Pros And Cons Of Traveling With Dog

I am still considering a career as a OTR driver. For those of you that have traveled with your dog, can you please tell me your experiences, both positive and negative. My concern is with my dog and not so much myself. I think she would adapt and be fine with it, but it would really help to hear some real life experiences from current Truck Drivers. Thanks is advance!

Check our our own chapter of the Truck Driver's Career Guide:

Can I bring my pets with me as a truck driver?

I just now saw this post. We also have these:

Tips For Trucking With Your Pets

List Of Trucking Companies That Allow Pets

I just recently brought my dog on the road with me for the first time. He is a mix breed, black lab mixed with something smaller, and he's 28 pounds. Swift allows dogs up to 50 pounds, and no "dangerous" breeds.

My dog is 5 years old. He was a house dog for the first year of his life, and then became an outside dog and was until I brought him on the truck. So he was already house broken, which made one thing I didn't have to worry about. But that would be the first potential "hurdle" I guess you could say. Potty training a dog in the truck could be difficult so if you're bringing a dog that doesn't have that issue, that's a great start.

The next thing, I would say is notion sickness. Some dogs can't handle riding in a vehicle. With mine, I've been taking him on car rides regularly for his whole life, so that was another thing I know he would be OK with.

So I would say those are 2 big considerations to make before you jump right into bringing a dog on your truck.

As far as pros and cons go, these are for me personally:

Pros: -You feel less stupid talking to your dog while driving, than you do talking to yourself

-Exercise. Having a dog that needs to be walked forces you to get out and stretch your legs and walk around more often.

-Companionship is nice. Just having a canine friend in the truck makes you feel less alone on those long days of driving.

Cons: -You have to be more conscious of when you need to stop to take your dog out.

-You have to be careful that your dog is not getting around your feet or blocking your view when driving.

-Food and water can be messy.

For the food and water, I've already tried a few different bowls but I think I've found the winning combo for my dog. He has a habit of trying to cover his food if he doesn't eat it all right away. So if I've gotten out of the truck while he was eating, I have come back to a food/water bowl that was tipped over from him trying to cover it. Not pretty. So what I've got now, is a heavy ceramic dish for his food, and a gallon, square Tupperware dish for his water, that I never fill more than 1/4 of the way. This allows me to keep water in there while I'm driving, without it sloshing out of the bowl.

I hope that gives a little insight, and I'll say I'm really enjoying having my dog with me!

His name is Jammer and he was mad at me for making him move so I could lay down lol

I just recently brought my dog on the road with me for the first time. He is a mix breed, black lab mixed with something smaller, and he's 28 pounds. Swift allows dogs up to 50 pounds, and no "dangerous" breeds.

My dog is 5 years old. He was a house dog for the first year of his life, and then became an outside dog and was until I brought him on the truck. So he was already house broken, which made one thing I didn't have to worry about. But that would be the first potential "hurdle" I guess you could say. Potty training a dog in the truck could be difficult so if you're bringing a dog that doesn't have that issue, that's a great start.

The next thing, I would say is notion sickness. Some dogs can't handle riding in a vehicle. With mine, I've been taking him on car rides regularly for his whole life, so that was another thing I know he would be OK with.

So I would say those are 2 big considerations to make before you jump right into bringing a dog on your truck.

As far as pros and cons go, these are for me personally:

Pros: -You feel less stupid talking to your dog while driving, than you do talking to yourself

-Exercise. Having a dog that needs to be walked forces you to get out and stretch your legs and walk around more often.

-Companionship is nice. Just having a canine friend in the truck makes you feel less alone on those long days of driving.

Cons: -You have to be more conscious of when you need to stop to take your dog out.

-You have to be careful that your dog is not getting around your feet or blocking your view when driving.

-Food and water can be messy.

For the food and water, I've already tried a few different bowls but I think I've found the winning combo for my dog. He has a habit of trying to cover his food if he doesn't eat it all right away. So if I've gotten out of the truck while he was eating, I have come back to a food/water bowl that was tipped over from him trying to cover it. Not pretty. So what I've got now, is a heavy ceramic dish for his food, and a gallon, square Tupperware dish for his water, that I never fill more than 1/4 of the way. This allows me to keep water in there while I'm driving, without it sloshing out of the bowl.

I hope that gives a little insight, and I'll say I'm really enjoying having my dog with me!

His name is Jammer and he was mad at me for making him move so I could lay down lol

Very cute doggie! I didn't know Swift allowed pets, that's adds another possible company to work for. Thanks for all helpful information!

I would like to have a dog with me, but do not do it largely because many of the DCs I go to to load/unload the ice box do not allow pets out of the truck on their property, and some have no suitable place for a pet to walk whether they allow it or not. It would be difficult to always stop to walk the dog just prior to entering these places, and sometimes you are just there too long for that to work anyway. Obviously, a lot of drivers figure out some way to deal with it, but I do not see a way that I would be comfortable with. I pull a reefer...maybe those pulling other types of trailers find fewer problems, or maybe some dedicated routes would work.

I am still considering a career as a OTR driver. For those of you that have traveled with your dog, can you please tell me your experiences, both positive and negative. My concern is with my dog and not so much myself. I think she would adapt and be fine with it, but it would really help to hear some real life experiences from current Truck Drivers. Thanks is advance!