Dogs are a member of the family, for many dog owners. They don’t necessarily get the same status as kids, grandparents, or even cousins — but they don’t usually get treated like furniture, either. Our family was no exception to this rule. How to move from Ohio to Texas? This is a situation one family found themselves in. Having to move long distance with three large dogs.

How were we going to fit three large dogs into a car that fit seven people, when there were seven people? Along with our five children for the long, long drive to Texas. We knew they wouldn’t really fit in the car. We were not going to use moving services for our dogs. We were going to move the dogs on our own. We decided just to make a game out of it. We got the kids involved in the process of preparation, and we treated it a bit like camping. We knew it was going to be very crowded in the car. We decided to try to make the experience fun.

We had already arranged for car transport services to ship our second car to Texas; therefore, taking two cars was not an option. We were unsure if we wanted to use auto shipping. We made arrangements before thinking about the dogs. Since the dongs already thought they were lapdogs, we decided that was where they would ride. Even though they were too big to be considered lapdogs.

The five kids loved it. They put pillows in the back, blankets on the floor and a couple dishes, which they duct taped up, in the H2. There was chew toys and leashes, and we decided to stop every hour to hour-and-a-half to let the dogs relieve themselves. The result? We got to see a lot more along the way then we otherwise would have.

It was suggested by the vet to give the dogs a small dose of antihistamine. This kept the dogs calm during the trip|. Due to allergies, the dogs have had them before. Dogs, as I understand it, are quite prone to a variety of allergies. Some, like ours, have skin allergies. So when our trusted family vet suggested this, we went with her judgment and it really, really worked. We found we did not need to make as many stops. Not only were they calm, but they did not need to go as often as we planned. As young as they were (two were seven months old and the other was three years old), Jillian, Juliet, and Mo pretty much spent most of the trip sleeping on the floor or in the back of the car, thankfully, so did the kids.