Eloping With Your Dogs: A How-To Guide

1. Unconditional Love and Support: Dogs are known for their unwavering loyalty and affection. Including them in your elopement allows you to have your closest companions by your side, bringing a sense of comfort, support, and unconditional love during an emotionally charged event.

2. Memorable Moments: Dogs have a way of making even the simplest moments extraordinary. Imagine walking down the aisle with your four-legged friend as your “best dog” or capturing candid shots of you and your partner with your pups in beautiful natural surroundings. These moments will create lifelong memories that will warm your hearts for years to come.

3. Symbolic Representation: Including your dogs in your elopement can symbolize the merging of your individual lives into a new family unit. It demonstrates your commitment not only to each other but also to the well-being and happiness of your furry companions.

4. They are part of the family too: My dogs are my absolute WORLD and if you’re here, I’m sure you feel the exact same way about your furry friends. With this being one of the most important days of your life, it seems fitting that your pups should be included!

1. Choose a Pet-Friendly Location/Venue: When planning your elopement, ensure that the venue you select is dog-friendly. Look for locations that allow dogs on the premises and have suitable facilities for them, such as spacious outdoor areas, shaded spots, and access to fresh water. National parks, beaches, or pet-friendly resorts are great options to consider. Just make sure to check out the National Parks website to see their rules and guidelines on dogs. Some do not allow dogs. 

2. Safety First: Before the big day, ensure your dogs are up to date on vaccinations and have proper identification, such as microchips or tags with your contact information. Keep their collars secure and consider using leashes during the ceremony to prevent any unexpected mishaps. 

3. Consider Your Dogs’ Temperament: While you may dream of your dogs standing right beside you during the ceremony, it’s important to consider their temperament and socialization. If your dogs are anxious or easily overwhelmed by large crowds or unfamiliar environments, it might be better to involve them in other aspects of the elopement, such as pre-wedding photoshoots or post-wedding celebrations.

4. Incorporate Them Thoughtfully: Find creative ways to include your dogs in the elopement. It could be as simple as dressing them in adorable wedding attire or having them carry the rings. Remember to keep their comfort and well-being in mind and avoid overwhelming them with too much activity or attention

If you’re set on including your furry friend(s), the next step is finding the perfect elopement location that allows dogs. Here is a list of a few elopement locations that I have been to that allow dogs:

• Cal Barel Road: Prairie Creek Redwoods
• Walker Road: Jedediah Smith Redwoods
• Oregon Redwoods Trail: Brookings, Oregon
• Trees of Mystery Trail: Klamath, CA
• Rohner Park Loop: Fortuna, CA
• Jedediah Smith Campground: Jedediah Smith Redwoods
• Pipeline Road: Henry Cowell Redwood State Park

Having a pack of 4 dogs myself, I know how challenging it can be to enjoy the parks with your best friends. Here are a few tips on how to include them:

• Check your park’s rules on pets. Dogs are almost always allowed on any paved road/surface in addition to most picnic areas.

• Elope on National Forest or BLM Land. Not only will you get more privacy, but you’ll have fewer to no restrictions on where you can bring your furry friend.

• Break your elopement up into multiple locations. You could have your ceremony in a non-pet-friendly location (have a friend watch your pet during this time) and then meet up and hit one of the trails in your park that is dog friendly.

• Make sure that the trails you choose for your hike are pet friendly.

If you’re eloping, the odds are that you are needing to travel to your destination.  Luckily I am no stranger to traveling with dogs so I wanted to share with you everything I have learned over the years. I have driven cross country 18 times and traveled to/through 38 states with my 4 dogs. So, I guess you could say we’ve got this whole traveling with dogs thing down to a science!!

• For car sickness/ car anxiety, ask your vet for some anxiety meds. In a pinch, we have used Benadryl but it’s not as effective as Trazisone which is what our vet prescribed. 

• Buy new chew toys before you hit the road. This gives your dog something to be excited about and it will occupy their brain to get some of their pent-up energy out. We recommend Playology dog toys since they are infused with food smell/flavor. We also tried “Dogwood calming 2 pack chew wood” recently and it’s been great!

• For night parking, I avoid the rest stops unless absolutely necessary. Instead, I keep an eye out for unpaved roads that run along the highway when I’m in “the middle of nowhere.” This usually leads to wide open public lands where your dog can run freely and you’ve got some privacy. I’ve found this to be safer than rest stops since I’m the only one in the area. As always trust your gut and be vigilant, I’ve never had anything happen to me in the 6 years of doing this but there’s always a risk.

• Give them as much room as possible to lie down and walk around. Now that we have the rv it’s much easier but before we piled all 6 of us (2 humans and 4 dogs) into the car. We’d lay the back row of seats all the way down and place dog beds in the back for them. It was still a tight fit but much preferred to share a row of seats. 

• Know that their behavior will be off during the trip. Even with our dogs, they still forget their manners on road trips and act up whenever they have outside time. Give your furry friend some grace and know they’re doing the best they can.

•  Instead of doing a ton of little stops and potty breaks, take fewer but longer breaks when you let your dog out to go potty (this is a great time to give water too.) we’ve figured this out to be the most effective method for us. Since 2 of our dogs hate being in the car, the frequent stopping means they’re a lot more restless and take longer to settle in. By taking fewer but longer stops, it allows time for your dog to get energy out. You can play fetch, just let them sniff and explore, or go on a long walk. They settle in much easier after this too.

• Keep an eye on your dog’s body language. If they’re prone to sickness or anxiety in the car, making sure they can see out of a window helps in addition to keeping a strong stream of cold air going for them. Going through mountains you may notice your pet start to act up more. This can be due to changes in pressure because of elevation. Cracking a window helps to equalize things.

• As far as stops and places to stay overnight, regarding finding dirt unpaved roads and camping there for the night keep an eye out for the location you’re. In the middle of nowhere is a prime spot for prisons. The signs along the highway will tell you whether or not you’re in a person area so just be cognizant of that and be sure not to stop in those areas. 

• More of a suggestion than a tip, but if you go for fast food, pick a treat up for your pups. We typically do chicken nuggets – they each get one. It’s not enough to upset their stomach but enough to keep them happy.