Weekend Away Essentials For Your Dog

It might feel like you have to pack up their whole life just for a couple of nights away, but making sure your pup is comfortable and has everything they need to settle will make for a relaxing weekend. You don’t want to drive hours away from home and realise you forgot something vital like a food bowl or their walking harness. Packing for a pet is like bringing a whole extra person with you, but sometimes your pooch is a little more specific in what they need. Hotels rarely provide dog beds and necessities, but some dog friendly retreats and cottages set up with your four-legged friend in mind sometimes do. Before you head off, check what will be available there, and then it’s up to you to make sure you bring everything else they may need.  

You may have just restocked a 15kg bag of dog food to last the month, and by no means do you need to pack the whole thing. You just need enough to last a few days, along with some extra treats because it’s their holiday too, and they deserve something special! You don’t even need to pack their regular bowl, especially if they’re ceramic and breakable. Portable bowls like the KONG Travel Fold-Up Dog Bowl is versatile and can be used for food and water. They pack down nice and small so you’re not taking up extra bad space just transporting their bowls.  

If you have a long car ride or you plan on doing some hikes while you’re away, they will also need access to water. The KONG Travel Water Botttle is a great way to keep their water nice and chilled and avoid carrying an extra bowl just to pour it into as it comes with a bowl attached.  

When you book a weekend away somewhere, just getting there can be part of the fun if you factor in a few picturesque stops. When you’re taking for canine companion along with you, proper preparation means you can get from A to B safely but also enjoy the ride. Travelling with your dog requires them to be safely secured and unable to distract the driver. This means that they either need a travel crate, or their very own seatbelt attachment like the Rufus & Rosie ISOfix Universal Car Restraint to keep them on the back seat.  

You can even take along a nice bed that they can relax on during the journey and then take it with you for them to sleep on in your accommodation. A mattress type bed like the Scruffs Chester Mattress Large Graphite is great for car travel, especially if your pup travels in the boot or inside of a crate. Every dog is different, and your four-legged friend might prefer a bed that they can sink into and feel secure, like the Rose Pink Calming Bed Medium, especially if they get a little anxious in new places. Shy dogs will often benefit from bringing the usual bed they sleep in to help them settle, but if that’s not possible, consider adding a blanket to their bed a week before you leave so you can bring something with you that smells like home.  

You can’t have a fun weekend away without packing some of your pooch’s favourite activities. While you reach for the scrabble board, they’ll likely prefer something a little more four-legged friendly, like a new ball or a favourite frisbee. If you’re going somewhere with lots of space to run around, you can level up your fetch game and invest in a Nerf Dog Tennis Ball Blaster. If you regularly come home with an aching arm from ball throwing and a furry family member who doesn’t want the game to end, a tennis ball thrower will help to meet their needs while saving your throwing arm. If you want something a little more indoor friends, bringing along some chew toys like the Bamboodles T Bone Beef Dog Chew Toy will keep your pup’s gnashers busy and offer them an outlet to practice a behaviour they enjoy.  

You know your pup better than anyone, and bringing some fun toys to play with or some enrichment to keep them busy in the evenings will make it a pleasant and fun stay for everyone. 

If your pooch needs medication, don’t forget to pack it and bring it along. A doggy first aid kid like the Rosewood Pet First Aid Kit is always a good idea to keep in the car, especially when you’re leaving home. You never know when you might have to deal with a scraped paw, and having some emergency supplies will help you take care of your pooch if they injure themselves out on a hike.  

Wherever you go, you always need a good supply of poo bags along with some grooming basics. A brush, a towel and even some dog shampoo is useful to have. You never know when your pooch might find something nice and stinky to roll in and try to bring back to the hotel. Human shampoo is too abrasive for doggy coats, so you need to have a canine specific shampoo. If your pup is a city slicker visiting the countryside, you may even be lucky enough to experience what a dog who rolled in fox poo smells like. Having a shampoo like the Johnsons Fox Shampoo can have everyone back to smelling and looking their best in minutes. You don’t need to halt a holiday just because your furry family member rolls in something unpleasant if you are properly prepared.  

Every dog should have these two things even if you’re just going to your local park for a walk, but when you leave home and go somewhere unfamiliar, it becomes even more important. Your pooch should be microchipped and wearing an ID tag attached to their collar. If you take a walk off lead and they lose their way someplace they don’t know, chances are, they won’t be able to find their way back to where you’re staying. It’s a precaution you may never need but if the worst was to happen, you’ll be glad you prepared for it.  

Along with their collar, harness and whatever walking equipment they’re used to wearing, you might want to consider if you will be able to let them off lead at all. If you’re worried about their recall somewhere new and unfamiliar, bring along a lead like the Flexi Classic Retractable Cord Small Dog Lead so they can still explore, but you’ll know where they are all of the time.  

Having a checklist that you prepare in advance of any trip can be a great idea to make sure you don’t forget anything you need. The last thing you want to do is arrive somewhere and realise you’ve left something vital behind. To make sure you and your pooch have the best time on your dog friendly weekend away, research local attractions that you can bring them along to so you can make the most out of taking a trip together. Not everywhere is going to be accommodating to your pup, but there are usually plenty of dog loving restaurants and coffee shops, as well as lots of stunning beaches you can visit throughout the UK. If you have everything you need packed then you can focus on just having the best time!