With the June long weekend around the corner, we thought we’d get our heads together and share with you some of our lessons learned from past fur-family holidays where we had a wonderful time, forgot somethings and packed other items that we never used/needed.
Plus, we’ve created a ‘Fur-family holiday checklist’ that you can save and use at any time to help you remember the important items to ensure that you enjoy your long weekend with your Puggie.
Like all family holidays, the key is in the preparation and packing to ensure you don’t get to the hotel, camp site, AirBnB or beach house and find that you forgot the one thing that your perfect Puggie cannot live without and will be inconsolable for the entire holiday requiring twice the treats you packed (unless it’s the thing you forgot) to turn that Puggie frown upside-down.
Our motto is never leave anything to chance when it comes to the pawfect fur-family holiday and if you don’t pack anything else, these items are a must in our opinion:
- Bed – choose their favourite bed (if they have more than one) that can go in the car to sleep on as well at the holiday destination
- Bowl for food and water - if your Puggie is anything like ours, they are very particular about what they drink from and their hydration is really important
- Car restraint – regardless of how you restrain your Puggie (seat belt or harness) it is law that you appropriately restrain your Puggie in the car, and no-one wants to see their Puggie hurt in a bingle
- Food – whatever kibble/wet food/meat your Puggie loves, make sure you take enough for each day of the holiday plus one extra day just in case. Don’t rely on the holiday location having your Puggies favourite food because you can guarantee it won’t be and no-one likes a hungry Puggie on their hands
- Treats – pack the same amount as recommended for their food because you never know who you’ll meet on a holiday and sharing is a great way to meet new fur-friends
- Harness and lead – how else are you going to see all the sights on your holiday?
- Waste bags – we usually take twice as many as we think we’ll need because there is nothing worse than running out of poop bags on your morning walk!
- Baby wipes (unscented) - Pawfect for cleaning Puggie faces, cleaning up little messes in the car or in the hotel room and at a stretch, picking up little messes as well
- Old towels- good for drying wet fur after a frolic on the beach, at the pool or the lake, ‘cause no-one likes “wet fur” smell
- Toilet mats (if your Puggie has been trained to use them) – a Hoomans best friend if they want a little sleep in but there is no doggy door for a Puggie to use
- Vaccinations – really important for general Puggie health, but more important if you travelling to holiday destinations that require additional vaccinations; Tasmania is a prime example, which requires evidence of the Hydatid Worm vaccination prior to arrival
- Flea and tick treatment – make sure its up to date; no one wants a holiday Vet visit and you can never be too careful with ticks
- ‘First Aid for Pet’ APP (Apple and Android) – You can register your Vet’s details on the APP, plus it has Emergency Vet services for all of Australia listed and it has everything you need to know to administer first aid to your Puggie until you can get them to the Vet; a true lifesaver and its FREE!
We also think the following is handy for trips to the beach:
- Life jacket – if your Puggie is like ours, they love the sand but are not too sure with the water, so a life jacket helps them enjoy the day at the beach with their Hoomans and still feel safe in the water
- Cool mat – a place for your Puggie to rest after their frolic on the beach and in the water that will also help them from overheating; if you don’t have a cool mat, dig out the sand until you hit cool sand for them to rest in
- Shade/umbrella – just as important as the cool mat to make sure that your Puggie stays cool whilst enjoying the beach with their Hoomans
- Lead tether – you don’t want your Puggie to wander off when your busy setting up or cooking dinner ….. who am I kidding! As if our Puggies will wonder off when dinner is on the camp fire!!
- Bamboo mat – every Puggie needs a place to rest their head next to the camp fire and their bed might not be the best option; an outdoor mat gives them a place of their own (when they’re not sleeping on your lap) that can get dirty and be easily washed off; a tarp can be used at a stretch but it’s not overly comfortable for the Puggie
- Paw cream – some Puggies are susceptible to grass seed infections and camping can expose them to all types of seeds; any form of barrier cream for paws is a good idea to help protect them from grass seeds getting in-between their toes and causing irritation or worse infection
- Tactical harness – for the adventurous Puggie who likes to explore off the beaten track; it’s tough all-round body protection and three point securing means that it’s not coming off anytime soon and the hand grip will pull any Puggie out of a tight corner in a jiffy. These Harnesses are designed to get dirty and rough it, so it’s worth the expense if you’re planning on doing some off-road exploring!
This is not an exhaustive list by any means and we’re sure that your Puggie has their preferred way of going on holiday, but we hope that this at least gives you a head start on your planning and packing if you’re going away for the June long weekend.
And, as promised, we have created a checklist for you to save and use as a quick tick and flick guide for any fur-family holiday; all you need to do is right click on the checklist, select ‘save image as’, and save to your desktop.
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Feature and camping photo provided by Burst