How to train your dog to love his pet carrier?

Planning a trip with your pet? You are going to have the best time of your life during this trip. If this is your first trip with your pet, you will have to take care of a lot of things before you pack your bags and get going. A road trip can be exhausting, both for you as well as your pet. When planning a trip far away it’s best to take a flight, and don’t worry about your pet dog, you can easily carry him/her with you on the flight.

Although your airline would have instructed you to buy an airline approved pet carrier you need to make sure your pet is comfortable in it during the trip.
Here are few steps to train your dog to love his pet carrier

1)    Purchase it in advance

Don’t wait for the day or the week of the trip to purchase the carrier. Bring it a month or two in advance so you get enough time to train your pet to be comfortable in it. Place it in the living room and let your dog explore it as if it’s just a piece of furniture.

2)    Lure him/her into the carrier

Now that your dog thinks the carrier is a harmless object, it’s time to lure him/her into the carrier if it hasn’t explored it from the inside yet. Place some treats or dog food so that your pet goes inside to eat it. At this stage keep the door open or he/she might think it’s some kind of trap.

3)    A phrase for entering the carrier

Once your dog gets accustomed to it, close the door for some minutes and then keep on increasing the duration. Associate a phrase for this act, so later when you actually have put him/her in the carrier you won’t have to do it forcefully. Something like, “go in”, “carrier”, etc. should work.

4)    Be patient

This training will be easier if your pet is crate trained. For others it may take some time, but don’t get impatient. Slowly your pet will learn to stay inside the airline pet carrier for dogs without any difficulty and you two can enjoy a wonderful trip together!