SPEAKER_01: 0:09

Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel Podcast. I'm Lauren Langman. I'm one of the world's leading dog trainers, and it's my mission to help owners become their dog's top priority. In each episode, you'll discover how to gain trust and communicate with your dog like never before, creating unbreakable bonds that make you the most exciting part of their world. Okay, it's holiday time with our dogs. Michelle, you deal with people who are going on their holidays with their dogs day in, day out. Where do we start?

SPEAKER_00: 0:38

First of all, start by booking a holiday. I always think that that's a great place to start. And as soon as you've booked, then start getting ready because you want to enjoy your holiday. And what is the expression? Plan to that. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

SPEAKER_01: 0:54

There you go. There you go. Now we just had a lady arrive here, and I know obviously, Michelle, you run holidays for dogs. Yes. So you are day in, day out working with people who are going on holiday with their dog and they're travelling and they're travelling for some fun with their dog and they're travelling for some training, maybe with their dog. Or sometimes they're just travelling because they want to be near the coast with their dog. Now, a lady that we've seen today, she's arrived today, she's come here all the way from Scotland. Oh, she's so excited. She's so excited. But her dog was actually very travel sick. Yes. So she was concerned about travelling, and she arrived in the car park a minute ago and she'd had a lesson I know beforehand with you. And she said, She travelled great, she's amazing, it went really well. I'm so happy. I suppose what are some of the common struggles you see with people bringing their dogs on holiday or even just like traveling generally? What are some of the things you see as typical troubles and struggles that people might be able to work on beforehand?

SPEAKER_00: 1:42

So you mentioned already travel sickness. So that's just rehearsing, taking them in the car. Just take them on journeys. And then as part of the car travel, here in the UK, you actually take your dog in a vehicle to travel, which was a bit unusual for me coming from Bermuda. But you want to rehearse everything that you're going to do on holiday. So get them used to hanging out in the car, make it a really cool place to be, give them their meals in the car, make it just and make it home away from home, basically. Because once you get on holiday, the only place your dog is going to have that's familiar to them is your vehicle. So make it really cozy, make it comfy, and make it a place that they're used to hanging out in. So when you stop at the services, because I don't know about you, but every time I stop at a services, I have to toilet. It's a thing. So I want to make sure that my dog's going to be totally comfortable in the vehicle while I'm taking care of my own needs. And then also that brings in toileting your own dog. I can't tell you how many dogs, and I went through this myself. When I moved to the UK, I brought my Jack Russell. I didn't realize I had this issue. I had to stop probably about every half hour because he traveled over on the plane and he would not toil it. He wouldn't toil it. He wasn't at home, he would not toil it. And I cannot tell you how much stress that caused me. So we see here at the holiday cottages, if I'm leaving in the evening, I'll see a guest going up and down the lane trying to get their dog to toilet before they go to bed at night. So that's another really proactive thing you can be doing right now, immediately. Get your dog comfortable with toileting in different places, because that can be really stressful for an owner. Go on, give us a few tips.

SPEAKER_01: 3:20

How can you do that with dogs? So how can you get them used to toileting in new places?

SPEAKER_00: 3:24

So monitor their drinking. So one of the tips I give all of my clients is take some fresh canine with you. So this is going to help out coming back to that motion sickness. We've had really good success with clients coming down, giving their dogs sips of water with fresh canine in it. But fresh canine is going to help hydrate them. So that's going to cause them to drink water, which is going to cause them to need to toilet. So if you know they've got a toilet, take them out, get them used to like find a spot that is like grass. Some dogs prefer gravel, some prefer longer grass, some prefer shorter grass. Take them to toilet. And when they do toilet, have a massive party, reward them, tell them that they're really good, but get them toileting in different places and monitor that intake of fluids so that you know that they have to go. That would be my top tip. And it's going back to puppyhood, really. It's the same thing as toilet training a puppy. It's no different, actually.

SPEAKER_01: 4:21

And I think when you get a dog to go on queue, it just makes life so much easier. So, how about thinking about going on holiday with your dog? What kind of things should you maybe prepare to bring or prepare to sort of pack or start to think about what are you going to need?

SPEAKER_00: 4:36

The first thing that always pops into my head, towels. Lots of towels. You can never have enough towels. You can use them as bedding. They're great for drying off your dogs. If anything happens, you can use them for first aid. They're really useful to have. Packing your dog's food, making sure, and I can't tell you how many times this actually does happen. It's going to sound a bit silly. Don't forget your dog's harness and lead, if that's what you use. Because we have had guests arrive, and the one thing that they've forgotten is their harness and lead. And actually, this is another funny one. We have actually had a guest forget the dog.

SPEAKER_01: 5:08

Yeah, we have. We've had a guest forget the dog, and we've also had a student forget their dog. So they come to class without their dog. Another one for me would be high-value food, low-value food, two sticks, something your dog can gnaw on, like an antler or a whatever's appropriate to you and your dog. Some people say, Oh, my dog does this with an antler, or my dog does that with an antler. You know what? Whatever's the most appropriate thing for your dog, use that. For me, another one that I really like is a long line or a puppy line. Why? Because sometimes you go to new areas and you just want that backup and that safety net almost when you're using things like that. I love whistle recall, so I'll always take a whistle with me because I think a whistle recall is really impactsful and really important. And in addition to all of these, anything you'd normally use around your day-to-day living with your dog. So if your dog's on any medication, then you would have medication. If your dog's on any supplements, take your supplements. If your dog's on any level of different feeding, take your different feeding. Now, here's an interesting one. My dogs are typically fed raw. I'm not taking my raw with me. What I'm going to do is I'm going to find out the local suppliers and I'm going to use whichever I think is the best quality locally. With raw, and I think with most foods, I think it's very good to keep your dog adaptable. So your dog will eat lots of different foods, and my dogs will eat loads of different foods. So when I travel, other than the immediate meals that I've got with me, my dog then will I purchase something when I'm there. I was about to say my dog will purchase, which they probably would if they had a choice, but I will purchase something for my dogs when I'm away. So those would come in handy for me.

SPEAKER_00: 6:31

And another tip is do try before. And I'm thinking of an experience I had with a dog with a specific type of chew. Make sure they've had it before you take them in the vehicle, because I had a terrible incident with having to clean a crate out because I hadn't given my dog what they had to chew on in the crate before and it upset their stomach a bit. That's where those towels come in handy, having fresh canine and having different things of first aid kit as well. So having some rescue canine, there's a really good paste that you can get.

SPEAKER_01: 7:02

Yeah, I think that would be a must actually. I forgot that one. So your rescue now or rapid or immediate like response is an amazing opportunity for you guys to grab hold of. It's on the a-oquine.com store. So go and grab one of those. It's a paste, it's a bit like a procain, but for me it's better again because you've got your it's effective like a it's a hug for your dog's tummy. You it's like a clay for your dog's tummy. It really puts the tummy back together again. But you've got electrolyte in there, you've got all of your good, good sort of bacteria and all your healthy bacteria, and that all goes into the gut to repair the gut and to make the gut feel a little bit more just happy again. You really want that gut happy again. So we've got lots to pack and we've got lots to think about. And I would never go away without that one now, my tube. Like that for me is like a it's a perfect thing to have. The only thing I would say is you're now sort of on your way to your holiday. What are you gonna do when you get to your holiday space? So we have so many people arrive here wanting a holiday and and coming on holiday. And in the past, before absolute dogs and before all of the learning, they'd immediately get their dog out and start running the dog around.

SPEAKER_00: 8:08

Yeah, and that that that's actually the last thing you want to do. The last thing you want to do is get your dog out. So leave your dog in the vehicle, make sure you go in, suss out the cottage, check out the garden, and get them set up. So you want to set them up for success that when they walk into the cottage, everything is arranged. So bring your own dog's bed if you can. If you use a crate, if you can bring their own crate so that they've got their own bedroom, they've got stuff that smells the it's familiar, it smells like home.

SPEAKER_01: 8:36

For me, it's almost like a conversation starter in a new place. They go into a new place and they go, Oh, hi, nice to meet you. You're here. This is good. Like they kind of feel comfortable straight away. So for me, I really like taking something off my dogs. Typically, I would take a crate, a pop-up crate. I love the pop-up crates, and I would take one of their back on track beds, mine have back on track beds, and although Nell keeps chewing them, the little menace. And I would also take probably some level of home chew. And I would also take something familiar, like mine have often got teddies, they'll have a teddy in their crate or with their bed or whatever they're traveling with. Some of my dogs will sleep in crates, some of them will sleep loose, it depends on the dog. And so for me, again, taking the appropriate thing. All of my dogs, this is a great pre-training before you come here, so a really brilliant pre-training. All of my dogs have such solid boundary games. Yes. So because they've got such solid boundary games, boundary games make a massive difference to me. How about you, Michelle?

SPEAKER_00: 9:31

Oh, amazing difference because if I go into a new place, I can cue them to go onto their bed and I know that they're not going to interfere with anything. They're not going to jump on the sofa. A few of our cottages are studio type cottages where the bed is in the living area. I don't have to worry about them leaping all over the bed. I don't, I don't know about you, but I like to sleep in my bed without the dogs myself.

SPEAKER_01: 9:52

And I think it's a really important thing, guys. You do you. So you can do whatever you want to do, but I would say boundaries are going to help you. Oh gosh, yeah. Boundaries are gorgeous. Now, I know there's an ebook, Michelle, that everybody can get hold of. What's in this ebook? It's completely free. It's for you guys to have even better travels with your dog, like even better, even more comfy travels with your dog.

SPEAKER_00: 10:12

So it's got everything in it. We've jam, it's jam-packed full of information. So it's called Happy Travels with Your Dog. www.devondogs.co.uk. Happy hyphen travels hyphen guide. And we walk you through from the time you book your holiday to planning your journey so that you make sure you hit services that are dog friendly all the way to arriving at your destination, making sure that you've checked the local bets out, making sure you've got ID tag on your dog. So it's packed full of little tips and tricks. It tells you what things to put. We got a packing list in there for you. And then while you're on holiday, how to make sure you get the very most out of your holiday. And then afterwards, how do you settle your dog back into home? Because we've had feedback from a few clients where they've asked for help because their dogs have settled into life in the holiday cottage. And then life going back home is a little bit tricky to adjust.

SPEAKER_01: 11:07

I feel like that some days. I was in a hotel the other day and I thought to myself, this is like a young person's retirement home. I could do this. So it's like a moment of adjusting back. Maybe I'll stay here. And then when you come home, you're like, oh my god, reality hits. You've got to do all the things, and there's so many things. And so you can feel the the want to um run away. And so, yeah, I can imagine for some dogs the the being on holiday in the middle of the countryside versus maybe living in the city might be quite attractive for so many dogs. So, Michelle, any typical problems that people come and they experience maybe when they're on holiday that we can of course help to solve when we're here training them, but some people might not be going on a they might not be lucky enough to be going on a training holiday.

SPEAKER_00: 11:46

So I guess the biggest thing people are worried about when they go on holiday, and we've had guests come here that have told us they've left places because of this barking. So when they get to their new location, their dogs have a hard time settling and they're dealing with barking. So with that, you're looking at having a plan in place, using your food, making sure you've got that high-value food so that your dog's got something to do, and boundaries are critical. And just having a plan in place so that you know how to manage it, so that you're able to help your dog settle down and be relaxed and be calm. So the guests we had traveled to us here left a month or so before, left their holiday after the first night because the dog was barking nonstop. And they came to us and they spent a whole week and they had the absolutely amazing time just by changing a few things. The dog's familiar bedding, using appropriate food, and then having a management strategy for when barking took place.

SPEAKER_01: 12:39

It's a big one, really, really big one. And if you guys are listening and thinking, oh my goodness, I'd love to come on a holiday like this. Can people come on a holiday like this with us, Michelle?

SPEAKER_00: 12:47

Oh, absolutely. You just have to go to our website and book your book yourself in. We would absolutely love to see you. Our cottages are purpose built for dog holidays.

SPEAKER_01: 12:58

In fact, we won't welcome you without a dog. Well, that's the level. You need to have a dog. You need to bring a dog.

SPEAKER_00: 13:03

Or we can lend you one if you don't have one.

SPEAKER_01: 13:05

You know what? Yeah, we have people come from all over the world actually. So we have people come from America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. We've had people from everywhere. We've had people from South Africa, we've had people from literally all over the world, and they've come here, they've trained one of our dogs. If they're not able to bring a dog, like New Zealand, Australia, it's hard to bring a dog. They've trained one of our one of our dogs, and then they've taken the um learning back to their country and back to their dog. But equally, maybe you're in you're in Dorset, or maybe you're in um Lincoln, or maybe you're in Scotland, like lovely Claire, who's just arrived this week. Yes. And actually, you can come down, you can bring your own dog, you can bring multi-dogs, you can bring four dogs, five dogs, six dogs, potentially in some of our cottages. So you actually can come down and stay with multi-dogs, and they are they are designed for dogs. So the the cottages and the space is designed for dogs. So if people want a holiday, where do they go, Michelle?

SPEAKER_00: 13:51

I'm gonna have to get some.

SPEAKER_01: 13:53

No, no, no, it's fine. So we just www.devondogsogs.

SPEAKER_00: 13:55

Seven dogs, it's seven dogs now.

SPEAKER_01: 13:56

So um we'll put an edit in here, Dana. So if people want to so people want to go for a holiday, where do they need to head?

SPEAKER_00: 14:04

Just hit our hit our website, devondogs.co.uk, and book yourself in.

SPEAKER_01: 14:09

I think the biggest thing, the biggest thing, if you want a holiday, go do it. Like, don't be scared with your dog, don't be shy with your dog. It can be a really, really, really lovely experience and it can certainly be something that I think truly like life-changing. The memories that you make, the opportunities that you get together, like for me, it's magic. And it's whenever I look back on my holidays, both with dogs and without dogs, dogs for me make my holidays, and also those memories last a lifetime, and they really do last a lifetime. So when you're looking back on your life, there's no regrets because you've lived every moment and you've had the opportunities with the dogs and you've done all the fun things with the dogs. And so for me, maybe it is down here somewhere like this, where we're on Moorland, we're close to beaches. Michelle can take you to the beach, she can take you to the moors, she can take you to all of the gorgeous spaces. But like I said, if you're also abroad and you want the experience, you can come here too. There's there's cool opportunities there.

SPEAKER_00: 15:02

Yeah, and do it now. Don't think about it. Just go to devandogs.co.uk and find your dates and book in.

SPEAKER_01: 15:10

In fact, I'm gonna say, if you do it now after listening to this podcast, there is gonna be an opportunity. You can mention the podcast, you can say, I listen to the podcast, and there is a special opportunity for you to get 15% off your booking. So, whatever your booking might be, you can get 15% off your booking. Why? Because we're celebrating the podcast, we're celebrating the fact that you want a holiday, we're celebrating that you deserve a holiday. Your dog deserves a holiday. Like we all work so blooming hard. Oh, absolutely. You deserve a holiday. And Michelle, if anyone was thinking, sat on the fence, like worried about whether it's gonna suit their dog, worried about whether they're gonna be okay in the environment, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00: 15:43

Don't panic. We have got your back, and we get such great feedback from dog owners saying that it was a pleasure to come on holiday with their dogs. And if you've got any questions at all, just send us a message. We're happy to answer. We'll give you a call, we'll explain how it is. And there's great photos of the cottages on the site as well. So we want to make sure you have a great time. We look after you, and we want to make sure you have a great holiday with your dog.

SPEAKER_01: 16:08

Now, I've traveled all over the world with my dogs. I've been in America, I've been in Norway, I've been in Switzerland, I've been in Sweden, I have been all over the world with my dogs. And we're just gonna finish on a few like short fast fire tips for dogs. Michelle, having seen dogs a lot in this country, me having travelled the world with with my with my dogs. My first tip traveling with dogs, get your paperwork sorted. If you're traveling abroad, make sure your paperwork is really kosher. Like you have to make sure your paperwork's good. Check in with your vets, check in with all the regulatories, make sure that your paperwork's good, and then double check it again. Over to you, Michelle. What's one of your top tips?

SPEAKER_00: 16:41

I have food and hydration handy.

SPEAKER_01: 16:43

Nice, really, really easy one. Next one for me is if you're traveling in airlines, make sure that you absolutely have your crates and everything checked, and then you also have an ability to have open conversations with the airlines where you say, No, this really is the right thing to travel in. Because sometimes the airlines aren't so used to seeing dogs, so you sometimes have to persuade them otherwise. However, I've traveled lots and lots and lots and I've never had an issue, but I'm also fairly strict on we are getting on this plane, and I think you do need to uh understand what your rights are when you're traveling. So I think that's really, really key. Go on over to you, Michelle.

SPEAKER_00: 17:16

Travel your dog securely. So seat belted in, harnessed in. Ideally, my preference is a crate, but just make sure they're secure however you travel them. Really nice one.

SPEAKER_01: 17:26

Next one for me is when you're moving vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to vehicle. Again, pop-up crates, pop-up crates are so, so handy and they'll pop up anywhere, and you can move them from vehicle to bedroom to next Airbnb to next vehicle. It makes it so, so simple. And for me, don't feel bad about leaving your dog in their crate when they're secure. My dogs are much happier sometimes in their crates than they are running around in new spaces. So don't feel bad when you get somewhere to give them a bit in a moment of time in their crate so that they can happily settle before you dash on to the next mission, whatever that might be.

SPEAKER_00: 17:57

Make sure their ID is up to date. So their microchip is up to date and they've got some form of we we prefer flexi type tags that attach onto them, but make sure they're identifiable because you won't be near home. You're on holiday.

SPEAKER_01: 18:10

And my last one for you is be really flexible as an owner. So many things might not go to plan, but at the end of the day, the more flexible you are, the more that you're going to feel good in the outcome. An example of that for me, when I'm away, my raw feeding changes. I go with different foods, I go with different brands, I go with different times of day, I go with different everything. And because I'm flexible, my dogs are flexible, it doesn't really cause us anything but excitement, really, because we're excited to try something different. Last one from you.

SPEAKER_00: 18:37

Last one, take lots of photos and videos.

SPEAKER_01: 18:39

Yeah, make the memories. Yeah, and then share them. Share them with friends, share them with your socials, share them with whatever makes you feel happy, and sometimes just take them for yourself. So that's all really huge. Now I thank Michelle for joining me. Holidays, I mean, what could be a better topic and a holiday with your dog? Even better. That was this episode of the Sexiness Girl podcast. Thank you for joining us and go and book that holiday.