The Turkey Run: A Dog Road Trip to Thanksgiving Dinner
Our freeze-dried treats ride in the console every time we drive somewhere, and the trip to Thanksgiving dinner is the longest one on the calendar all year. This is what a dog road trip for Thanksgiving actually looks like from the driver's seat, seat cover down, pouch clipped in, Ella already asleep before the highway.
The drive
It is never a short trip. There is a stop for gas, a stop for Ella to stretch her legs, and usually a stop because someone in the car forgot the good camera. The seat cover keeps the back seat from becoming a disaster by hour two, and the collapsible bowl gets used more in the car than it ever does at home.
Somewhere around the halfway mark the radio gets turned down and Ella wakes up again, which means the pouch comes out. She has learned the sound of the zipper better than she has learned most commands, and by the time we are back on the highway she is asleep again, one ear still listening for it.
By the time we pull up to the house, the pouch is mostly empty and Ella is fully awake again, which is its own kind of problem once she smells the kitchen.
Arriving with other dogs already there
Most years we are not the only family showing up with a dog. There is a whole routine now, leashes on before anyone opens a door, a slow walk around the yard so everybody can sniff everybody, and treats handed out evenly so no one feels left out. It usually takes ten minutes before the dogs settle into their own corners and the people can finally sit down.
Somebody always brings a dog who has never met Ella before, and somebody always brings a dog who remembers her from last year better than some of the people do. Either way, the pouch comes out again before anyone goes inside, because a treat in every hand makes the first few minutes in the yard a lot smoother than they would be otherwise.
What to bring
Our treats come first, because they are the one thing that buys us a quiet twenty minutes once we arrive.
- Freeze-Dried Beef Heart, single ingredient, easy to break into small pieces for the car.
- Freeze-Dried Turkey Heart, the one we save for the actual dinner.
- Cheddar Cheese Bites, for the rest stops.
Past the treats, the seat cover and bowl in our road trip essentials collection are what actually make the drive livable, and browsing our Thanksgiving treats collection is the fastest way to fill the pouch before you leave. We have learned the hard way that packing too little is worse than packing too much, since a gas station forty minutes from anywhere is not where you want to realize the pouch is empty.
From the shop
- Freeze-Dried Beef Liver
- Freeze-Dried Turkey Heart
- Cheddar Cheese Bites
- Beef Trio, Liver, Tripe and Heart
If the family photo is happening this year, our matching dog and owner outfits collection is worth a look before everyone sits down at the table. We have shown up in matching flannels more than once, and Ella is always the better dressed one in the picture.
Where to go
A few stops worth building into the drive, closest to Malvern first.
- Apple Festival at Peddler's Village, November 7-8, 2026, New Hope, PA: a good excuse to break up a shorter drive with cider and a walk.
- First Sunday Arts Festival, November 1, 2026, Annapolis, MD: a market morning if your route runs south.
- Waterfowl Festival, November 13 to 15, 2026, Easton, MD: worth the detour if Thanksgiving takes you toward the Eastern Shore.
More dates live on our dog-friendly car events board, and our trail and travel page covers the rest of what rides along on a long drive.
Questions
How many treats does Ella actually go through on a long drive?
Enough to keep the pouch mostly empty by the time we arrive, which is the point. We would rather refill it at the house than run out on the highway with two hours still ahead of us.
Does the seat cover actually help?
It keeps the back seat from taking the worst of a long drive, mud and all, and it comes off easily once you get where you are going, which matters when you are trying to leave a house looking better than you found it.
What if the other dogs at the house are not used to a long car ride?
We cannot speak to another dog's ride, only ours. Our Thanksgiving page has the rest of what we bring for the day if you want to compare notes before everyone shows up in the same driveway.
For more drives with a dog in the passenger seat, see Explore.
