How to Prepare Your Dog for Emergencies: Pet Preparedness Month Checklist
When the Palisades Fire broke out in January 2025, Andrea Pasinetti was in San Francisco. His wife was overseas. Their three dogs were home alone, the dogsitter couldn't get through, and roads were blocked.
He boarded a flight back to LA not knowing if his dogs were still alive. A CBS News crew helped him reach them in time.
Most people don't get that lucky break.
June is National Pet Preparedness Month, and if you're a dog owner, this story isn't just a news item — it's a question worth sitting with: if something happened right now — tonight, while you're reading this — would your dog be okay?
Not "probably fine." Actually okay.
If the honest answer is "I'm not sure," you're in the majority. And this is for you.
Your dog's ID: the thing that costs nothing but gets skipped anyway
Check your dog's collar tag right now. Is your current cell number on it? Not an old number. Not a landline. The phone that's in your pocket.
During an emergency, dogs bolt. Even calm, obedient dogs bolt. And the person who finds your dog on the side of a road after a flood isn't going to have a microchip scanner. They're going to flip the tag over and call the number. If it's wrong, your dog becomes a stray.
Photo by Perro Cacahuate from Pexels:
Speaking of microchips — being chipped means nothing if it isn't registered. Thousands of dogs are microchipped but never enrolled in a recovery database, or the owner moved and never updated the address. Check yours at petmicrochiplookup.org. It takes five minutes.
The go-bag: stop treating this like a future project
Almost every pet owner intends to put together an emergency kit "at some point." The problem is that emergencies don't wait for a convenient moment. A wildfire evacuation order gives you minutes, not hours. A mandatory flood evacuation at 2am is not when you want to be hunting for your dog's medication.
Pack it once. Put it somewhere you'll actually grab it — a small waterproof bag or backpack near your exit works fine.
Food and water
At least 3 days' worth safe foods in an airtight container. After most disasters, tap water is unsafe or unavailable — don't assume you'll find some.
Medications
A missed dose during a stressful situation isn't just inconvenient — it can be dangerous. Keep a week's supply and rotate it so it doesn't expire.
Medical records and vaccine proof
Printed copy in a waterproof sleeve. Without it, you may be turned away from pet-friendly shelters or emergency boarding.
A recent photo of your dog
On your phone and printed. If you get separated, a blurry photo from three years ago won't help much when posting to shelters or social media.
Something that smells like home
A worn t-shirt, their usual blanket, a familiar toy. An anxious dog in an unfamiliar shelter is more likely to bolt. Familiar scent is one of the simplest calming tools available. You can use these simple ways to calm your dog naturally.
Basic first aid supplies
Gauze, bandage tape, antibiotic ointment, saline solution, latex gloves. Just enough to stabilize something until you reach a vet.
Set a reminder to refresh the bag every three months. Food expires. Medications run out. Your dog's needs change.
The shelter problem nobody talks about until it's too late
Here's the part that catches people off guard in an actual emergency: most public evacuation shelters don't allow pets. You show up with your dog after driving through a storm, and the shelter says no.
This is where people make the worst possible decision — they leave their dog in the car overnight, or they don't evacuate at all and stay in a place they were told to leave. Neither is okay. The fix is simple, but you have to do it before the emergency, not during it.
Pet-friendly hotels
Look up chains like La Quinta and Motel 6 along your likely evacuation routes. Save three options in your phone under "emergency evacuation."
County shelters
More than 30 states have pet-friendly emergency shelters. Call your local emergency management office and ask directly.
Emergency boarding
Identify a boarding facility or vet in the direction you'd evacuate. Most vets will work with you during a declared emergency.
The scenario you're probably not thinking about
Most preparedness advice assumes you're home when something happens. But what if you're at work when a wildfire starts moving toward your neighborhood? What if you're traveling?
Your dog is home. Alone.
Your dog needs to practice too
Your dog has no idea what "emergency" means. They just know something feels wrong, everyone is stressed, and suddenly they're being rushed into a crate they've barely seen. That's a recipe for a dog that panics, resists, or bolts.
Make the crate a normal, unremarkable part of daily life. Leave it out. Put a familiar blanket inside. Toss a treat in occasionally for no reason. (Shop natural treats here) When you need to move fast, your dog should walk in on their own — not be wrestled in while the clock is running.
Same goes for car rides. If your dog only rides to the vet, they associate the car with stress. A few short casual drives changes that over time. Practice the evacuation, at least mentally — know which door you'd leave from, where the bag is, what you'd grab first.
During and after: the part people forget
You've evacuated. Your dog is with you. You think the hard part is over.
But dogs often become disoriented after emergencies even in areas they know well. Familiar smells change. Landmarks disappear. A dog that's never run away in ten years might bolt when they return home and nothing smells right.
Keep them on a leash longer than feels necessary. Check them over for cuts, debris, or signs of stress. If they seem off — not eating, hiding, shaking days later — that's not just "being weird." That's a dog in distress, and your vet can help.
Start here. This week.
You don't need to do everything today. But do something today.
That's it to start. Six things. Most of them take under ten minutes.
"Your dog trusts you completely. In every version of an emergency, in every scenario where something goes wrong — you're the plan. The only plan they have. That's worth twenty minutes of prep."
