The majority of dogs gets used to road travel and overcome their landlocked "mal de mer" if introduced to over-the-road transport with short trips and on a regular basis.

Until then, a towel or blanket that you don't mind washing after every trip should be placed where the animal can rest -- among other things -- on it.

The crate should be large enough to allow the dog to stand upright and turn around in without bumping into the top or side of the portable kennel.

I place a few squares of non-skid, snap-together flooring made for boats in the floor of my dog's crate, which offers the dog traction and keeps her off the bottom of the crate in case there is a bladder accident or she spills her water dish.

For the latter, I keep a broad-based, skid- and tip-proof watering bowl in the crate, which I fill less than halfway so that it does not spill under normal driving conditions. When flying, most airlines require a water bowl that attaches to the crate, usually snapping onto the medal grid on the door, to prevent spillage.

OTHER NECESSITIES
When traveling with a hunting dog, my car kit also contains a multi-tool, lead, and extra lead made of chew-proof chain, a stake-out spike, a roll of paper towels, scent-eliminating spray, a canine first aid kit, bottled water and extra food.

I make sure the extra food I keep on hand while traveling is the same she is fed at home, and I try to feed the dog at the same time and in the same proportions as we do at home.

The multi-tool has seen plenty of use over the years, removing thorns from footpads, opening battery compartments in beeper collars and cutting out burrs. The most dramatic use it's seen, however, came just last season when my setter encountered her first porcupine and I employed a method shown me by a Montana guide.

I used the wire-cutting feature on my Leatherman to snip the end off each quill. This releases the tension on the barb that anchors the "working" end of each quill. By pushing the quill slightly in, the barb folds back into the body of the quill and with the source of the tension cut off, stays there, allowing the quill to be removed with a minimum of damage to the dog.

The trick saved me a long trip to the vet, lots of pain for the pup, and the better part of a day of hunting for both of us.

CLIMATE CONTROL
The number one threat to the health of hunting dogs that are being transported by land, air or sea is temperature, according to Dr. Katharine Hillestad, a staff veterinarian for Doctors Foster & Smith, a popular provider of products for pets and whose namesake owners are avid hunters and keep bird dogs.

Hillestad said that while traveling, dogs should be treated with the same care as infants as far as temperature is concerned, and that utmost care must be taken to keep the dog from overheating by being left in an enclosed vehicle.

"Cracking a vehicle's window an inch or two is not acceptable. It just won't offer the correct amount of ventilation to keep the interior cool on a warm day," she warned. "Dogs can suffer heat stroke without proper air circulation and hydration."

AIR TRAVEL
That goes for dogs traveling by air as well as land. All commercial airlines have strict rules concerning the type of crate that may be used to provide for a dog's comfort during the flight. Most airlines also offer pressurized, temperature-controlled cargo areas for transporting pets and some separate crated animals from the regular baggage areas, securing the kennels to keep them from shifting during the flight.