YOUR WALKING BUDDY

Vacationing With Your Dog

By Barbara Whitaker

Traveling with your canine companion can be easy with just a little advance preparation, the right supplies, and good pet travel etiquette. In other words, practice common sense and consideration for your pet, the other travelers you’ll encounter, and the places where you’ll be staying.

Plan Ahead
Many hotels, motels, and Bed and Breakfasts allow dogs in some, but not necessarily all, of their rooms. Even the most pet-friendly locations usually set aside a few rooms as “no-pets ever” for the safety of their guests who have allergies or other health concerns. So it’s always advisable to call ahead and specifically request a pet-friendly room.

Teach your dog a few simple obedience commands before your trip: Come, Stay, Heel, and above all, No — both to ensure his safety and to prevent any negative impact on your fellow travelers and physical surroundings. Not to mention you’ll have a lot more fun traveling with a well-behaved companion than with an uncontrollable bundle of canine energy!

Pack Right
Packing the right supplies for your dog’s vacation can make the difference between an enjoyable trip or a miserable stay. Make a list so you don’t forget those easy-to-forget items like a can opener if you’re bringing canned dog food and a flashlight for that last walk before bedtime.

Of course you’ll pack your dog’s familiar chow and unbreakable bowls for food and water. Plastic bowls with snap-on covers are handy for preventing spills.

Bring a gallon jug of drinking water from home. It’s an old wives’ tale that dogs have “cast-iron stomachs.” In fact, out-of-town water may contain unfamiliar chemical additives and/or naturally-occurring minerals that can cause digestive upsets for your pet. Avoid any such problem by gradually mixing in the local water with your own water in your dog’s bowl over the course of several days.

Other must-pack items include disposable cleanup bags for every pet relief stop, a dog towel to dry off wet paws, and a brush or comb for cleaning dirt and sand out of your dog’s coat before taking him indoors.

You’ll make big points with the hotel management if your pet sleeps in his own travel crate at night. Otherwise, bring his usual bed or blanket from home. Please don’t allow him to sleep on the hotel bedspread or linens. If you absolutely must allow him up on your bed at night, bring your own sheet to cover the bedding. (And once you return home, do consider retraining to sleep on his own bed.)

Travel Etiquette
Helping your pet be a well-behaved traveler means that you always keep him on a leash (unless you’re in a clearly marked off-leash area); you clean up after every rest stop; you dry him off or clean him up before going indoors; and you keep him off the furniture in your room and out of the landscaping on the hotel grounds.

At check-in time, verify once again that you have reserved a pet-friendly room. Ask where on the grounds you can take your dog for a relief walk, and get directions to the nearest park or trail for a longer exercise walk.

In the room, put your dog’s bedding in an out-of-the-way corner so he will have the reassurance of a familiar place to sleep in an otherwise unfamiliar location. Train your dog not to bark at noises outside the room, and of course never leave your dog alone while you’re gone.

When You’re out and About
Naturally you’ll plan lots of daytime activities that your dog can share with you. Remember to bring along his water jug and bowl, plus the dog towel for cleaning up before you all jump back into the car. Be sure to always put on your pet’s leash before opening the car door at your next stop. And never leave your dog in a parked car in the sun. Underground or covered parking is safest, or at least find a completely shaded parking area.

One last word of advice if you’re headed for the beach and your pet has a tendency to drink a wave or two — what dog doesn’t? When you get back to your parked car, give him a bowl of fresh water and then wait a few minutes before loading up. More often than not, that drink will come right back up, along with all the salt water he swallowed.

Barbara Whitaker is the author of two regional guidebooks: Have Dog Will Travel — Northwest Edition (which includes a detailed directory of pet-friendly lodgings throughout Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) and Have Dog Will Travel — California Edition. For more information, visit www.havedogwilltravel.com. She is currently working on a completely updated directory for her next book, Have Dog Will Travel — REVISED Northwest Edition, which is scheduled for release in November 2007.