I was just wondering if people have taken their dogs on a train before and how they found it. OH has moved to London, and im following in February, but in the meantime im in London 1 weekend and vise versa the next. Virgin said its ok as long as they're on a lead, but just wondering whether it would be best to buy a carrier or cage for the train, just so he's confined and safe.

I dont really want to put him in kennels, so thats ut, and no-one near me to look after him, plus, I hate leaving him with other people anyway to be honest.

If anyone has travelled on the train with their dogs before, any help would be welcome.

It's been a few years since I took a dog on a train but it was easy-peasy. And I think it's free now! We used to have to buy each dog not in a container a child's ticket. Now I think you can take 2 dogs free.

What breed is your dog? As far as public transport goes, size matters! And how long is the journey?

As it's a small breed I would be inclinde to get a lightweight small cage for him as it's easily trasportable and if you feel he would be more settle in it.  I don't think the dogs are allowed on the seats though so be careful in that aspect of things.  Mayeb you could use the cage to begin with untill his more used to traveling on the cage, dpends how much of a pain it becomes to carry a cage with you :)

Hi :)

Yeah its free to take him, he has to go on me knee though, or I can buy him a seat, but he's only a Patterdale Terrier, so he'll fit on my knee.

Its about 3-4 hours from Manchester to London on the train.

I was looking at those safe carry cages that zip all the way around,but never used them before.

My main concern with taking my affie boy on a train is the chance that he might try and cock his leg cos its a strange place! I think as your dog is small, a crate is a good choice....but ensure that he is used to one prior to using it on the train. A crate will make him feel safe, prevent him from doing anything unmentionable, and avoid any problems with dogphobic passengers.

I think I'd be inclined to put him in a cage of some sort for his own safety (if the worst happened and there was an accident).

You will find it difficult to find somewhere to put a container, so loose is better unless the dog is very fearful.

Accurate information from National Rail Enquiries.

Hi Jean,

Reading that it quite good. It says that if another passanger objects to a dog being there, they can be removed :o

Last time I travelled with a dog I booked in advance and paid the small difference between first & second class.   I sat in the area that is reserved for wheelchair use so there was a lot of floor space (But I would've happily moved had it been necessary) and my dog was as good as gold.

About 12 years ago when I moved to the South Coast I took my dog down on the train from Yorkshire - I travelled mid week and in the middle of the day to avoid peak hours and it was good fun. The only problem was that I was travelling alone and I did not dare have a drink as I had no one to hold her lead if I wanted the loo!

I was travelling through London and caught a cab from Kings Cross to St James Park where I let Jessie have a run before catching another train from Victoria. She took all the sights and sounds of London in her stride, and loved the attention she got on the train

When I moved back to Yorkshire, I came by car as by then I had 2 dogs.

I have done it quite often and you can take two dogs per passenger on without charge.  Min problem is that most seats have tables now,a and the dogs are therefore not easy to see.

I always aim for the one disabled bay on the whole train, and if there is no disabled/wheelchair user then this spot has no table,ad instead of one of the double seats there is a folding single, giving ample room for dogs to lie down and be seen so as not to be trodden on.

Some dogs may have issues with open tread stairs on some stations.

I travelled from Edinburgh to the Isle of Wight by train with my borzoi girl. We didn't have any problems actually on the train, although it was 8 hours without a break from Edin to Kings Cross. I sat opposite one of the luggage gaps on the train and Tosca lay quite happily there on her vetbed. We then went on a tube to Waterloo I think it was - that was fine too, then a train again. The only problem I had was at Waterloo where there weren't any stairs, just escalators. The chap there said the escalator had to be switched off for a dog to go on it - and they couldn't switch it off as it was rush hour, he said I'd have to wait for about 90mins I tried arguing then just cried and said I'd miss my next train...he closed the escalator and turned it off :D

Flippin heck they always had stairs in the middle of the escalators, what if there was a power cut.  Also they do have lifts.

We've taken a couple of Leonbergers on the train, no one seemed to mind but we did take up quite a lot of room and some people were scared to pass us - we stood between carriages - but it was only from Cov to the NEC so not much of a journey really. The only thing that bothered us was the big gap between platform and train and we  had to make sure the dogs cleared it, so their (long) lead was looped around the back end for an extra 'lift' :)

Lifts were out of order Barbara, god knows what they would have done if someone in  wheelchair arrived They'd never get away with that these days, this was 7 years ago.

We take ours on the train or bus and no problems. We traveled a fair bit on the London Underground and it was easy. If it is hot I make sure I have a full bottle of water and a bag with a wet town to cool off the dogs with.   I never had any person complain most people love to see them and those who don't just keep away...if they see yiu are controling the dogs and keeping them out of the way and not being a problem people who don't like dogs don't tend to get upset.   At the  underground stations they just let you enter through the luggage wheel chair door and the dogs must not walk on the moving escalators. They must be carried or if the station has them walk up the stairs, use a lift or the escelators need to be switched off.  This can be difficult. Carrying my boy was not easy because even though he is only 20kg some of the escelators are so long!  I guess if they are bigger you can lift them on and hold them resting the hind legs on the step and life then again before you get off, that is reasonably okay providing you are strong enough to do it safely.

I've taken my 2 Cavaliers on the train from Preston to London several times without any trouble. I usually go to Watford if I'm taking both of them, as the time I went through the Underground it was quite hard carrying one under each arm on the escalators!! But I've never had any trouble with the train ride, I usually put a towel on the seat as at least one of them always insists on sitting up on the seat, and the guard has never complained. :-)

Hi I am a train driver so yes dogs are allowed on trains and travelling on virgin is fine as they carry a lot of dogs Crufts weekend. They are one of the main services for the NEC. so they are used to them. If you are concerns about accidents then just take some kitchen roll thats what we do, but no accidents so far, my OH had to deal with a very overweight lab the other day.The platform staff at the station got the wheel chair ramp to help him on as he couldn't make the step up bless! the tubes are mainly a problem only because of the escallators.

Waterloo main station does have stairs. When travelling with a dog (a large one) I too now use the train coach for the disabled much more room and invariably is empty.

Ive travelled various of my dogs on the train.

I always pick a table seat so there is room on the floor for the dog, there just ISNT between non table seats.

I take a blanket and put it on the seat next to me, then at stops i let my dog up on the seat so theres no risk of people stepping on him (hes a fool and often leaves his tail or a paw sticking out into the aisle), but also so that anyone wanting the seats opposite me  knows there is a dog sitting there, then they can choose to sit elsewhere if they dont like the dog near them.

Ive only had one comment from train staff about him being on the seat and when she realised he was sat on a blanket and was only there to be out of the way, that was fine.

Ive had a few odd looks, one completely horrified businessman did a totally comedy double take at him, staring as if his eyes were decieving him... so i said 'its a dog... not an alien'... and he shuffled off.

Be aware on trains.... people wave sandwiches around whilst they are on their phones/laptops etc, and for a dog this is confusing, Rocky doesnt realise that we DONT actually know the other people on teh train (i think he thinks its a bit like our car), and in his experience... sandwiches that are still wanted by their owner are generally not waved around. He finds it very confusing.

I avoid the table seats for that exact reason that if sat on the floor where they shoudl be then they can't be seen by other passengers until too late.

Yeah... ive never managed to find a disabled seat and as im usually going for a few days i tend to have a lot of stuff with me.... which i dont like to drag the entire length of the train whilst i look for one.

Ive tried using the normal non table seats but find that dog finds the things that are on teh floor (food, rubbish peoples feet) FAR too interesting and i spend the whole journey hoicking him back out of the footspace of the seats in front or behind me - other passengers tend not to expect a dog to appear from under a seat!

On buses we tend to take either a disabled seat or go right to the back of the bus on the rear seats. With the latter it means you dont have too many people walking past the dog, stepping on tails and paws (and i did once have a horrific time with a woman who stepped on my dogs tail, and when i pointed it out, she said he shouldnt be there and didnt move! Fortunately she only had the fur on his tail under her foot but boy did i want to punch her!).

Pat - Waterloo does NOT have stairs between the tube (jubilee line) and the station, just a lift and escalators :)

There was a huge wait (as usual) to get out of the Crufts car park, so I was marching back in for further supplies to have in the car, when I passed my friend happily walking out with her Dal, I told her about the awful queus and gridlocking and she replied - not to worry I caught the train from London this morning! 

Away she went and she called me later to tell me she was home - we were still in the car park!

She has travelled by train every year for this and says she has no problems at all - in fact both her and dogs (she now does it with two dogs) arrive relaxed and have suffered far less stress than having her drive....

Candy

The last time I travelled by train to Crufts I barely made my class.

Was lucky to get a lift to the station for the train I had prebooked tickets for.  It was the first train out from Bristol (Saturday) and should have got there before 9am for 10am judging.

That train was cancelled as was the next, and finally I arrived as Open dog was being judged and had a Junior bitch to show..

JaneD,
Sorry to differer on this but they do, as I use them from the entrance where the number 26 bus stop is on the road with the bridge and a mini Tesco opposite the station entrance. Sorry I do not know the name of the road that I enter from except I get off the number 26 bus cross the road and go into that entrance and instead of using the escalator which goes up I use the steps which are to the right of that and come up into the main station area.

Yes, you use the stairs between the road and main station :) However if you wanted to go ont he underground you'd have to use the escalator as there are no stairs between the tube and main station :)

I've taken both my dogs on a train, and they travel free. I have to say with mine as they're not the smallest I tend either to sit on the fold down seats in the bit between carriages, or in the bicycle area as there's more room tho you do have to sit on the floor (I call them my hairy bicycles)! I had no problems with Dorain, but his first encounter with a train was on a small local station with 2 platforms, I started feeding him treats as I saw the train approaching and when he realised it was there it had stopped at the platform and the first thing he saw was my mother & brother getting off, so he thought trains were Good Things. :)Duibh has never liked them, in fact he used to hate them, but he didn't get the same introduction and with time he is improving. I've also had them on buses and Dorain's been on the tube in London as well - don't know if you were planning on going on the Tube as well? You have to carry dogs on the escalators, but that won't be a problem if yours is small. :)

:D Can't edit now as too long but just read other posts & seen other people saying stuff about tube etc already. On the tube I found either people got on looked at Dorain as though he was a large ferocious wild animal & scuttled off to sit further down, or they started admiring him & talking about their dogs. But just be careful - one person started feeding him crisps & another one went & got a Crunchie from a vending machine & then started feeding that to him. So be vigilant for people feeding him too. ;)

Hi

Thanks for all the replies.

I will be getting the tube aswell, but obviously will take him outside to the loo beforehand.

OH mum gave him choc once (after being told not to) he threw up pretty much straight away all over her couch, so if anyone does this on the tube, they wont be doing it again ;)

ok doing a wee in the kerb. The problem arises when they do a poo in the kerb too as mine does. Pick it up as I would do when in my home area but try doing that in London and finding somewhere to dispose of it - there is nowhere near any train station as there are no bins of any description for the purpose of disposing of dog poo, I found this out to my horror with a bag of poo and nowhere to put but needing to board a bus. Can you picture it, sure you can, I asked a police officer he said put it down a drain, not much help with a large dog say nomore - the gratings are narrow!!

I don't think they usually have bins on stations or probably nearby in the case of London because of the bomb risk. Unless I've just been blind, I've not noticed a bin on a station for yonks.

As long as the poo is bagged you can dispose of in any bin.

Yep that is what my council told me any litter bin is fine, after all they ask that you put your dog poo in the household waste.