You may have seen it on TV or in some movie straight off the Hollywood playing field. Celebrities are walking down the red carpet with tiny dogs in their arms, while flashing a smile at the camera. Assuredly, traveling with a pet is not at all that glamorous.
Traveling with a pet should come with a lot of planning ahead. A traveling cage is necessary especially for very small dogs that may become uncontrollable during travel. Larger dogs should be under the direction of a leash at all times. Disposable papers and bags are needed in case your pet has one or more accidents along the way. Travel papers and quarantine papers are now often required in airports. If the trip is particularly long and grueling, you need to at least give your pet something to drink or something to eat, and watch out carefully for signs that your pet is about to use the doggy bathroom.
It is especially difficult to travel with a young Rat Terrier because this breed of dog is very sensitive to the emotions of its human companions. It is also very alert to changes in its environment and can become restless at one point of the travel. A Rat Terrier is not prone to excessive barking, but a frightened Rat Terrier may become too noisy during the ride. This type of barking is a distress signal, a vocalization of the animal's fear using mostly yelps, whines and a high pitched keening sound.
If you can calm the dog down by simply coaxing it to relax using your voice, then do so. If your Rat Terrier needs patting, then do so. If your pet needs to walk about a bit, then let it. Just make sure that you don't let your Rat Terrier pet out or separated from its leash. A Rat Terrier can run very, very fast with an endurance that can match any of the larger dogs. So if your dog bolts out of your hands and disappears into the crowd, your pet will probably try to return to your house.
Another thing about the Rat Terrier is that it cannot be confined in an enclosed space for long periods of time. It may try to get out of his cage (to which you of course must not permit during flights or rides). Unfortunately, the process of escaping can prove too taxing to your dog and it can inflict pain upon itself. There have been accounts when panic-stricken pets have damaged teeth, nails, nose tips and foot pads in their attempts to get out of the traveling cages.
One of the more controversial issues of traveling with pets is that some pet owners opt for their pets to be given sleeping pills by their vets. This obviously calms down the dog to a somnambulistic degree. The only problem here is that smaller dogs like the Rat Terrier are not good candidates for sedation. These dogs actually have little or no tolerance to some of the components of anesthesia or other knock-out drugs. It's basically putting your pet's life on the line just so you can travel with as little worry as possible.
|
