It was only about 5 miles, but it was good practice!
Later this month we're planning on a week long road trip with the pups so we wanted to start practicing having them in the car together. Most of our road trips fit the theme of "hike a bit, sightsee a bit, stop by a brewery" so we went with the same pattern today.
First we drove about half a mile from home to a short flat trail where Thor could be off leash while we focused on Barley. Since he is about 6 months old we only hiked for ~30 minutes but he did GREAT! Wonderful leash behavior and only a little bit of barking. Oh boy does he love to bark when he gets excited and he was *very* excited to be out there with us. This is new to us because Thor is not a barker.
https://i.imgur.com/wTv1uJm.jpg
My terrible blurry shot of them hanging out in the cab of the truck. We removed the seats a long time ago and turned it into kind of a 'den' for Thor. He treats it like a crate and loves hanging out back there. Bed, blankets, water bowl, toys, etc. And we wanted to make sure he was comfortable sharing it with Barley. He didn't seem to mind at all. Next week we'll try a similar outing with my car (a Subaru Outback) since the shared space is very different.
https://i.imgur.com/m7E3bwT.jpg
After our little hike and short drive we visited a local brewery for lunch. Both pups were happy to gnaw on treats while the humans enjoyed their own treats. They also enjoyed pets from lots of people.
https://i.imgur.com/WtYxRcT.jpg
Even though we were only out for ~2 hours, it was a big day for Barley! He snoozed peacefully on the drive home.
https://i.imgur.com/51nlQuv.jpg
Overall it was a big success. I'm looking forward to trying out the other car next week. I think we can definitely extend the distance and try for a longer ride to see if they get bored or annoying.