17 Fun Things to Do With Your Dog While Traveling
We all have our own little rituals when it comes to traveling, like mailing postcards or picking up a Christmas ornament. But if your fur baby is included in your travel plans, why not add some dog-themed traditions to the list? With all the travel we’ve been doing with our chihuahua, we’ve started joking about being luxury tour guides trying to please our high-maintenance client! And in doing that, we’ve started some fun traditions we look forward to in every new country almost as much as our own plans. Here are 17 of our favorite ideas, in case you're looking to build a few traditions of your own.
1. Shop for a local dog toy
Who doesn’t love a good themed dog toy? In every country we visit, we keep our eyes peeled for a local dog toy to remember where we've been. Our favorites are the lifelike ones that look funny in your dog’s mouth, like a baguette, or a sushi roll. It’s a fun alternative to useless junk that just sits on a shelf. A hilarious toy is a useful souvenir we can all enjoy!
2. Visit local dog parks
What started as trying to exercise our dog after a long flight has turned into one of our favorite travel traditions. Visiting local dog parks is beneficial both for you and your dog. For us humans, chatting with local dog owners makes us feel like we’re part of the community, and it’s also the best place to get advice on dog-friendly places in the area. Let’s not forget the most important reason for visiting dog parks—your pup can get their pent up zoomies out while making new friends!
Read about our favorite dog park in Tokyo here.
3. Look up dog events
You never know when a dog event could be happening nearby. Some cities host dog parades, festivals or even breed-specific meetups. It’s worth a quick search before any trip to see what's happening while you're in town. We love hanging out with people who share our love for pups! The doggy event at the top of our bucket list is the New York Dog Parade where cute pups dress up for Halloween!
4. Find dog-friendly restaurants and cafés
Having nice service at restaurants for us humans is one thing, but we love supporting places that roll out the red carpet for our diva dog (and so does he). Most cities these days have a handful of spots that go the extra mile to welcome dogs by offering them things like beds, water bowls, and treats. Hunting down these gems has become one of our favorite parts of planning a trip. It always leads to memorable meals, cute pictures, and a happy doggo.
5. Write postcards from your dog
This one’s for dog owners with a sense of humor. Try writing postcards “from” your dog to send to family and friends back home. It's a silly little tradition that’s sure to get some smiles from your loved ones, especially if you’re sending them to kids. You can even blame your bad handwriting on your dog!
credit: Unsplash
6. Visit a local groomer
Our dog can get a little dirty getting his travel zoomies out, especially when we take him to the beach or hiking. If your dog gets a little stinky on a trip, take the opportunity to visit a local groomer! It’s a fun way to experience a different country's approach to pet care (or pet glam). Getting your dog groomed before your flight home also means they’ll be extra comfortable for the journey.
credit: Pexels
7. Try foreign dog treats
Why not let your dog try the local cuisine too? Just like we’re big foodies when we travel, we keep our eyes peeled for local dog treats wherever we go. It's fun to see what different places consider tasty for dogs. If we’re staying somewhere for a long stretch, we also buy dog food locally.
8. Learn some dog-related vocabulary
We all know that learning words like “please” and “thank you” in the local language helps with international travel, but what about dog vocab? Knowing how to say "dog-friendly" or "can my dog come in?" can really facilitate common interactions. It's a small effort that makes a big difference when you want to make a good impression. We usually end up learning the word “cute” just by accident since people love to point out how handsome Tishka is.
credit: Pexels
9. Collect patches for your dog carrier
I got this idea from a friend who once loaned me her backpacking bag on one condition—I had to return it with a patch from my trip to Italy. So if you’re crafty and you enjoy commemorating things, start collecting patches to put on your dog's travel carrier for every country you visit together. This is a cute way to show off your dog’s travel cred (and make all the dogs jealous). After all, they don’t get stamps in their passport so you need something to remember your travels by! You could even take this idea further and start a scrapbook for your dog’s trips filled with photos, tickets and stickers.
credit: Unsplash
10. Stay in a cool dog-friendly hotel
Something we’ve learned with our dog is that not all pet-friendly hotels are created equal. They can range from simply tolerating your dog for a fee to treating them like the main guest, and let me tell you, the latter is way more fun! Some of our most memorable hotel experiences have been the hotels that really cater to dogs and have loads of services for them. Your dog might want to live there forever.
Read our post about choosing a good pet-friendly hotel here.
11. Take your dog for a ride
Forget the crowded metro and street traffic, and take your dog on a bike ride to catch all the new, breezy smells. Since biking is our main form of transport at home, we love exploring new places using local city bikes (and our speed-demon chihuahua loves it too). Thankfully most of them have a basket in front for you to put your dog (we usually leave him there in his backpack). Sightseeing by bike gives you a different perspective than other forms of transport and makes you less tired than walking.
12. Try a doggy daycare
Even if we always strive to stay with our dog as much as possible on trips, sometimes leaving him alone is inevitable, so why not leave him in good company? Dropping your dog off at a local daycare for the day can give you the freedom to explore somewhere that might not be dog-friendly. If your dog loves socializing and doesn’t mind leaving you, they’ll probably enjoy playing with new friends too!
credit: Pexels
13. Get a new outfit
Calling all fashionable pups! Shopping local pet brands is another fun souvenir idea that’s actually useful. Some of our favorite dog clothes were purchased in Tokyo. If you like dressing your dog up for Halloween, you can even repurpose the outfits into costumes later.
14. Do as the locals do
We tend to think of culture shock as only something people can experience, but dog ownership around the world can also have different approaches too. It’s important to be conscientious travelers and adapt to local norms, even if they’re stricter than you’re used to. An example of this was in Japan where we felt obliged to clean our dog’s pee with a spray bottle, which nearly everyone does there. While I can't say we enjoyed that particular custom, others were more fun, like using dog strollers. I think Tishka liked his a little too much.
15. Take all the pictures!
We’ve all heard of Flat Stanley or the Traveling Gnome posing in cool places all over the world, so why not make your dog the star of your travel pictures? As you can imagine, we have quite the photo collection of Tishka’s travels that will eventually go in some kind of travel collage frame or printed album. We probably have more pictures of him than of ourselves on trips…
16. Leave the day to your dog
Traveling can sometimes lead to decision fatigue, so you could always give the reins over to your dog. When we stay somewhere for a solid stretch of time, our dog tends to pick up on his own routine, and we like letting him choose where he wants to walk if we have time. It’s led us to some unexpected streets and neighborhoods we never would've stumbled upon otherwise.
17. Introduce your dog to something new
Your dog’s world is only as big as you make it, and you never know what activities they might end up enjoying. Our chihuahua is pretty adventurous, and we love seeing him experience new things all over the world. Some exciting things Tishka has done recently include sailing (loved), horseback riding (he slept through it), and paddleboarding (hated it). Who knows what he’ll get to try next!
We hope this list has inspired you to start some of your own doggy travel traditions. Now get out there and have some fun! Buy that ridiculous dog toy. Find the best local dog park. Take the cheesy photo. Let your dog pick the walking route once in a while. Because the best travel traditions are the ones that give you something to look forward to—and even better stories to look back on. If you have more ideas, feel free to reach out to us so we can add them to the blog. Happy traveling!