These days you never have to go it alone when planning a trip with your pet, especially if you have a dog. There are plenty of pet travel web sites and resources to help you find pet-friendly lodging, restaurants, attractions and dog parks. If you already know where you want to go, it’s easy to search out the pet-friendly establishments in that area. Or, if you’re looking for a good place to vacation with your pet, you can seek out pet-friendly cities. We’ve selected some favorites in our story, Fun, Dog-Friendly Vacation Spots.
One very popular and helpful pet travel resource is DogFriendly.com. They have a travel web site to help you plan ahead, and dog travel guide books to take with you on the road. This is an excellent site to help you find dog-friendly vacations, even if you’re not sure where you want to go. This site can help you narrow down your choices by what you want to do most. For example, if you know you want to hit the beaches with your dog, you can start by clicking Beach Guide for Dogs. This narrows it down to the states or Canadian provinces that have beaches. Select a state, and find the Dog-Friendly Beach Cities in it. Click a city, and voila – you get links to not only the beaches that allow your furry friend, but also the local hotels, restaurants, attractions, dog parks, events and emergency veterinary clinics.
How to Decide Where to Vacation with Your Dog
If you really have no idea where you want to vacation, you can select the Dog-Friendly City Guides and find cities by state or province. Click a city and find everything doggie.
Another helpful travel web site is PetTravel.com, which has guides for US, Canada and overseas travel. This is very useful if you do know where you want to go. The site offers a lot of travel tips and airline information. You can book your pet-friendly hotel online from this site, and some hotels offered through PetTravel.com provide a Best Rate Guarantee. They also offer a 24-hour toll-free reservation line.
Use Purina’s cell phone pet travel guide
No matter where you go for vacation, or how you get there, if you have a cell phone, you have a pet travel guide. Purina can help you find all the pet-friendly places in any city using Petcentric Places. You can enter the city you’re visiting, and find pet-friendly lodging, restaurants, dog parks and more, then get directions. (Works great even when you aren’t traveling!) To give it a try, visit the iPhone or BlackBerry app stores, or previewe it here.
Best advice when planning a trip – make sure your vacation destination is pet-friendly
Keep in mind as you travel, many cities have pet-friendly hotels – the important thing is to find a city with pet-friendly things to do and see. Most hotels do not allow dogs to be left alone in the room, and pet sitting may not be available.
All pet travel sites offer the same advice – always call ahead to the pet-friendly establishment to make sure their pet friendliness hasn’t changed. Also note that “pet-friendly” means different things to different hotels. Some places merely “allow” pets, and have strict rules. You will have a much more enjoyable stay if the hotel “welcomes” pets, meaning they treat your dog like they are happy to have him as a guest.
When you travel with your dog, make sure you know your Dog Etiquette, so everyone has a good experience and you are welcome back the next time!