Traveling with pets takes a little planning

Taking a pet on a road trip like that can be challenging, but when I took my dog Bailey on that drive last May, it was fairly uneventful.

The key was to make a plan early: Ensure the hotels were pet friendly, I had plenty of food and snacks for her, and her vaccinations were updated.

My reason for going to Orlando was taking vacation and visiting my son, Austin, who was interning with Walt Disney World at the time.

As for Bailey, she has been our constant companion since 2010, when Austin was 8. Bailey is a lab mix; what she's mixed with, I'm not sure. But she is a spoiled senior dog living the good life.

When traveling with pets, it's all about knowing what their tendencies are and to plan accordingly. 

Dr. Gretchen Ganas, a veterinarian at the All-Animal Clinic, where Bailey has been a "patient" since being a puppy, said the clinic often gets requests for sedatives or anti-anxiety medications for pets that are about to travel.

"It's definitely effective for some pets, but if your dog or cat doesn't enjoy long car rides or being around a lot of people, it may be in the dog's or cat's best interest to have a pet sitter or stay in a kennel," she said.

Medications can be over the counter or prescribed by a vet to help relax the pets.

So back to that trip to Orlando. A little background first. Bailey is a good car rider. She usually hops into my Honda CR-V with ease and joy because we're most often headed to her "happy place," where she goes to day board once a week or so and get groomed. 

As for longer trips, I've taken Bailey on a 7-hour trip to the Ozarks twice in in the past few years.

And here's where pet owners can do a little homework.

Ganas said it's important for travelers with pets to know the requirements of where they're going. Technically it's illegal to transport pets across state lines, and a health certificate is necessary.

"Will it be enforced? It's unlikely," Ganas said, "but there are some specific areas where it is enforced a lot more. So it's important to do your homework to make sure there's not a health certificate requirement or a requirement to have your pet's vaccination record."

Ganas said pet owners should probably have a vaccination record handy anyway.

I didn't realize transporting pets was illegal, but nobody in Arkansas ever asked. And when you're going to the Ozarks and pass places called Booger Hollow and Chigger Hollow, I don't think they'll really care.

Preparing for the drive to Orlando last year, I knew Bailey could ride well. She slept most of those seven hours to the Ozarks, so I expected the same going to Orlando.

I decided to break up the drive. The first leg of the trip would take about seven hours and I picked a pet-friendly hotel. We stopped a couple of times to stretch and take potty breaks, and she seemed fine curled up on the passenger seat next to me. She woke up a few times to get more comfortable and I guess to see where we were, not that she can read signs (that I know of anyway).

We left the hotel the next morning for the final five hours to Orlando, where I had picked another pet-friendly. Now that was a new experience for Bailey with all the people she got to see. She also rode on an elevator for the first time, which was almost as entertaining as seeing her own reflection in a a mirror for the first time.

All in all, she did great. Never messed the floor, slept in the beds (which I'm sure housekeeping appreciated), and only barked a few times.

On the drive back to Tupelo, I let her stretch out on tieback seat. This time, we made the drive home without another hotel stop. We did pause for potty breaks a couple of times, and nearly 10 hours later, I was back in my bed and she was back on her favorite sofa.

If you don't drive and fly instead, know that airlines and countries often have different requirements, so make sure you know what the specific ones are, says the CDC.

"Different airlines have different rules about whether and how a pet can travel. Depending on the airline, your pet may be able to travel on your flight either in the cabin or in the cargo hold Confirm this ahead of time with your airline," the agency says.