We are planning to take our pup to Banff for 2 nights. That's about a 1 1/2 hour trip. Later in the season, we'll take him to Edmonton (3 1/2 hours) and Kelowna (~8 hours).

Any tips on car travel with a dog?

We will be staying in hotels/condos that allow small pets. We'll be bringing his crate, food, dishes, some toys, some chew treats, some enzyme cleaner (just in case), and, of course, poop bags. For the longer (Kelowna) trip, we'll also bring bath supplies. Anything else we haven't thought of? The main challenge with the Banff and Kelowna trips is that he won't be able to be off leash at all. Because he's still young, he's fairly energetic and still has the bratty/zoomies in the witching hour before bedtime, although he's pretty quiet and calm otherwise.

I think if your dog is used to car trips he'll be okay. Maybe paper towels in case he throws up/pees in the car. Baby wipes come in handy for pets as well as people! We keep a box in our car for sticky fingers.
Since he won't be off leash, the longer the leash the more running he can do. 
Here are some more tips- one is very important. Water. I'd fill up gallon jugs of it and mark "Dog" on the containers. If you run out- use bottled water. 

:^)

One thing I will suggest is not to leave your pet alone in a hotel/motel room alone if you go out to eat or any place for too long if he/ she barks.  We try and take our dog with us when we eat out if it is not too ho/cold in the car . If we can't take her we just eat something we can bring back or eat in the car.

Also we take her bed blankets that she uses, as she feels more at home in the hotel if she has her bedding with her.Our dog will not sleep in her kennel in a strange place till she gets used to it so, we let her sleep at the foot of the bed on her blanket. If she hears people in the hall at night she lets out little woofs , I can usually reach her and she will stop with touch of my hand.

Our dog is on leash all the time. You just have more control over them . I would not let her wonder any place with out being leashed.

 We have travelled all over the US and Canada with her and she still has a few issues at times , but on the whole is a very good little dog and sleeps most of the time on the road. Good Luck with your travels .

 

We just got back from 2-days in Banff, and it went well.

We tried leaving him in his crate the first night while we went for dinner (on the property), but he kicked up a fuss, so we got room service, instead.  He might have settled down after a few minutes, but the hotel has rules about barking, so we didn't want to push our luck. However, the next day, we left him for a while to go to the hot tub, and he was fine. We stood outside the door for a few minutes to make sure.  The weather was nice enough the next morning that we ate breakfast in the park. We picked up gourmet sandwiches for lunch, and they were big enough to do us for dinner, too, so it was all good.

When we go to Kelowna, we will want to leave him occasionally. When we go to the beach across the street, dogs aren't allowed there, and there are a couple of places we want to go for lunch or dinner. But we'll know not to try it on the first night. There's a great walking path near the building, and my DH and I have walked along it every morning on other trips, so this year we'll take the pup along on those walks, and we'll also do the walks in the evenings. He's a short-nosed dog, so we won't take him out in the heat of the afternoon, unless we go someplace where he's allowed in the water. There's a dog beach outside of the city, apparently, so we'll give that a try, but not every day.

He sleeps in his crate at night at home, so he slept in his crate in the hotel, too. He has a mat that he's accustomed to in his crate, and we put a couple of familiar toys in with him. We also brought a couple of new toys to play with in the hotel room, as we thought those would keep him interested longer than the same-old, same-old. It seemed to work.

We were pleased with how well he did. We never let him off leash outside except in our own yard, anyhow, so he had to be on leash at all times outside, but he did fine with it. (It's national park regulations, anyhow.)  He's only 6 months old (in two days), so we didn't know how he'd do in a strange place, and we didn't know how he'd fare with carpeting, which we don't have in our place. He was excellent, though. Of course, it didn't hurt that we spent a LOT of time walking and hiking with him. *g*

One question I had, if you are eating in the car, do you feed your dog then, too? When we had breakfast in the park, he hadn't eaten. He's not a morning dog, and he doesn't normally like to eat until 10:00 or 10:30. We didn't want to have to go back to the hotel after breakfast to feed him, so we bought him scrambled eggs (which he gets once in a while at home, for his coat) and a sausage patty. At home, we don't feed him while we're eating, and he gets only limited people food (egg, pumpkin, ground bison, low-lactose yoghurt, and the occasional carrot). However, if we are on a fairly long road trip, we'd probably need to feed him when we stop to eat. Is that what you do? Do you feed her in the car?

Our dog rarely eats in the car. Try and feed her something before we leave the hotel in the morning. She is not a big morning eater. She does like a little and I mean little bit of Banana or a couple of blueberries  and a teaspoon of yogurt, if it is available.

But driving , she will drink a small amount of water and will eat her big meal when she is settled in for the evening. A piece of cheese will never be passed up by her.

I am glad you made out so well with your dog. She will be just fine as she gets older. It's a good time to travel when they are younger , she will get used to it.

What we don't do for our pets.

We call her our spoiled only child. The children have all fled the nest and she is a true only child to us. Adorable. She is a snubbed nose dog as well. Gets hot very quickly and cold very fast. So we really have to watch her both in the car and walking when it is too hot or cold. Very temperamental  body thermometer she has.

most hotels won't let you leave your dog in the room alone. Last year while in Whistler we left our dog with a pet sitter, it was very pricey $15hr. We wanted to go up the Peak to Peak. We are taking our dog with us to Tofino later this summer, we've already made arrangements with a girl at our resort to take care of him while we attend a wedding. 

The one we stayed at stated that the dog had to be left in a crate if left alone, which we would do anyway. That makes sense to me. Also, the dog had to be removed from the room if we wanted housekeeping service (which we didn't, for only a two-night stay).

In summer, we'll be staying in a condo, rented privately, so the main thing there is that he doesn't bark and howl and disturb other residents, which also makes sense. He'll be crated when we leave him there, too. We won't leave him for more than an hour or two per day, and he's used to that at home, anyhow, most days.

and wanted to add that when we travel with our dog and want to leave him in the room for a short time (dinner etc) we crate him, give him chew things  and also leave either the tv or radio on. Plus we take a small fan with us and put that on, it will lull him to sleep. At home we do the same thing with having a fan on and radio/tv. He's used to that and it drowns out any odd noises that they might hear, then end up barking. Also the more you tire him out before you leave the room, the better.

We always leave music on for him, but I've never tried a fan. I'll try that. Thanks.

I don't usually surf into this 'pets' section - but we have travelled with pets lots too. I'd agree with above posters' tips. One thing my parents did when we travelled with our collie was feed her at night time only once we'd finish driving- not in morning to avoid carsickness. Not sure if its an issue with dogs...dh & I have fed our dogs in the morning & they were fine. We also ensure there's lots of water with us. Any time we stop - gas fill up etc - we give the dogs a short walk as well in an appropriate spot. I'd also say ensure your dog is fully up to date on vaccinations & its collar has ID on it so if your little dog does inadvertently get away from you - it can be re-united with you if it just really disappears (this may seem obvious, my apologies).There are times you may have to leave dog in the car - it can't always be avoided - so keep the time minimal, windows on both sides open just enough for cross-breeze/ventilation & park in a shady spot.  Check places where you travel too- for by-laws - in some southern US states for example its illegal to leave a pet in your car - as inside temp of car gets much hotter & dangerous for animals.

The more you travel with your pet, the easier it is on them I think - they're used to it - their spot to sit in car, the varied night spots.

Yes, our pup is fully vaccinated, and he is tattooed and microchipped, as well as having a collar with license, etc.

Thanks for the tips.