Peppy Pets
Oct. 27, 03

Would you go on vacation and take your dog?


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I have a Powderpuff Chinese Crested whose name is Catcher.
We do plan our vacations to take her with us when we can,
but it is difficult here in the US. For the last two years
we were living in Europe, which is an extremely dog-friendly
place. Dogs are allowed everywhere: on trains, in
restaurants, in stores, even in some museums and castles.
Needless to say, Catcher went everywhere with us. I'll tell
you my two favorite stories.

Keukenhof is an enormous park in The Netherlands where
tulips and other bulb plants are showcased each spring. When
we arrived, I saw the crowds and thought it might be a good
idea to put our shy Catch into her backpack. (Yes, she has a
special doggie backpack that I wear. It looks like one of
those that you see small children in, but hers is made
especially for dogs.) So, in she went, and off we went to
enjoy all of the lovely tulips.

Well, it wasn't long before people came up to us, asking if
she was a real dog, if she was friendly and if they could
pet her. Of course she loved the attention. Before long,
people were asking us if they could take pictures. In fact,
so many people took pictures that we think Catcher might be
the best known unknown dog in the world. We know that people
from all over Europe, the UK, the US, China, Japan,
Australia have pictures of Catcher in her little doggie
backpack. If we had charged each person who took her picture
50 cents, we could have paid for our entry fee into the
gardens and even had a good lunch! 

Catcher also joined us on a trip to the Loire Valley in
France, where there are many beautiful chateaux that are
open for visitation. One of the more famous of these is the
Château de Chambord. We arrived at the chateau in the
pouring rain, and saw a sign that said that no dogs were
allowed in the structure itself. So we thought that we would
have to leave Catch in the car, something we didn't want to
do. When I got to the ticket window, I asked if I could
bring my dog into the chateau in her backpack. "No," the
woman said, "not in a backpack. But if you can carry her in
a tote bag under your arm, she can come." I didn't have a
tote bag with me, and the woman must have seen the
disappointment on my face. "Madame," she said, "there are
bags over there at the store, and they are only 5 euro. Your
small dog could go into the chateau in that bag." So, we
purchased the tote, went to the car and got Catcher, put her
in the tote with her little head sticking out the front and
a soft material in the bottom, and toured the Chateau de
Chambord. 

Just a few of the adventures of Catcher, the best known
unknown dog in the world. 

Annette


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I wouldn't go on any vacation without my dog, Blacky. What
fun would that be?

Our favorite place to go is Allegany State Park in
Salamanca, N.Y. We rent a cottage for a week, and Blacky
just loves it. Dogs have to be leashed there, but I have a
long retractable lead that I use, so Blacky can run without
dragging me. He just adores following the scent trails of
deer, raccoons, and other animals that we don't see at home
in our residential neighborhood. Of course, we have to look
out for porcupines, who have no sense of humor at all when
it comes to dogs! I love the peace and quiet of the park. We
come home feeling relaxed and at peace with the world.
Lynne Kwitek


Here's Blacky hot on the trail of possibly a porcupine???





More stories about traveling with your pet dogs


We had a medium sized terrier mix named Trix. She loved to
travel. One year we had planned to trip to Palo Duro Canyon
in Texas. However, along the way we had car trouble and had
to spend the night at a motel rather than camping as we had
planned.

Well in the morning we were still loading up when she bolted
out the door and ran and jumped in the back seat of another
car--she said if we were ready to go then she would just go
with the next car leaving. It took some coaxing to get her
out and into our vehicle.


She would sleep until we started slowing down for a town
then she would pop up. As soon as we were through the town
she was asleep again. Of course she had the window seat and
she would put her paw on my hand when she wanted a drink of
water.

She hasn't been with us for a long time--but she still holds
a special place in our hearts. Currently we have a small
terrier mix named Sandy. She travels with us and is
disappointed when she has to stay at home because it is
simply too hot for dogs. She is a hotel regular---Red Roof
Inn is great about letting her stay.
Linda Read


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Molly travels across Western Canada

We just made a trek across Western Canada into Washington
and Oregon with our two year old female Golden Retriever
named Molly.

My husband and daughter drove our motor home and I drove our
compact car. Molly's crate was in our motor home so that she
had her bed and familiar items with her. We started off from
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and headed west. After our
first bathroom break, my husband said that Molly would not
stop whining and thought she had to be let out, but then she
insisted in riding in the hot little cramped car with me
which only had room left in the front seat.

On several occasions she refused to get into the motor home.
When we left the car in Washington and continued onto Oregon
in the motor home, she did not mind traveling in it with us
then. We have decided that she really thought the motor home
was her "house" and she would be missing out on a car ride
if she didn't travel with me. 

She was hot and panting the entire trip as I felt it was not
safe for her to hang her head out the window at high
speeds...but she would not ride in the motor home. 
Diane Rimmer and Molly


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No kennels for Mitzi or Chloe, they're ready to travel

Our pet, Mitzi, ALWAYS goes with us whenever we leave home
for over night or for days...she is like one of the family and
we would never consider putting her in a kennel. Mitzi is 11
years old and has not missed a night sleeping at the foot of
our bed, whether home or motel, or a relative's home. In
fact, my mother-in-law calls Mitzi her "grand dog", because
we do not have children and Mitzi is our child.

Recently we bought another dog...Chloe, an Australian
Shepherd, but Chloe is an outside dog, but nonetheless, just
as special, and when we take a trip, Chloe will be taken
care of by our neighbors who love her as much as we do.
There will be no kennels for Chloe either. The funniest
thing that happened when we were on vacation with Mitzi when
she was young, she lost her baby teeth, IN BED...we woke up
and there were two doggie teeth on the sheets!!
Thank you for the opportunity to brag on our kids,
Judy Jones


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Yes we have one dog, Rock, and when we travel he goes with
us. If we are visiting family, he is always welcomed. If
just going for other reasons, we know that Motel 6 ALWAYS
welcomes pets.

It is a shame that there are irresponsible owners that have
given other loving, accountable owners a bad name in the
hospitality industry.

Thanks for a chance to share a thought.
Mary


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We take our Chesapeake Bay Retriever wherever we go, which means
that we take our vacation around the dog. One year, our last
dog wasn't used to being put in a kennel and after a week
when we returned we found out she didn't eat and they had to
feed and give her water intravenously. 

From then on, we centered our vacations around our dog.
Between Shana (our last dog) and Chessie (our dog now) it's
now been 16 years of vacations with our dog. Chessie is a
part of our family and wherever we go she goes. If they
don't accept her, then it's their loss.
Lynn Kates


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