Does anyone travel with pets?
 

I'd like to plan a vacation for next year, but I don't have anyone to take care of my dog for me. I know that there are a lot of "pet friendly" hotels out there, though you can't leave your dog in the room alone. If you travel with pets, how do you manage? What if you want to go in shops, etc? I would be traveling alone. I'm I just out of luck?

My dog is a tiny, toothless, extremely quiet 3 pound chihuahua, so she wouldn't harm or annoy anyone, lol. I've seen the dog carriers that you can carry over your shoulder like a shouldbag, or attach like a baby carrier. If you are somewhere touristy (like New Orleans, for example), can you bring your dog in places if they are contained this way?

I think a quiet, little bitty dog that will fit in a bag would hardly merit a mention in most touristy places. You might have trouble bringing her into a restaurant but most shops probably wouldn't even notice. I've also seen some doggy day care places around Gatlinburg, TN (which believe it or not is 2nd only to NYC for # of tourists/yr in the US). You could probably find one online for the place you are going.

Is Gatlinburg that popular? Mmmmm, Smoky Mountain Fudge! :p We live in East Tennessee. I thought about doggy day care, but Lola has a lot of special needs due to her age, and I'd be a nervous wreck if I left her anywhere. I've always seen pets when I traveled in the past, but never paid attention to what their owners did with them.

*sigh* What I really need is a personal assistant / dog-sitter to travel with me :lol:

I'll take care of your dog. :) Where do ya live? :D

Seriously, I've traveled A LOT with my Basset Hound. You'll do just fine finding hotels, especially because your fur-baby is so small. The hotel management starts to get a bit nervous when you say you have a 70-pounder (or above.) And their first question seems to almost always be "what breed?" -- ostensibly because they want to gauge the Potential Bark Factor. This was my first experience with Basset Discrimination, by the way. :o . Most hotels/motels say you can't leave the dog unattended in the room. But some don't. You'll also find that you'll have to pay a "pet fee" probably.

Then again, my Dad and I used to *sneak* (yeah, right) our 90-pound Golden Retriever into hotels every summer when we drove cross country. MOTELS are actually best for this...the ones like Holiday Inn that have all sorts of seperate guest entrances. Then again, your dog is so small, sneaking her in shouldn't be a problem.

Also, I've found that a lot of touristy places have kennel facilities -- when we were at Carlsbad Caverns in NM, my pooch had a very nice 3 hour nap in a cozy kennel with a/c. And on the topic of NM...my dog was even allowed in a TAXI in Santa Fe (and in a restaurant), so maybe it's just a New Mexico thing.

There are tons of books out there about where to stay with you pet, so you can pretty much plan out where you're going to stay beforehand. And as for what to do with her when you can't be with her...I like the doggy daycare idea. And not just because I WORK at one, either. :D Check online to see if there are any in the area where you're going. It's a HUGE growth business, so you might be surprised by how many you find. I know you said she has special needs, so you could call ahead and ask how they would deal with those (or if they would). We have a diabetic Daschund where I work and I do insulin shots for him, so you never know what they'll say. Also, maybe you could check out actual kennels in the area and ask if she could just stay for the day or whatever. That might be better than daycare for her if she's nervous around other dogs, etc.

That's all my wisdom. I could give you some advice on how to travel cross-country with 2 cats, too. That advice would be: DON'T. :D Worst 5 days of my LIFE. And my Basset has traveled trans-Atlantic, too. :) . But I won't bore you with that story.

Good luck and have fun!

Ain't ashamed to admit I've done this with my cat on more than one occasion. If I was staying overnight and had to leave her in the room during the day, I'd hang a Do Not Disturb sign on the door so they wouldn't clean the room. :lol:

You gals "sneaking" dogs into hotels reminds me of when my hubby and I were first married. We "snuck" a ferret into the MGM Grand in Vegas (we were driving from Cali to Indiana to live). We didn't realize you had to walk through all the shops and the casino to get to the front desk. It had to be a 20 minute walk at least. Then we had to check in before we walked another mile to the elevators. I had to keep shuffling my feet and coughing because he kept scratching at the cage in our roller luggage. The lady at the counter must have thought we were nutso! Good think it was Vegas!!

Amber

We used to take our cat camping in the caravan (one you tow not a static!). Bless her!

Personally I'd just stow your little cutie pup in a handbag! I was at a car boot sale once and there was a lady talking to her handbag... Turns out she had a tiny tiny pup in there but no-one could tell, cos it was all zipped up!!!

Those are all such great ideas, thanks! Yep, I have a feeling I'll be stashing her in my purse and going with the flow. What's the worst that can happen? :lol: