Who travels with their pets?

[Franklin]

Ok, we are planing a 17 day trip both by car and plane. We have 2 small Yorkies that fit well in an approved carrier. DW wants to bring them along but I’d prefer they stay at home and we get a house/ dog sitter. I don’t want to be unreasonable but looking after those guys while traveling can be stressful. For those of you who have furry friends I’d love to know your preferences and pros and cons. Maybe you can help us decide!

 

[RAE]

We take our yellow lab with us every year when we head south (to Texas or Florida) for 2 1/2 months. But we rent a house down there for the duration of the stay, so other than a few nights in motels each way, we all stay in one place. That makes it a little easier (on both him and us). If I were moving frequently during my trip, I would probably not want to take the dog along. Our stepdaughter watches our dog when we take short trips around here, if taking the dog would be too difficult.

 

[ABQ2015]

Hotels that accept pets often do not allow you to leave them in the hotel room unattended. Will you be able to leave them in the car while you are in restaurants, etc.?

 

[Bamaman]

When we leave town, we leave Xena the Rottweiler in a kennel @ $15 a day. Some breeds are best left at home as a 130 lb. dog takes up the whole back seat of the car.
We leave the cats locked up in the garage with enough food and a potty box to last them.

What's so bad is the dog is not even our dog--but our 30 year old daughter's.

 

[travelover]

I'd board the dogs for this kind of trip. You can find people that will keep them in their homes as opposed to a kennel, in a business similar to an AirBnB.

 

[Red Badger]

We have a high maintenance Pekingese. Ergo, we are more like personal staff than pet owners. Unless DS can keep him, he goes with us. Three suck points to know about flying with pets.

1. There a small limit of critters per flight, so plan to book early as possible.

2. No critters in the pointy end of the plane. So, when the fur-kid goes, we have to downgrade to premium economy.

3. I think we paid $150(?) to bring the mutt on our last trip. That was with Delta. I assume others would be in same price range.

 

[Franklin]

DW and I have different opinions on this so I have naturally suggested we let the Board guide us. This is the first time she has shown any interest in this site! She has read every word HA

 

[Dawg52]

I take my lab on a 3 hour drive to my condo once a month. But I wouldn't on long trips and certainly not via air. At the condo I can leave him there and do whatever I want as I do at home. But that wouldn't be as easy on a long trip.

 

[youbet]

We've been happily pet-less since FIRE'ing over a decade ago. Since we're on the road with our camper about 25% of the time, it's turned out to be a good decision. We know there are ways to accommodate having a pet along, and have close friends who do so, but it's been a nice change of pace not having to plan around a pet.

 

[TwoByFour]

I love dogs, we have had three and are getting another soon, but there are times when dogs are really not appropriate, and I think traveling is one of those. The dogs will end up locked in a hotel room, or a car, at times and that is not really fair for them. And unless they are really well behaved, not everyone else is comfortable being around dogs. Get a good house/dog sitter and leave them home is my recommendation.

 

[38Chevy454]

Best solution is get a dog sitter that will keep the dogs at home and their familiar territory.


When we take an RV trip we take our dogs, but we still end up leaving them for up to 5-6 hours at times. Not ideal but they do fine.

 

[Ready]

DH would love to take our dog everywhere we go, but I put a stop to that before it happens. Our dog is hyper, and we could never leave him alone in a hotel room. And trying to take him to a restaurant is a royal pain. You have to find restaurants with patios that allow dogs, which limits your choices on where you can eat. And if you want to go sightseeing in places that don't take dogs you have more challenges to deal with.

Our dog sitter charges $40/night. For short vacations it's no big deal, but as the vacations extend to a week or longer it does become a budgeting factor for us in deciding whether or not to travel.

 

[Aerides]

17 days that includes road and flights sounds like it would be quite stressful for two small dogs. And I agree that your entire trip will feel consumed with making sure the dogs are ok.

Boarding, with a good place, is far better. Shop around for the best place you can find. For example, a place near us bills themselves as a pet resort - and if I were a dog I would agree:

http://www.clintmooreanimalhospital.com/pet-resort-spa/

And if you have a place like this that is vet+boarding, then should anything arise while you are gone, they are in good hands vs. if they get sick in a strange town. If you have any family in your home town, your boarder should allow them to visit too while you're gone.

ETA:

Hotels that accept pets often do not allow you to leave them in the hotel room unattended. Will you be able to leave them in the car while you are in restaurants, etc.?

I don't believe this is legal in most states. While we're entering the cooler time of the year, a car in even mild temps can become dangerous very quickly. Don't leave a pet unattended in a car any longer than you'd leave a baby (ie, not at all).

 

[RobbieB]

I hire a dog sitter. We have 2 on board in case one is booked up.

 

[MRG]

Depends on your dog(s). Our beloved prior Maltese loved to travel, never barked, complained, or anything. One of my favorite memories of him was a three week trip across I90 to Vancouver and back I80. He was the hit of the show at most rest areas and stops. We traveled by ferry a lot in BC and folks loved him. He even attracted the entire Swedish woman's volleyball team at one rest stop. Ever been jealous of your dog?

The two we have today are much more difficult. They ride well but get upset to be left alone for awhile. When we went out for our anniversary to a casino we were paged within 5 minutes. Settled them down and they were fine for the evening. We tend to bring them whenever possible. We lost our beloved Maltese after he'd been boarded for an overseas trip. Not sure it was related but the guilt was.

 

[Splash]

We have a 12 year old golden retriever. We bring her with us each year when we go to Florida and rent a house for 4 months. The trip includes 24 hours of driving which we split into 3 days. We also devote the entire back seat to her.

We board our dog whenever we fly somewhere for a 1 - 2 week stay that is usually in a condo. I think she would be too anxious flying or being left alone in a condo with all sorts of noises she's not used to. YMMV

 

[Katsmeow]

We usually board our pets. I've never really wanted to use a pet sitter because I am concerned someone will not securely latch a door, etc and I will lose a pet.

We did have one vacation some years ago where we brought our Afghan Hound with us. It was a driving vacation and actually went pretty well. We did have to stay at hotels that would allow a dog. We didn't have any issue leaving him in the room as we had a dog crate for him and he was acclimated to it. That said, we did have to schedule around him and so it did limit flexibility a lot. We were OK with it but don't think I would do it again.

 

[Ian S]

Wouldn't take our dog on an air trip. We have had good luck with finding a sitter at rover.com. Our pooch stays in a home usually with other compatible dogs and he has a great time as part of a pack! Daily pics posted along with comments posted by the sitter. When we travel to the in-laws via car, we take the pooch as they enjoy him.

 

[Doribe]

We travel in an RV and take our 60 pound pointer. We usually travel in good weather so we can leave her in the car with the windows open. Occasionally we tie her up in the shade with water if we think it is too hot to leave her in the car. Most campgrounds or motels don't want a dog left alone. I wouldn't want to take a dog somewhere where we plan a lot of indoor activities. We used a house sitter for a five week trip and the kennel for shorter trips. The kennel is about $40/day. The house sitter was a trading spaces arrangement so no money changed hands. I would say it depends or the type of plans you have and the temperament of the dogs. My dog loves to travel and is well behaved.

 

[GravitySucks]

My Shepard travels well, but only by car. I won't put him in an airplane crate in the baggage area.
I leave my cell phone number with the front desk when I leave him in the hotel room. He did well in the RV last year, and in a crate in a tent this year.
Car and plane, many car rental will not let you take dogs in their cars. I didn't realize that and once got a large fee when they found some fur.
To make it fair, whoever wants the doggos to come should be the one to do the extra work.....and there will be extra work.

 

[DrRoy]

Most of the time when we travel we board our dog with our sons, who live nearby. We did take her with us on a week long trip to a state park a couple years ago, and that went pretty well. Next year, we plan a driving trip out west for almost 4 weeks and we will take her with us then also.

 

[Teacher Terry]

When we take cruises I hire someone to live at our house. We take them on driving and RV trips. Our Maltese have flown many times and do well. This summer we took 2 Maltese and a 80lb husky/shepherd mix on a month 4K driving trip. It went well. All the dogs are well behaved.

 

[Scuba]

We took our Pomeranian mix on a 3 month trip to the USVI. The flight was very stressful for him and for us. The A/C on the plane didn’t work well, he was hot, and if they aren’t service dogs, you’re supposed to leave them in their carrier for the entire flight. Miserable for all of us.

We were glad we had him with us because it was such a long trip, but he did have adjustment problems. We had him at the vet 3 times in the first few weeks. Not good.

We just returned from a six week trip to Greece and did not take him with us. Left him with a pet sitter who has kept him many times. For a trip where you’ll want to do a lot of sightseeing or other activities away from your hotel, I don’t think it’s a good idea to take the dogs. They’ll be unhappy left alone in unfamiliar surroundings, and your schedule will be disrupted by having to rush back to the room to take them out.

If you don’t have a good sitter already, rover.com is a great option.

 

[W2R]

I don't have pets and I don't travel. Problem solved! But my lifestyle isn't appealing to everyone and what to do with pets when traveling can be a problem.

If I did have pets and wanted to travel, I'd either get a pet sitter or (more likely) I'd just look for a kennel or similar facility where I could board the pets.

Some people travel with pets in their SUV's, if they aren't planning to go overseas.

In 1958, my aunt was planning a 3 month vacation to Hawaii. Hawaii had a 6 month quarantine required for any pets brought into the state. So, to avoid the quarantine she drugged her little, young kitten heavily and sneaked it onto the airplane in her purse. Honestly I think that was a terrible decision (poor kitty!!) but she thought it was pretty slick. Today with TSA screenings that would hopefully be impossible. I guess this story is off topic (oops! my mistake).

 

[Franklin]

OP here. To all who took the time to respond thanks. DW and I are torn as to which is best 1) leave them at home with a sitter or 2) bring them along. Ive read some good points and opinions from the forum and am seriously leaning towards getting a house and dog sitter. I told DW we should read all post then decide. So far most members have experienced both options but the consensus is 2 yorkies (while small and relatively behaved) would be added stress to the trip for both dog and parent. I did look up Rover.com and a few others and that is a cool industry that I was impressed with.