, every time you take that blanket out, they receive treats or cuddles. Now when you travel with them via road or air, you can take the blanket along so your pet feels more at home.
Perform Crate or Carrier Training
If you’re traveling via airways, your pet will have to fly in a separate carrier. This is where you need to train your pet to walk into the crate on its own and feel at ease inside it. You can start by keeping your pet’s favorite treats inside, or their favorite toy so they’ll walk inside on their own. You can keep the door open in the beginning, and once they get comfortable, start leaving them inside the closed crate for longer.
Make Use of Scents
To calm your pet, you can also familiarize them with some scents like lavender that can help calm them down. This can be made part of the training where you can start rubbing the oil on your hands and letting your pet sniff it. If it’s safe to be used on animals, you can give them a massage with the oil so they get used to the scent. Instead, go for cooling coats and bandanas.
Swaddle Your Pet
Swaddle blankets are a huge deal for a good reason. These weighted blankets have a similar effect on pups as an anxiety blanket has on humans. You can even wrap up your pet in a weighted vest, soft comfortable clothes, especially those that smell like you. This will help your dog feel a sense of calm as they can smell you around them.
However, remember not to suffocate your furry with a weighted blanket or a vest during summers.
Arrive Before Time So There is No Rush
If you’re traveling by air, you should reach the airport before time. You don’t want to make your already anxious pet more anxious with your hurried movements and abrupt mannerisms. Instead, reaching before time can help you settle your dog into the unfamiliar surroundings, help them calm down and maybe even give them an oil rub before boarding the flight.
Remain Calm
Your dog can sense your nervousness and anxiety. It’s like they can sniff the fear off of you. And the last thing you want is to be responsible for their anxiety. If your pet is a certified ESA from a clinic like My ESA Doctor, it is supposed to help you during an anxious moment. However, in this case, you must do the same for it.
You must first manage your own anxiety and calm your nerves before focussing on your pet. If you’re unable to calm your own nerves, try some of the steps specified below. This includes carrying a comfort blanket, using comforting and relaxing scents or indulging in physician prescribed anti-anxiety pills.
Consult Your Vet
If you’re unable to get your pet calmed down or trained for the big day, your last resort can be a trip to the vet. The vet might be able to recommend pheromones or mild sedatives that can help your pet relax during the journey.
Following these basic tips can help you calm down your pet before traveling on road or by air. However, this is not a concrete list and you can experiment with other methodologies and find what works best for your pet.
Hope you found the article useful. Please leave your inputs in the comments!
Leave a Reply