Summer is officially in full swing and for a lot of people that means hitting the road to the beaches or mountains! While we're always happy to board your dog for you, sometimes it just doesn't feel right unless the entire family is there. This past weekend, the BTH crew hit the road and headed up to NH - all 7 dogs in tow! So how do we do it? What are some of the things we figured out along the way?

For the purposes of this post, we're assuming you're driving. Flying with a dog is tricky, especially in summer when temperatures in the cargo hold aren't ideal. If your dog can't fit in a carrier under the seat, we recommend leaving them with a qualified dog care professional (like us!).

The first thing we do is look for a house. Sure there are dog friendly hotels but we've found (especially if you have multiple dogs) that renting a house for a weekend is usually a little easier. And we've found that our dogs are more comfortable in a home than a hotel room when we leave them alone. So our first stop in planning is VRBO.com or AirBnB. You can filter by "pets allowed" which makes it super easy to find the perfect house for your weekend away. Most of the time there will be an extra charge for the dogs but it's usually minimal. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the house rules! Like are dogs allowed on the furniture?

Once you have your accommodations booked, you just need to get there! Which means packing up the car and hitting the road. There are a lot of ways to pack up your dog's food for the weekend. And we've probably seen every one of them - ziplock bags, tupperware containers, even garbage bags! This past weekend, we took our new The Dog Food Container for a test drive. It was great! It fits all the food for a weekend or even a couple of weeks (depending on size of the dog) and has helpful measurements on the side.

Depending on how comfortable your dog is with the car, you may need to restrain them. Addie, our puppy, is still learning the ropes so sometimes she rides in a crate in the back. A lot of people feel that all dogs should always be in a crate inside the car. If you've seen us picking up your dog for playgroup, you know that we don't feel this way. We find that most dogs adjust to car rides and will lie down and even fall asleep for the duration. If you have a dog who insists on being navigator or trying to drive, we'd recommend getting them a car harness which restrains them using your cars seat belts. You do not want to retrain them by the collar as this could result in injury to the neck.

Our dogs ride free but I do have a car hammock for the back seat which prevents them from climbing into the front. We like this one from Amazon - it has fleece on one side which is nice in winter and a smooth microfiber on the other. It's machine washable which is extra nice for us because Gus sheds half his coat on long car trips (thanks to whoever ditched him on the side of the road as puppy for that added bonus).

When you arrive at the house, it's usually a good idea to get the lay of the land yourself and figure out where will be best for the dog(s) to set up camp. Then you'll want to let your dog explore the house and get comfortable - assuming they can be trusted to explore on their own. If you haven't checked the house for hazards or your dog isn't fully house trained, you may want to consider doing a tour of the house on leash. Addie, who is only 4 months old spent most of this stay on leash because she cannot be trusted to keep her pee inside her body.

Finally, depending on the reason for your getaway, you should scope out some spots to take the dogs for some fun. Marjie found a fantastic swimming hole for our dogs on the first day she was in NH. It was a perfect day to get out and enjoy some fresh running water. The dogs loved it!! If you do have to go out and leave your dog at the house, you may want to bring a crate or baby gate for containing them in a safe space - depending on what they're comfortable with. Chewy.com has some good travel options for crates like this one. We'll often leave our dogs with a favorite toy or chew or even a marrow bone to help with the discomfort of being left alone in a strange house.

Oh and the reason we went to NH? So Alex (Meghan's husband) and Bill (Marjie's husband) could race their race cars at the Climb to the Clouds, the hillclimb at the Mount Washington Auto Road. And Alex was kind enough to even bring some of your dogs along for the ride:

Traveling With Dogs