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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Have you ever taken Fido on a flight or Rover on a road trip?
Pet owners: Share your tips for traveling with pets.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For nearly two years, we have been able to count on one thing from our daughters. Every few weeks, we would find on our bed a thick, business-size envelope containing the latest “contract” and list of responsibilities that our children would undertake if we would just do one thing for them - get them a dog.
These weren’t simple little lists of promises either. Most were at least eight to ten pages long, front and back, filled with enough legalese to make the partners at Atlanta’s top law firms consider hiring the Still girls even in these tough economic times. They outlined the joys of owning a dog; the personal growth they would experience; the sacrifices they would make - and on and on.
After months of discussion and research to find the right kind of dog that would be appropriate for our family and situation, we finally allowed the girls to get a Labrador-Golden Retriever mix puppy. She has quickly become a member of our family, and the girls already assume that wherever we go… Maggie will go too. That includes beach trips, weekend getaways, and big summer vacations like our planned trip to Yellowstone this year.
Given her youthful exuberance, I doubt seven-week-old Mags will be traveling with us anytime soon. We’re nowhere nearly comfortable enough with housetraining to let her wander round our own house for very long without running her outside (or cleaning up messes). It will take a lot of training - house and otherwise - before I would be willing to “unleash” our little puppy on an unknowing public.
While I don’t imagine we will include the family dog on every family vacation, I would like to believe we will bring her along on some appropriate travels when she gets a little older. Camping and hiking trips are natural pet-friendly getaways, and I’m pretty sure my husband harbors heartwarming images of kids and canine running free on a sandy beach. The key for us will be to choose good pet-friendly destinations.
Pet owners often combine their love of pet with their love of travel. Many websites are dedicated to helping animal lovers find suitable travel destinations - or pet-friendly attractions within a location - with lists of hotels, beaches and parks that welcome well-behaved pets. For instance, dogfriendly.com offers city guides, filled with pet-friendly outdoor restaurants, dog parks and other attractions in dozens of cities throughout the south, nationwide and Canada.
Sites like tripswithpets.com and petswelcome.com help pet owners plan their trip, feature travel deals and list important information and tips for travelers with pets. Most airline websites also provide helpful information for people who are planning to travel by air with their pets.
Do you ever travel with your pets? Where are some good destinations in the south that you can comfortably bring your pet? What are your favorite places anywhere to travel with your pet? What’s your best advice for someone considering their first trip with a pet?
How do you make the trip - by car, by plane, by train? Do you have an airline preference when you’re transporting your pet? Have you found a good pet-friendly hotel chain? How difficult is it to take a trip that includes your pet? How much pet-oriented research do you do before you leave town? Do you look up leash laws or veterinarian locations at your destination site?
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