Travel tip: Practice ahead of time with pee pads
Photo by jpcorreacarvalho
In an earlier post, I passed on a tip about surviving a long plane trip with your in-cabin dog: If she starts sending signals that she really, really has to go, carry her to the plane’s bathroom, spread out scented pee pads, and be sure to clean up afterwards. Finally I had to take my own advice — after a six-hour flight, we had only a half hour in Dulles to make our next flight, and there was no possible way to make it out to Dulles’ pet relief area and back. Off Chloe and I went to the handicapped stall. I laid out a couple of scented pee pads, let Chloe out of her carrier, uttered the magic command word, and…nothing. Poor dog had no idea what I was talking about.
Happily, she had sufficient bladder control to last another three hours until we reached Tampa — but the take-home lesson for me is to practice a bit with pee pads (and with the not-so-magic command word) before springing them on her again….
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Practice does make perfect.
Yes, this is a great reminder that no matter what you do, your dog may have a completely different idea! My dog has to walk a bit and sniff before any expectations of success can be had, but I see what you mean about practicing at home first, getting them accustomed to the pad, the smell of it, and what they are supposed to do with it:)
I always wondered what the solution would be for bathroom breaks when travelling with a dog in the cabin, well now I know! I’m sure that with a little practice Chloe will be a master!