Out & About With Your Dog: Necessary Items To Take Along

On A Walk...

We're we're going on a walk, the dog is always wearing his collar and ID tags.

And I'm always carrying:

• Retractable leash


• Poop bags (attached onto the retractable leash)


• Doggie water bottle (it's got a cup making it easy for a dog to drink from it... see picture below)

That's it.

In The Car...

Thees are the necessary items whenever my dog and I are going for a ride in the car:

• A seatbelt adapter. This serves as a 'tether' and connects the standard seatbelt in your vehicle with the ring on your dog's collar or harness.

• Doggie 2-point harness. The dog's collar (with ID tags attached) gets removed (and stuffed between the seats of the car) to make room for a doggie harness. This "centers" his weight on the seatbelt tether and prevents the seatbelt tether from getting twisted and in the way.

When we used to attach the seatbelt adapter directly to his dog collar, it would tug awkwardly at his neck as he would move around in the back of the Jeep. But more importantly, it didn't really "secure" him in the vehicle. With just the right force or degree of turn, we felt that a dog could still be propelled out of the car and be left dangling by its neck. A dog harness prevents this -- largely because the seatbelt adapter clips onto the top of the dog's back, rather than at the neck area.



• A mini-cooler half-filled with water and/or ice cubes. Ever since we switched from the doggie water bottle to the mini cooler, we've never run out of water, especially on long hot days out & about.
• A doggie pillow or bed for cushioning. This probably isn't necessary in most cases, but our dog rides in the back of a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and it's a hard, flat floor. The worst part: It gets really to the touch in no time -- even with the standard "vehicle carpet" in place. So we used an old torn up "bumper bed" (...you know, those dog begs made to perfectly fit dog crates). We wrapped it in an old bed sheet, and it makes a comfy place for a dog to enjoy long car rides.
• An old beach towel. Half the time we're out with the dog we're visiting creeks or tromping through puddles or other muddy trails. So a beach towel makes it possible to knock the majority of the gunk off before he gets back in the car. Sometimes, I need it to wipe down or dry myself off!
• Wet ones or baby wipes. For the excessively muddy paws and/or doggie drool (which seems to congregate on the back of our Jeep seats, and on the rear window ledge), we use alcohol-free wipes to quickly wipe down the Jeep on the spot. They also make it a cinch to spot clean the dashboard in a hurry, or the center console.



• Retractable leash. This is for the times when we venture out of the car. There's nothing better than a retractable leash!




• A doggie chin cushion. Whenever we take the dog for a ride in the sedan (which is rare these days), we use the Comfort Cruiser doggie chin cushion. You roll the window down part-way, then press the cushion over the window ledge. Dogs love it! (Remember to still tether your dog inside the vehicle though.)

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