Traveling with your dog

If you are a dog parent and have wanted to travel in India with your pooch, this post is for you.

This Diwali, my husband and I traveled with our dog (Boo) from Ahmedabad to Aurangabad  and back, via Pune. We considered the options available to us: air, road and rail. Very quickly we dismissed the air route as we discovered that an air trip (due to various reasons) can be fatal for your dog. The two options left to us were road and rail. Our journey was a combination of the two. 

Before the trip:

It is extremely essential that every time you travel with your dog that you take some effort to make it a joyful, happy and rewarding experience for her. This becomes especially crucial when traveling with your dog for the first time. It also makes the journey stress-free for you as well as her. It ensures that she will be eager for future travel. Remember, your dog sits in a tube of metal (car or train) hurtling at break-neck speed because she loves you and trusts you. She doesn't know that its a vehicle that will take her for a dream vacation. So, going that extra mile and following these steps weeks BEFORE you travel is the best way to reward your dog's trust and love!

• Walk your dog: I'm sure that like every good dog parent, you take your pooch for a 30-minute walk atleast twice a day. But here is the right way to do it http://www.cesarsway.com/training/thewalk/6-Tips-for-Mastering-the-Dog-Walk Walking the right way creates a deep bond between humans and dogs. Boo has become much more obedient since we started following these techniques. It made everything I'm listing below much easier.

• Expose her to new places: Start with walking her on a different route every day. This keeps things interesting and fresh for both the human and the dog. The dog starts to have fun exploring new routes. We not only walked Boo on different routes but also took her to dog-friendly cafes, grocery shops, random errands. This taught her to be patient and wait for us while we do our chores or eat. It exposed her to new environments and crowds. On longer errands, we made sure we carried water and treats for her.

• Familiar smells: Have your dog use the blanket / travel bed that you intend to carry for her on the journey for a week or so. The familiar smell will make her feel safe in a completely new surrounding; be it the train compartment, your hotel room or even the rented car.

• Health certificate: Ensure that your dog's vaccinations have be done for that year. Carry a health certificate from your vet. Prepare a medical history file that you will carry with you. All these are precautions to safeguard the health of your dog but are also paper arguments that come in handy in case you run into troublesome authorities or paranoid co-travelers. 

• Acclimatization: Exposing your dog very suddenly to chaotic situations can cause them to panic and get stressed. This can make them 'freeze', flee or cause other undesirable reactions. To avoid any such scenarios, we decided to acclimatize Boo to the railway station. She already enjoyed rickshaw and car rides but had never traveled by a train before. We made it a point to take her to the station and walk her on the platform as well as inside stationary trains. We also showed her the over-bridge. We did this exercise several times and bought platform tickets such as this one every time:

Platform ticket

Logistics of train travel:

Under Indian Railway guidelines, tariff for dogs is listed under the luggage rules. You can read the details here http://www.indianrail.gov.in/luggage_Rule.html You can carry your dog in a train in two ways. One way is by putting her in the dog-box which is a cage in the break-van of a train. The other (more desirable) way is with you in the First AC compartment . Now, here is a small dose of ground-reality. Not every train has a dog-box. (For instance, we discovered that the Duronto trains do not have one)   Not every train has a First AC compartment. Make sure to inquire before making reservations.

We decided that we were not going to put Boo in a cage at one end of the train while we slept in another compartment. So, we booked two First AC e-tickets on the Ahmedabad-Pune Duronto only to discover some more bizarre rules. To be able to carry your dog in the First AC compartment, you needed assured compact accommodation. You need to book (just for yourself) a whole coupe or cabin. A coupe consists of two berths while a cabin consists of four berths. So, be prepared to end up paying for a minimum of two berths. The way to ensure compact accommodation is to give a written request (preferably a day in advance) to the Chief Reservation Officer along with a printout of your ticket. Which means you have to find out where his office is. In Ahmedabad and Pune, the officer sits at the reservation center itself. We had to write an application for both the 'to' and 'fro' journey. Unfortunately, there is no provision online to state your preference while booking an e-ticket. Although, someone recently mentioned to us that while booking a ticket at the railway station you can mention that you plan to carry your dog and need compact accommodation. The man at the counter can feed your preference/request into his software. 

Please note that the first AC seating arrangements are announced only once the chart is prepared. So, you will be assured of compact accommodation only a few hours before your journey. This bit can be unnerving. Since we had confirmed tickets, we'd decided that even if we did not get the compact accommodation, we'd board the train with Boo in any case and pay the fine against a receipt if it comes to that.

You need to pay for your dog's travel at the luggage counter on the day of your journey. Mention your seat number. Better still, text your PNR to 139 after charting has been done and show them the text message that pings back. For most trains charting is done 4 hours before departure time. The amount for first AC travel depends on the weight of the dog and the distance of your journey. The minimum amount being whatever is applicable for 30kgs. In our case we paid Rs.265/- each way. Here is what the receipt looks like. Make sure you ask for one as the TC will demand it.

The pink parchi / receipt we got after we paid for our dog's travel at the luggage counter on the day of the journey

Word of caution: don't be fazed by the railway staff. We had a mostly good experience but that is not always the case. We dealt with a luggage staffer who had never checked-in a dog before and was clueless about the process. Luckily we had a hard copy of railway rules with us. We were also cross-questioned by a TC who was clearly looking to make a buck on the side. Be calm, polite and stick to your guns when you know you are right. The railways do make it very hard for pet owners but its worth it if you prefer rail journeys.

On the day of the journey:
Take your dog for a brisk walk right before the trip. Walk long enough so she has time to evacuate her bowels and bladder. The walk will tire her out and put her in 'resting' mode. She will be easier to handle. Avoid feeding her before the journey. Arrive at the station with enough time to weigh her in and get her luggage receipt. Keep a copy of your train's itinerary. If your journey is more than an over-night one, this information will come in handy. You can use it to know the stations at which your train will take long stops. Use this time to walk your dog on the platform.

Once all the paperwork is done, its time to make her cozy in the coupe. Take your time, don't rush it. If she is curious about the compartment, walk her around, let her see her surroundings. We stood with Boo in the passageway so she could see that the train was moving. This helped her relate the movement to that of her beloved rickshaws. We also let her pick the spot she wanted to curl in. She took a while to settle down and was a little scared at first. But come dawn, she was looking out the window! And the return trip was a breeze! All she wanted to do was curl up in the AC.

Boo was up at dawn. Usually, the bed is off-limits but we made an exception this time.

Logistics of car travel:
Almost everything I've mentioned previously is applicable to car travel. The only added feature here is that of road safety. You can buy a good quality harnesses for your dog and a contraption that lets you use the car's seat-belt on your pooch. Use the soccer-mom technique of blocking your dog with your arm when the brake is applied suddenly. This prevents sudden jerks as well as reassures your dog, especially if they are sitting upright. Keeping your windows open is a bad idea. Please shut them and have the AC on. If its a non-AC car, crank them just enough to get good air-circulation. You don't want any part of your dog hanging out the window. Every once in a while stop for loo breaks. Let her stretch her legs a bit and explore new places. Never leave her alone in the car! Ever!

Our first trip together as a family was a resounding success. Traveling with Boo has definitely brought her closer to us. She trusts us completely and loves to visit new places. We are planning a beach trip next time since she has never seen the sea. I bet she's going to love it!

A little about Boo: Boo is an Indian pariah who used to be a stray. Our lovely vet Dr. Tina Giri estimates that she is around 4-5 years old. We'd taken care of her for about three years till she finally adopted us.

About us: Pradeep and I are communication designers and run our own company called Roaming Design. Taking care of injured animals has been one of the things that brought us together. That is also how we met Boo.