Dysfunctional Planner

When we went to York for a long weekend it happened to coincide with a heatwave.

I was horrified.

We dont take Frank for long walks above 23 degrees, we normally just let him out in the garden. I was almost distraught at the idea of taking or French bulldog on a train for 3 hours but the heat wave had sprung and we had no back up for looking after Frank. The summer had been warm at best so it was a bit of a shock when the heat started soaring in the high twenties.

The better news was that York would be 4 degrees cooler and has narrow shaded streets.

So we took Frank with us.

Lucky we have two trains and one stop tube. Elizabeth line and LNER both had air conditioning but we still took precautions incase it was too warm for Frank.

I checked on him every few minutes to make sure his breathing hadn’t change.

I was still worried but thought I would share my tips for travelling with a dog.

7 Tips for travelling with a dog

• Stay hydrated them and you
• A cooling mat/ towel
• Snacks for them
• A walk before and after the journey
• Comforts and medication
• Shade and aircon
• Google maps planning
• Manners

Stay hydrated and cool

Probably the most obvious. You and your dog need to be hydrated. I brought two bottles of cold water and a bowl for drinking. frank has a flat muzzle so he prefers a bowl.

We also carried a wet coat/ towel with us. It cools him down gently and he can either lay down on it or it can cover him. The aircon on both trains helped control his temperature and help us stay cool too. By the time we arrived at York Frank had all his e every back.

Make sure you check what trains have air con!

Snacks and food

Take it all with you. Don’t buy it on the way as you may not find your dog’s favourite food and last thing you need is more upset. Travelling, no matter how chilled your dog is may be a bit stress full. So take there favourite snacks and food to avoid upset stomachs and vomiting.

I had all his biscuits in portioned bags, and I bought some wet food that he liked in small portion tins rather than large tins. This was to make sure that his food stayed fresh but also didn’t stink out the room as there was no fridge.

A walk before and after the train

Most of what I am saying is probably really obvious but making sure your dog can relieve themselves before and after is really important. Frank doesn’t have any bladder control issues but when he is nervous he used to have a panic wee that hasn’t been the case in recent years but it is still a worry.

He had a ten minute walk to the first train in the shade and then a 20 minute walk to the hotel once we were in York, we broke it up with pub stop so Frank could have a little nap on the cool cobble stones and we could check out our first dog friendly pub. Frank had a drink of water to cheers our arrival.

Shade and aircon

I would love to tell you to avoid the hottest part of the day but during a heat wave it’s hot all day. Even the nights were warm.

York is a fairly shade covered which was perfect for Frank and for us. It was easy to choose paths that catered to Frank and as long as you stay within the city walls you can’t really get lost.

We stayed in the Moxy, the room and aircon was perfection and if we felt that Frank was getting too tired or too hot we would go back to the hotel and chill in the hotel lobby and make a plan with what to do for the rest of the day.

Comforts and medication

We brought a blanket for Frank, I actually cut it in two so we had half to travel and half for his bed. I did worry that it may be to cold for him to sleep at night with the aircon on but he was fine.

Frank has eyedrops and allergy medication that he has to take every days with Gavin condition he also has some medications he needs to carry so I had them in me the whole trip.

Comfy shoes are a must in York, we walked everywhere.

Google maps planning

This has been my tip since we went to Japan. As we were with a dog I went through and Google’s every dog friendly pub, restaurant, cafe and place of interest that dogs were friendly.

It meant we could plan our days but also drop into places that we knew catered to dogs. We did go to a Nepalese restaurant where it didn’t mention if it was dog friendly so we just called up and double checked. They popped us in the window so Frank was out of the way and the food was delicious.

Which leads me to my last point.

Manners

York and Yorkshire is super friendly and welcoming. However taking your dog everywhere is a privilege. Places that let dogs in are going above and beyond so just be grateful. We asked everywhere if Frank was welcome.

Manners are so important for making future visits possible with anyone and their furry friends.

Also just don’t be a dick, ever.

So that’s it.

We spent 3 nights in York and absolutely loved it. We now want to explore more northern cities.

So tell the people you love you love them, and check your stool it may save your life.