Pet Travel Journal: Destinations, Guides & Gear

A very large heavy-coated dog wearing a rain coat that ends well before its hindquarters, standing beside a stack of folded coats in graduated sizes with a tape measure on the ground.

Dog Coats for Giant Breeds: What to Do When the Size Chart Stops at XL

Updated September 29, 2026

Most charts sort by weight, and weight does not tell you shape — the AKC's own standards call a Newfoundland "slightly longer than tall"…

Flat editorial illustration of a traveller standing on a station platform beside a rolling suitcase, with a compact mesh-fronted soft pet carrier at their feet and a small terrier looking out, as an intercity train pulls in alongside.

Can You Take a Dog on a Train or Bus? Amtrak, Greyhound and City Buses, Rule by Rule

Updated September 29, 2026

Train: usually yes if the dog is small — Amtrak takes 20 lb including the carrier, in Coach, for trips up to seven hours,…

A brown and white dog drinks from a shallow collapsible bowl in the shade of a large oak beside a dry summer trail, a metal water bottle beside it and golden rolling hills in the distance.

How Much Water Does a Dog Need on a Hike? The Number Everyone Repeats Has No Source

Updated September 29, 2026

Hiking blogs say half an ounce to an ounce per pound per hour. Run the arithmetic and that has a 50-pound dog drinking an…

A medium-sized dog walks along a dirt trail through open pine forest wearing a moss-green hiking pack whose panniers sit low and balanced over the ribs, with layered hills behind.

How Much Weight Can a Dog Carry in a Backpack? Start Under 10% — Here’s the Evidence

Updated September 29, 2026

Start under 10% of body weight and treat 10% as a ceiling, not a target — that is where a 2025 gait study of…

A golden retriever stands on a wet city street in light rain wearing a fitted ochre full-body rain suit with the hood folded down flat against the shoulders so both ears and the whole head are uncovered.

Dog Raincoat With a Hood, or Without? How to Decide for Your Dog

Updated September 29, 2026

A hood is the only part of a rain suit that sits on the two organs your dog navigates with. What a hood does…

Dog Rain Suit Belly Coverage: What Happens When Your Dog Needs to Pee

Updated September 29, 2026

Full-coverage rain suits are photographed from the side, never from underneath — so you find out at the first lamp post. Three underside cuts,…

A person kneeling on a living room floor gently holding a soft tape measure around the chest of a calm standing dog, with a notebook and pencil on the floor nearby.

How to Measure Your Dog for Clothes: Three Numbers That Beat the Weight Chart

Updated September 29, 2026

Weight is the number every size chart asks for and the one that fails most often. Chest girth, back length and neck girth are…

A tabby cat sitting calmly inside an open soft-sided pet carrier on the floor beside a front door, with a packed shoulder bag and folded blanket next to it in warm afternoon light.

How to Evacuate With a Cat: Leave at the Warning, Not the Order

Updated September 29, 2026

California's own evacuation standard tells households with pets to leave one step earlier than everyone else — at the warning, not the order. What…

A person kneels on a wet city sidewalk beside a golden retriever wearing a full-body rain suit with the hood up, opening the collar of the suit to check the dog while the dog stands panting.

Do Dogs Overheat in Coats? What a Rain Suit Actually Costs Your Dog

Updated September 29, 2026

A raincoat doesn't touch panting — it covers the belly, which is the other half of how a dog sheds heat. What that costs…

A person in a rain jacket and boots waits patiently on a wet lawn at dusk while a small scruffy terrier on a red leash sniffs the grass, deciding whether to go. The open back door of the house glows warm behind them and rain falls steadily.

Dog Won’t Go Potty in the Rain? What Actually Works, and When to Call the Vet

Updated September 29, 2026

The Merck Veterinary Manual lists rain among the barriers to outdoor elimination — this is a documented problem, not stubbornness. What to rule out…

A person crouching low in a dawn-lit grassy meadow holding a slack leash while a small fluffy puppy explores the grass nose-down a short distance away, with a dirt footpath curving into the distance.

How Far Can a Puppy Walk? Minutes by Age, 10 Weeks to a Year

Updated September 29, 2026

Five minutes per month of age, once or twice a day — so about 10 minutes a session at 10 weeks and 30 at…

Flat editorial illustration of a highway rest area on a late-summer afternoon: an estate car parked in tree shade with the rear hatch open, a person beside it holding a collapsible water bowl, and a dog on a leash sniffing a strip of grass.

How Often Should You Stop on a Road Trip With a Dog? The Honest Answer Isn’t a Number

Updated September 29, 2026

Everyone quotes “every two to three hours” and nobody sources it — the AKC's and the ASPCA's own travel guidance name no interval at…

Dog Raincoat for a Long Body: Why a Standard Coat Stops Halfway Down Your Dachshund

Updated September 29, 2026

Almost every dog coat is cut on the assumption that a dog's back is about as long as the dog is tall. On a…

A person walks a medium-sized dog along a city park path at sunrise, the leash clipped to a wide belt worn low on their hips and both hands free at their sides.

Are Hands-Free Dog Leashes Safe? What the Injury Data Actually Says

Updated September 29, 2026

A waist belt deletes the most common dog-walking injury — a broken finger — and raises the odds of the injury that actually hospitalises…

A short-haired dog standing frozen and stiff in a sunlit home hallway wearing a rain jacket for the first time, while its owner crouches nearby at the dog eye level holding out a treat on an open palm.

My Dog Hates Wearing Clothes: How to Get a Dog Used to a Coat, Harness, or Boots

Updated September 29, 2026

The dog freezing in a new coat is not being stubborn. Rule out pain, fix the fit, then work the ladder veterinary behaviorists actually…

Side-view illustration of a car back seat: a tan dog in a chest harness sits inside a padded booster-style pet car seat anchored by two straps around the vehicle seat back, with the driver facing forward at the wheel.

Are Dog Car Seats Crash-Tested? What the Only Independent Test Found

Updated September 29, 2026

There is no federal safety standard for pet travel products, so "crash-tested" means whatever the seller decides. Here is what the one independent study…

A soaked golden retriever standing calmly on a wet suburban sidewalk in steady rain, its long outer coat darkened and dripping while its owner waits under an umbrella at the edge of the frame.

Do Double-Coated Dogs Need Raincoats? What a Husky’s Coat Actually Does in the Rain

Updated September 29, 2026

Usually no — and the people saying so are right about the mechanism. A double coat insulates by trapping air, which the Merck Veterinary…

Blue four-leg dog rain suit with a shark-fin hood and dorsal fins, on a plain background.

Best Dog Rain Suits for Large Dogs, Compared

Updated September 29, 2026

Five four-leg rain suits for big dogs compared by size run (up to 138 lb), entry style, leash handling, and shell honesty — and…

Illustration of a person on a suburban sidewalk at dawn holding a dog leash and checking their phone while wildfire smoke turns the sky flat amber behind them

What AQI Is Safe to Walk Your Dog? What the Authorities Actually Say

Updated September 29, 2026

No veterinary body publishes a dog-specific AQI cutoff — the numbers pet blogs quote are borrowed from human guidance. Here is what Cornell, the…

Illustration of a large dog on a wet park path in a full four-leg rain suit, with the walker's leash passing down through a reinforced slit opening in the middle of the coat's back panel and clipping to the metal ring of a harness worn underneath the coat.

Large Dog Raincoat With a Harness Hole: Which Opening Actually Works

Updated September 29, 2026

Four different things get sold as a “harness hole”, and only two let you keep your dog's own harness on underneath. What each one…

Are Dogs Allowed at Baker Beach? Off-Leash North of Lobos Creek, Leashed South

Updated September 29, 2026

The creek is the line, and it is written into the park’s Superintendent’s Compendium: voice-control sand with the full Golden Gate view to the…

Are Dogs Allowed at Muir Woods? No — and Where to Go Instead

Updated September 29, 2026

The Park Service's answer is a flat no: not on any trail, not carried, not in the plaza. Here is the exact rule, the…

Are Dogs Allowed at Muir Beach? Yes — Here’s Where the Line Is

Updated September 29, 2026

Off leash on the sand from shoreline to dune crest, leashed everywhere else — and no dogs at all up the hill at Muir…

Dog-Friendly Beaches in the Bay Area: Where Off-Leash Is Legal, and the Date Most Guides Get Wrong

Updated September 29, 2026

Five GGNRA beaches allow voice-control off leash — but the federal snowy plover rule at Crissy Field and Ocean Beach runs July 1 to…