dogs on trains?

[lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs]

We are planning a trip to Scotland and will be going via train. Has anyone done this? Its about 5 1/2 hours trip with 2 changes.
What the helll do I do if he needs the loo while we are on train?

I dont want to leave him behide, Im sure he will love it :)

I used to take my last dog on the train all the time, they have to stay on the floor all the time, take a blanket and a portable water bowl. They used to be free to travel but I don't know if tha has changed.

Not on every journey I made, but on quite a lot of the long ones the ticket staff were so helpful and would let him get off at stations for wee breaks and would hold the train.

However that was doing a very long jouney (Paddington to Penzance straight through) I would think with two changes in a five hours journey you will be fine.

If your socialization didn't include stations, I would reccomend taking him a couple of times armed with some very tasty treats and just sit on the station letting him get used to the noise and feeding him. Otherwise he may panic when you try to get him on.

i got stuck in the snow on saturday for a total of 5 hours, i kept getting WB out to pee and he didn't pee once even though he had water throughout. you should be ok if you have a changeover. if possible, a long walk before you set off and a pee.

Another nutter here, who did an East of England to NE England with 3 dogs though admittedly I had the DDs with me, who were old enough to help out. Are you going completely alone?

I would consider the nature of the dog - will he get scared by the noise and crowds? The last thing you want is a freaking dog or one which is in danger of getting hurt because he is jumpy.

If you are happy to do the trip, take water bowls and treats, wipes and poo bags and I would advise that you double lead the dogs and hold both at all times. you're going to be hanging on to a dog, a handbag, luggage, tickets... heaven forbid that you should lose a dog's lead and thus your dog. :(

A rope slip lead is ideal as it doesn't require a second collar to clip it on to - and a collar can come off a struggling, freaked out dog remember, whereas a slip lead is unlikely to do so. I wouldn't recommend them for normal use but IMHO for this purpose and as a spare lead to have in your pocket when walking they are invaluable.

Oh and PS, if you go, don't feed pooch beforehand. Even if he is not carsick it is possible he might be trainsick or vice versa and also you really don't want a dog who is slightly stressed or excited and therefore has a full and dodgy tum on a train!

I take my dog on the train regularly (an hour on the tube across London then 2.5 hours on the overground train). Blanket on the floor, portable water bowl, bag of bonios, jobs a good un!

Hmm that reminds me that my last dog actually broke my little finger in three places (ouchy) in his eagerness to get on the train, with me not holding his lead very well.

Handling luggage and a strong bouncy dog through a small train door can be tricky.

I took my cat on a train once. He developed a dodgy tum half an hour into a three hour trip

On the bright side we had a whole carriage to ourselves

I'm sure you will be fine.

D'oh! Somehow I got the idea that you had two dogs, Lisa, then realised you didn't and so corrected my post...

...or so I thought! Apologies, I missed a bit!

nope misdee has 2 dogs :) his brothers.
He is very well socialized but not done trains
I will wait till kids go back and do a few short trips on train to my mums or just shopping :)
I wont be alone, I will have DH and 2 dds with us, Im a little worried about someone or something being left on the train

Do you give you plently of time to get on and off??
I can do the same trip with 1 change over
thanks for advice