Roving with Rover: Tips for stress-free road-tripping with your dog

Is a vacation with your dog truly a vacation? I didn’t know until it came time for my boyfriend, John, and me to plan our annual road trip. We wanted our 11-month-old goldendoodle, Millie, to come along.

In the weeks leading up to our autumn trip that took us to five national parks — Capitol Reef, Arches, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Grand Canyon — in a rented camper van.

I did tons of research about where to stay, what to do and what to see, including finding dog parks and other dog-friendly spaces.

Two days before we set out on our six-day, five-night trek, I voiced concerns to John. Were we doing the right thing by taking Millie with us? Would she like being in the van for the majority of most days? Would she behave? Would there be enough for her to see and do?

Ultimately, we decided it was too late to change our plans. We just had to go with it. We ended up having a great time and making the sweetest memories. If you’re planning to hit the road in 2022, especially for the first time with a pet, these are some things we learned along the way about road-tripping with a dog.

Find dog parks or other places your dog can get out and stretch along your route.

Depending on your dog’s energy level and needs, you’ll want to stop the car every two hours or so. I made note of a dog park or two every day of the trip so we never had to worry.

Look into dog-friendly spots along the way.

Our plan was to make this a national park tour, but national parks aren’t overly dog- friendly.

They’re allowed, but access varies. We found Black Canyon National Park was very welcoming to us bringing Millie.

This meant tracking down dog parks or state parks, which typically allow dogs, nearby the big attractions.

I found that Rocky Mountain National Park does a great job of advertising close dog-friendly places on its website, nps.gov/romo.

Before you go, practice driving your dog around.

Millie is in a car most days, although I was still worried she’d get carsick on the trip.

Thankfully she never did despite winding, mountainous roads. We think being used to being in a car helped her a lot.

Buy a few things for your dog that’ll make life on the road easier.

One of the first things we bought for our trip was a cheap dog bed. We knew it’d likely get dirty (it did) and we were fine with throwing it out when we got home. We also bought a pad for her to lie on at a campground, a 20-foot leash so she could have some freedom to explore and a thick bone marrow chew for long stretches in the van.

Bring the comforts of home with you, too.

I packed so much of Millie’s stuff it may have looked like we were moving. I may have overdone it, but she seemed to like to have options. Millie especially loved a rope toy, which kept her busy in the van and we’d play together at campgrounds before settling in.

Overpack if you’re able.

If you have some extra room in your vehicle, overpacking can make all the difference. We knew we would camp in semi-remote areas and we had days with long drives, so these extra things helped us: towels for when we were covered in dirt, more than enough allergy pills, an extra blanket for the bed and tons of snacks. We also packed more jugs of water than we needed. For Millie, we also had towels, lots of treats and an abundance of food. We always had a small amount of water and food available to her as we drove, and whenever we stopped somewhere, we took a collapsible water bowl for her.

Make a backup plan for everything, especially if you’re going somewhere with bad weather.

I had lengthy notes ahead of the trip, but there were a few instances for which I didn’t have backup plan. One time, we found ourselves having a small setback our first night in Colorado when snow caused a highway to shut down, preventing us from getting to our campsite. We ended up scrambling to find a spot to spend the night.

Have realistic expectations.

This could be in terms of your vehicle, your plans, your traveling partner or your pet. Millie has never walked more than two miles at a time, so we knew tough hikes wouldn’t be an option. Because we had an ambitious itinerary, we also knew we never had too long in any one place.

So, will we travel with Millie again? Two days into this trip, we already started planning the next one.