Hounds And Hotels

[christinepi]

Never having traveled with our grey or any dog for that matter, I'm curious how that works. Because there are many places dogs aren't allowed to go, or there are places that humans want to go see that are just no fun to dogs for various reasons, or say they just need their nap time, or it's too hot outside, there would be quite some time the dog would need to spend in a hotel room. My question is: are most dogs, that don't have SA problems at home, fine being alone in a strange place for a few hours (I have no travel plans--this is all just to gather information)? Or is it a process for them, too? Does it make a difference whether one stays in one place the entire time, or whether every night is spent in a different place? I'd have no clue what to expect.

 

I guess it depends on the individual, but I'd be interested to hear about different peoples' experiences.

[OwnedBySummer]

My dogs have always traveled very, very well so I can't tell you about my experiences. But I can offer up that some hotels do NOT allow you to leave the dog unattended in your room. Period! Whereas others will. You will need to remember that and make sure you get the type of accommodation you need at the time. Also, put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door if you have a hotel where you can leave the dog alone and you choose to do so. And if your pup is not dependable and trustworthy, travel with a crate.

 

Edit: A lot of hotels also have "pet fees". $20 is about the norm.

Edited March 28, 2011 by OwnedBySummer

[rallyp]

Lima Bean and I drove across the country this past summer (from Boston to San Francisco) and took about two and half weeks. We stayed in motels the entire trip (except for three or four nights when we stayed with friends or family). Obviously, how well your dog does will depend on your dog. I'm lucky in that Lima Bean is pretty laid back, does fairly well with change and different environments, and loves riding in the car. Still, there were some things I tried to do to create a semblance of routine. Every time we arrived at a new motel, I'd do things in the same exact order: bring half my bags to the room, then take Lima for a quick potty break walk, then bring her to the room, then get the rest of my bags, then chill for a few minutes then feed her, etc. After a few days, she seemed to get to know the routine. You'll probably want to bring a crate with you or at least a baby gate for when/if you need to leave the room. I didn't leave her alone for the first few days, but after it was pretty clear that she was comfortable with things, I'd leave for an hour or two to get dinner. Keep in mind, if your dog gets stressed and barks, that can cause issues with the hotel/motel management so you'll want to make sure your dog is ok with that.

[KF_in_Georgia]

My guys have been fine. We've stayed at La Quinta (three nights in Charleston, two nights in Augusta). The motel staff is a bit intimidated by the size of greyhounds, so they've been more than willing to respect the Do Not Disturb sign on the door when I've gone out. Other guests at the motels have been curious about the dogs and interested in petting them.

 

My guys are not barkers, but in both places we were in fairly noisy rooms (facing the expressway in Charleston; near the elevator in the middle of the state's Pop Warner tournament in Augusta). I didn't see any other dogs at the Augusta stop, but there was a Cocker Spaniel at the Charleston motel. I just made sure my not-other-dog-safe boy didn't get too close.

 

Within five minutes of my arrival at both places, the dogs were sprawled on the beds.

 

 

One problem in the room in Charleston was the placement of the furniture. When Jacey was near the door (as I was entering or leaving or as we all were going out for walks), she was whacking her tail into the corner of a desk. I just took a towel and draped it over the desk corner to forestall the happy tail incident she was heading toward. Oh, and I also learned (quickly) to put all trash cans in the closet and close the door since Sam likes to raid trash cans. But dogs were allowed on the beach at Charleston's Folly Beach, so that was fun. (Jacey wouldn't turn her back on the waves because they were sneaking up on her. Sam kept tasting waves, trying to find one he could drink.)

 

The trickiest thing may be the actual driving days. I was traveling alone with the dogs, so bathroom breaks for me took some figuring out. I made sure I stopped for gas at a station with a good shady awning over the gas pumps. I'd crack the windows a couple of inches in the car and lock the doors while I dashed inside. The dogs were muzzled while I was out of the car.

 

Oh, and never ever leave your keys in the ignition while the dogs are in the car and you're out of it. Dogs have been known to lock their owners out of the car by stepping on the automatic lock button. If you have to leave the dogs in the car with the motor running (for the air conditioner), take a spare key with you; also, raise the hood on your car to reduce the risk of an overheating engine and subsequent fire. A local police officer lost his K-9 partner when the police cruiser caught fire while the officer was in the police station.

[DocsDoctor]

I've done this a few times with Doc. I don't know where you are but here in the UK there are quite a few websites and guidebooks available with details of dog friendly accommodation and places to visit. Here as an example is doggie pubs - very handy for finding a nice pub lunch!

 

It can work really well if you do your research, and have a confident dog. I don't have a car so we travel on the train*, which means keeping luggage to a minimum. I'm usually able to persuade the hotel to supply an old duvet as bedding. Many here don't want the dog on the furniture, so I usually take an old flannel sheet or so as a cover-up. As well as all the good advice given here, I would say do make sure your dog's ID tag shows your mobile phone number, not just your home one, and if you are staying in one place get the details of the local vet, just in case!

 

*very much all part of the fun for Doc, see below!

[Guest Swifthounds]

I've traveled extensively with my crew. The best thing I can recommend is muzzles and an ex-pen. You do not, no matter how well behaved your hound might be, want loose hounds in a room. You do not want their safety or security dependent on anyone else's actions.

[Guest KennelMom]

I've traveled with my hounds quite a bit and I never leave them unattended in a hotel room (some make you agree not to). If I had to for some reason, I'd crate them or muzzle them. If you leave them unattended, always make sure you leave your cell phone number with the front desk so they can contact you if there's a problem. Make sure you leave the "do not disturb" sign on the door and I'd tell the front desk you don't want maid service.

 

I usually stay at La Quintas or Red Roofs since they are pet friendly.

Edited March 28, 2011 by KennelMom

[Guest june]

I took one of my girls on a trip from Illinois to Texas staying in hotels along the way. My girls all love to ride in the car or van so that was no problem. I called ahead to assure I had ground floor rooms at hotels that allow dogs. Unfortunately, due to horrible weather and a near-miss accident with a semi that lost control throwing its cargo across the road I decided to stop for the night earlier than planned. I was able to get a room at a dog-friendly hotel, but it was second floor with open stairs. I was, oh so happy that I work with my dogs on climbing all kinds of stairs. She climbed them cautiously but without excessive fear even after swerving all over the road to miss debris. I believe she was less stressed over everything than I was.

 

I don't leave my dogs in the hotel room and I always bring a king-size sheet to throw over the bed for the dog(s) to lay on so there is no dog hair on the bed cover. Mine settle down very quickly and don't bark at noises.

june

[Guest Jubilee251]

We took a summer trip with our dogs last year, and specifically picked a hotel that was relatively close to a dog kennel so we could board them as needed. MOST places will not allow you to leave the dogs in our room unattended, and we didn't want to anyway, since we weren't sure how they would react in a strange place. Mine can be a bit more anxious in a new place, so we wanted to avoid that. The kennel was actually a greyhound kennel, but I'm sure any well-run boarding place would work.

 

If we were going for a short lunch (and weather permitting), we left the dogs in the car. We would board them for a nicer, longer dinner, and when we went somewhere for longer periods of time without them. I put towels down on all the beds so dog hair wouldn't get everywhere. They settled down pretty quickly - and I think all the new sights and smells and walks tired them out too.

[Guest mbfilby]

We have taken a few cross continent trips with our crew. I find the biggest problem is finding a hotel that accepts pets when you are traveling a new route. Knowing now that it is harder than I thought, planning the stops and doing internet research makes that a lot easier.

 

We are extraordinarily vigilant when stopping for fuel, driving breaks and dog potty breaks. Having a hound escape at an interstate rest stop is one of the worst things I could ever imagine. I remember reading a story years ago on this board where a hound got into medication while unattended in a hotel room for just a short period of time. The hound had opened a door within the room to get to the meds. Obviously all dangers of leaving a hound unattended don't just lay with the room itself..

[sarabz]

We've taken Bella on a couple of road trips. We drove to Martha's Vineyard for a wedding last summer - stayed at a Westin in Providence on the way up and a dog-friendly hotel on the island. Most of the time she was with us, but we did bring her crate for the times that we had to leave her alone (like the wedding!) and she was perfectly fine. She really likes her crate - we keep it set up in our bedroom to keep reinforcing that it's her space so that when we have times that we have to use it (such as traveling), it's a familiar and comfy space. A Kong and a couple of yummy treats and she's a happy pup.

[Guest Lakota]

I would also suggest taking a dog bed with you. I found Lakota recognized her dog bed and felt safe on it. She knew where she was expected to sleep, so no hunting arround looking forh "the spot".

[greymatters]

We've taken Merlin on several road trips in the past year and have stayed in hotels two or three times with no problems. We always take his bed and his crate along and crate him if we leave the room (and put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door). As mentioned above, some hotels will not allow you to leave a dog in the room unattended, others will allow it as long as the dog is quiet, and some require that unattended dogs be crated. If we're staying just one night in a hotel we generally don't leave him alone, though we have gone out for a family brunch and he was fine in the hotel room for a couple of hours. We have also rented a vacation house for a longer period and he was fine being crated while we went out for dinner, etc.

 

Re hotels specifically, lots of good advice here already! IMO the best thing is to research accommodations carefully ahead of time to see what the pet policies are at a specific property - one starting point for this is dogfriendly.com. Although a given hotel chain might have a general pet policy, specifics vary at individual locations so be sure to speak directly with the property where you'll be staying. The biggest issues we've run into are "pet-friendly" hotels with exorbitant nightly pet fees and size limits - e.g., some won't accept any dogs over 50lbs (this one really annoys me). Some don't allow pets on the beds/furniture, but even if they do you might bring a blanket or sheet for your dog to lie on (I wouldn't want my dog on those bedspreads anyway ).

 

For the rest, when traveling we try to keep as many things constant as possible: his regular food, treats, and toys come with us, meals are at roughly the same times (even if that means he eats at a rest area on the interstate), we stop frequently for breaks when driving, etc. So far we've only traveled all together (me, DH, and pup), but if there were only one human I would absolutely take an extra set of car keys so you can leave the engine/AC running if necessary. Cell phone number on ID tags is a must, and I'd strongly suggest microchipping if you haven't already.

 

In general, if your pup doesn't have special issues at home then he/she should be just fine traveling with you! We had to travel unexpectedly just a couple of weeks after we got Merlin and were quite worried about how he'd do - when we called our adoption group for advice the director said "Well, he's a greyhound, he'll go where you go!" Spot on, as usual .

[montgomery2524]

Here are some things we do. Most of our trips are for greyhound events but we have traveld outside of those venues.

 

We always ask for a room away from other rooms. That way if our dog barks he disturbs fewer guests and the rooms at the end are usually closer to any grass for potty breaks.

 

We immediately remove the bed spread and put our own cover on the bed. When we leave we don't put the spread back on we leave it in the closet so the maid can see it has not been used. Some hotels wash those after each guest and some do not.

 

Males wear belly bands to prevent marking in the room. Only one of ours has this "need" to mark but the other is older and may have an accident so belly bands it is.

 

And we either put an x-pen inside the door creating a foyar for the door to open and the dogs can't get to it. Or we put a babygate outside the door just in case of escape attempt. DOGS IN ROOM sign on the door. We do this even if the dogs are with us. We don't need maid service normaly so no need for them to try and vacumm around the dog beds and toys.

 

Ours are older with the exception of our new boy so they are usually okay with a good long walk before we go out to dinner. They then sleep until we come back. It will be different with the new boy, he hasn't been to a hotel yet. We try to plan things where they can come with us but there is always the one place you want to go where they can't. So it is good the first day to plan quick trips out the room and down the hall just to see how they react. Alone training for the road.

[OwnedBySummer]

Someone not on this forum also suggested, if possible, to bring a jug of water from home for the pups. I've not done this for Summer, she is already accustomed to drinking water at different places. BUT when I go to GIG (being that it's a different country and I absolutely don't want sickness while we're in a hotel), I will be giving her bottled water.

[Guest Swifthounds]

If you don't feel like lugging water from home, or are traveling with more than one hound, you can look for distilled (not spring) water instead.

[Guest Tequila]

Here's a link to a great website with "dog friendly" hotels and other info:

 

http://www.bringfido.com

 

 

While I haven't traveled extensively with Tequila (yet), I don't think I would leave her alone in a hotel room because I wouldn't trust the maid service NOT to open the door and possibly let her out. Even with a "Do not Distrub" sign, the hotel will sometimes enter the room. So I would be afraid to leave her alone for that reason.

[greysmom]

Make sure you bring copies of all your vaccine records and write down the name, address and phone of your vet. Research before hand to find out where the closest e-vets are.

 

We use multiple baby gates and x-pens to block doorways and always tell the front desk that we do not want maid service. If we have an issue or need fresh towels we call and ask and make sure we're in the room hen they come. In justabout every place we've stayed the hotel staff (maids and maintenance) ahve been very wary and scared by the size of our dogs, so we are very careful if they need to enter our room. One maid at a hotel we were at refused to continue cleaning our room, even though Libby was crated and very friendly when she came in.

 

If you need to leave the room you might look into hiring a dog sitter for that time. Many luxury hotels have pet concierges that will help arrange these services, or ask at the desk. They may know of someone in the area who is reliable and who has been at the hotel before. We have also taken our dogs to a doggy daycare in the area several times. You need to research carefully and arrange this in advance and have copies of records, but our kids had such fun playing with new dogs and they were pooped when they got home.

 

Greyhounds are people magnets, so travelling with your hounds sometimes becomes a rolling Meet-n-Greet. But we've met some really cool people and educated lots more about greyhounds over the years.

[Guest mpportraits]

My phoebe travels well. We drove for 8 hours and just stopped periodically at the rest stops for some water and pee break. At the hotel, I set up her crate w/her bedding in it for when we did have to leave w/o her and then at night, she slept on the bed with me for some added comfort. She did great! Never had a problem Good luck!

[Gryffenne]

If you're traveling in the "off season", don't rule out the upper end hotels. One of the cheapest AND most enjoyable hotel stays we've done was at a hotel that was the top end of the spectrum.

 

First off, they allowed greys

 

Also, their rates were almost comparable to what Holiday Inn & Days Inn would charge for the same type of room. (Which was more than half of what they usually would be!)+ a nominal pet fee.

 

They even had a "pet package" that included: water & food dish, doggie bed and a treat on the doggie bed waiting for Sammi! There was also a coupon for a special "spa" package discount/price for Sammi at the local pet groomers, so that was where she went the day DS and I did the non-doggie stuff. (How cool is that?! I swear, if I ever open a groomer/sitter/walker business, I am going to try to work with local hotels like that.)

 

Their rooms that were designated for pet stays was in the smoking section, but I find many hotels that allow pets put them in the smoking rooms. If you're a smoker, that's okay. If you're not... might want to bring the Febreeze ) Our room had a balcony as well (10th floor) that Sammi loved peeking out and looking around from. the gentleman that was one floor down, one room over almost fell off his balcony when he looked up and saw Sammi watching him.

 

There were a few other dogs on our floor as well during the stay. One night we had a lively game of fetch going on in the hall w/ the big dogs and kids

 

I will say this... no matter where you stay, if you have to use an elevator and your dog has never experienced one before, get the cameraphone recording before you push the floor button! I really wish I could have gotten Sammi's reaction on film the first time we went up. All 4 legs straight out like a giraffe wearing roller-skates and a look on her face. After a few times tho, she was a pro and actually enjoyed the runs

[Guest BrianRke]

Thanks to everyone for all the great information. I am going on a short road trip with my 3 greys in May and Im sure this post will help a lot.