And goes through this misery of finding a really nice place that will allow our best friends also? I am exhausted after a few hours of trying to work out plans.......... Do these dear creatures realize what we do for them??????? Just when I'm ready to scream, though, my 14 year old Cairn snuggles up to me as I type, lays that head on my thigh, and gives me THOSE EYES!! Then I know why I'm driving to Florida for my vacation, and NOT FLYING TO HAWAII AGAIN for awhile yet!!!!!!! Okay, you're all welcome to lecture me now \ on how they're JUST DOGS!!!

A lot of people turn to RV's just so they can take their pets with them. Our dog, Amber was a very traveled dog. She went to Alaska and spent many trips going to the National Parks of the Western US. & Canada.

Utahtea

I get a kick out of reading VRBO.COM and seeing all those "pet friendly" icons in their ad listings. Nobody bothers to mention the rigamarole one has to go through just to get a dog *into* Hawaii.

Last year we stayed at a pet-friendly in-state hotel when our daughter was on a travel volleyball team. Thank goodness the maids respected our "Do Not Disturb" sign--the day before we left we accepted a litter of six abandoned kittens to foster for the Humane Society! I doubt they were THAT pet friendly.

We dropped my son off at camp in North Carolina last summer and my sister fell in love with a young cat that had been dumped at the camp. We had to sneak "Mountain Kitty" into our hotel. We thought we were being so sly bringing him in under my sister's jacket until we caught sight in a mirror of his tail hanging out.

Otherwise, we are rule-abiding citizens who search until we find a hotel that accepts pets when we travel with them. No need to worry about lectures from me!

PS--We also have three dogs--small medium and large. Since most hotels won't take all three and we don't want to play favorites, we hire a dog sitter to stay home with them.

Now I'll probably get lectured!

Four Seasons usually allows dogs.

Oh Bonniebroad.....do I know just what you mean. I have two Cairn terriers that are travel companions when possible (although I am currently in Chicago right now without them...they have a dog sitter and I still feel guilty)! We are going to the Florida Keys in May and have rented a pet friendly house for the month. This will be our 3rd year going to the same place. We also went to Maine last year and took 3 weeks traveling with them. I had to do a lot of searching for pet friendly hotels along the way. The house we rented in Maine was pet friendly.

When it is possible, we take our two "Pups" with us. Usually it's only when we travel by car. We have had some great hotels except "all" of us with open arms. Sometimes we are not so welcome. I'm lucky because my "Pups" LOVE to ride in the car. If they don't get their "fix" at least once a day, they are so sad. Sometimes I'll just drive them around the block and they are happy.

Oh, no, Bonnie, they are not JUST dogs!! They are family. I used to have two cairns and now have a Westie and she is most definately a very important part of my family.
but, alas, she doesn't get to travel. I am very fortunate to have a network of friends, all animal lovers, and we all take turns doggiesitting for each other.
My little one goes to her 2 retriever freinds when I go away. So , she really is on vacation, but not with me.She has a ball.
Now, a little dog story that proves how zany we can be. My friend always takes her dog on the same walk everyday around her area. Her precious pooch hurt her paws and was layed up for a few days. My friend would put her in the car and DRIVE the route every day, so poochie could see the sites. Can you relate to that, Poochie?

You all are making me miss my old travel and hiking companion, Duchess, my lab who lived to be 14. I've never been able to replace her; every time I go to get another dog I relaize I am still rying to repalce her and that just won't work. I drove all the way across VA to look at a female lab who looked just like her ona breeder's website last year. I tell myself it's easier to travel and do things without a dog, but it was so much fun having her in the car, slobbering all over me, licking me, and she LOVED to camp and hike. Now I have a dwarf rabbit and he's a sweet pet, and he doesn't have to be walked in bad weather, but it just isn't the same. Rabbit's don't hike.

We travel with our dog as much as possible. When we lived in the U.S. (near Portland, OR), we took her with us to the mountains (a cabin at Odell Lake Lodge) or to the beach (Harborside Motor Inn in Port Townsend, WA, great for pets and people).
Now we live in Europe and our English cocker really does go almost everywhere with us. So far she's been to Paris, the Loire Valley, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Delft, Nuremberg, Muenster and Muensterland, Baden-Baden, Graz, the Austrian Alps and all over Belgium, where we live. We even planned two summer vacations around a special "spaniel camp" for English cockers held in August in the central Austrian countryside--a wonderful time! About 50 people and their cockers took over a village (www.seckau.at), staying in charming hotels (www.hofwirt.at), doing obedience classes twice a day, then going for group hikes in the mountains. The weeklong program is run every summer by one of Europe's top cocker breeders and judges. To date, we've been the only Americans attending. Classes are in German, so we now have a bi-lingual cocker. Platz! Fuss! (down, heel)

Btilke, would you say that hotels in Europe are more accommodating when you're traveling with pets than our hotels here in the U.S. or it about the same?

European hotels are, in general, MUCH more accommodating, in all price ranges. We usually stay in Accor chain hotels (Novotels, Mercure, Sofitels) and they are very pet friendly. Most cafes and restaurants are pet friendly too. You're not supposed to take dogs into supermarkets, but from time to time I see small dogs riding in the shopping carts and nobody complains.
However, the welcome is not very warm for pit bulls, Rottweilers, Akitas and the like...the hotels and restaurants aren't particularly keen on "macho" dogs (unless they're well-behaved AND owned by favorite customers).

Bonnie I wrote a trip report about driving to Fla. with my dog this past Feb/March. It was worth it to me, but I'd advise making reservations ahead of time (sounds like you are) which I didn't do. Books on tape were my favorite "discovery." Made time fly & the voice put my sweet boy ((&)) to sleep.

Just curious - for those who hotel with dogs - what do you do with the dog when you go out someplace that is not dog-friendly (a concert or museum, for example). I imagine a "do not disturb" sign goes a long way towards preventing any problems, and I assume those who hotel with dogs know their pets well enough to know they will not become noisily distraught in your absence - but aren't you ever worried something will happen to them - someone ignores sign, dog gets out; or there is a fire, etc.

I personally do not care if you travel with a dog, cat, elephant - it works better for us to leave our pets at home (and then I worry about them when we are away!) - just curious how you handle separation problems within hotel.

Kodi,
I sure can relate to that. All I have to say (in a very calm voice) is "Car Ride?" and they get so excited. When I go to the drive-up teller at the bank the dogs always make sure the teller sees them, so she (or he)will give the "pups" a dog treat.

Gail, our darling old fellow is 14 - 1/2, almost deaf, and sleeps most of the time. He stays in the room while we sightsee, eat out, etc. We put him on his bed in the bathroom, with his water bowl; leave that light on for him, and then leave the TV *talking* in the background. He can't hear anything so he doesn't bark at anything! We don't leave him loose in the room because, once in a blue moon, he will *piddle* if he smells another doggie odor, and we're not around. I appreciate hotels letting us bring him so I do my best to leave the room CLEAN as when I walked in. We do put the *Do Not Disturb* sign on the door, and either take him outside when the housekeepers work in our room or we just don't have them clean (just get fresh linens from them.) We always leave our Cell phone on, and tell the front desk that he's alone in the room. That way, they could get him out if there's a fire, and call us if they needed to. Even hotels who say you can't leave them alone in the room are letting us do this because of his age, his deafness and the fact that he never makes a sound. But it is SO HARD to find decent places. Oh, well, I choose to have dogs........... so I must *walk the walk*!!! This little buddy of mine is worth all the trouble!

Oh.....thank you ALL for your replies. I can relate to every single one, and enjoyed reading them so much! *They* can say we're nutso about these creatures........... but I haven't had my heart broken by one yet!!!

Highbay -- I travel with my big Bernese Mountain dog whenver I can. I live in Maine and often travel in state, especially in summer for a local vacation. What pet friendly places have you found here? I know there is a good one in Bar Harbor although I don't remember the name.

No one has mentioned the all informative petswelcome.com website.
Marcia in Maine

We rented a home through Hearts of Maine that we found on the internet. It was a really lovely home in Addison. This year the same house has already been spoken for, so we are renting a home (through Hearts of Maine) in Milbridge. It looks beautiful and we are again excited about another "Maine" trip.