In the not too distant past, there were few places that allowed travellers to bring their dogs. But that is changing. Now you can find dog-friendly hotels, AirBnBs, and occasional timeshares offering no worry travel with your dog! However, for most travel vendors, dogs and pets are not the main focus.
Typical Travel Vendors
Most travel sites, such as Travelocity, now inlclude a “dog-friendly filter” for locating places you might travel with your pet.
Travelocity Pet Friendly filter
This search returned 300 results .
Travelocity-pet-300-results
But many listings indicate only service dogs are allowed. Without the training and without paperwork, no dog.
Look for the details in the search results.
Travelocity-pet-details
Pet-Centric Travel Vendors
There is an uptick in quality search results when you deal with travel vendors who are pet-centric. An example, is BringFido.com.
Bring Fido specializes in travel resources for dog travellers. Visit BringFido.com to search on all sorts of options.
Bringfido.com
Bringfido.com
This site offers a lot of amenities for the dog traveler, from pet-friendly hotels to restauarants, events to services. You can search for places across the country and apparently worldwide.
Many dog-friendly options
Search for Hotels, AirBnBs, and More
It’s all about your pet and finding those pet-friendly places. Use the various filters to search on type of places to stay and eat, different events and services, pet policies, and ratings.
Search filters
Another site about pet-friendly travel is GoPetFriendly. And there are several articles about pet-travel activities, resorts, and locations. It’s great for people who want to travel with their pets. Check them out. Have fun with no worry! Let us know how you make out! Don’t forget to check out dog-friendly beaches!
As a dog lover, I was curious about what dogs I would see when visiting Paris. I saw fewer than I expected but those I did I encountered in different locations, from promenading with their owners along the wonderful, walkable streets to riding comfortably in shoulder bags.
Acording to Per Traveler: “Parisians love spending time with their pets, and it is evident in how pet-friendly the city is. Dogs in Paris are allowed on all public transport including the metro, the subway, the commuter trains and buses.
Service dogs can travel for free on all forms of transport, and large dogs need a ticket to travel. Small dogs can travel in a bag or dog carriers and do not need a ticket. Larger dog breeds must be on a lead and muzzled when they are travelling on public transport. Parisian taxis can choose to accept or refuse to take your dog in the car; it is a good idea to mention your dog when you book your cab.”
One large border collie/lab mix was comfortable laying on the floor of one of the metro coaches between riders’ feet and legs. Even beggars on the street had their pups bundled up in blankets on their legs.
Dog on train
Other chiens rode the metro tethered with leases to their ownership.
Dogs were always on leashes. I didn’t see any dog parks like there are in the US. But people and dogs seem happy and comfortable walking around the cobbled streets and cafes no matter how crowded they are.
If you’ve ever experienced a wintry Nor’easter in NewEngland, you can understand why so many people connected with the “Mamas and Papas” singing California Dreamin, “On a winter’s day I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.” Travelling through the state in our RV with our dog, we liked the warmer weather. But it wasn’t always that dreamy.
Dreamy and No-So-Dreamy
Things we liked were tempered with a few things we didn’t.
Like: Fun beaches for dog are accessible. Lots of socializing, chasing each other, and catching frizbees and tennis balls.
Dislike: Dog beaches often require walking further beyond the people-only beach for the privilege of frocklicking with your pet on the beach. They also include more rules, such picking up after your dog (understandable) and keeping the dog on a 6 ft. leash (more than half of the visitors ignore this one).
Like: There are lots of scenic roads with beautiful vistas and sites unseen if you don’t venture beyond the highways.
Dislike: Hairpin turns, ridiculous speed limits (mostly on the high side) and obnoxious drivers in lambroghinis honking mad at you for being cautious on the hairpins.
Like: Smooth highways.
Dislike: bumpy highways, narrow bridges, low bridges, and drivers who prefer to run you off the road rather than let you in.
If you have a dog and haven’t been to a dog beach, you need to go. Dog parks are fun, but beaches are incredible!
We have experienced multiple dog beaches along California’s coast, and I have to tell you they are fun – not only for the dogs who love to socialize and meet new friends, but also for their owners who get to see their companions frolic around the sand meeting and chasing all sorts of dogs from big to small – all excited to play.
My introduction to dog beaches was during a visit to see our son and his dog in San Diego. We went to the Coronado Dog Beach . It was huge. Easily 100 dogs chasing frisbees, sniffing and chasing other dogs across the sand and through the in-coming surf.
On Leash or Off?
The last few weeks, we’ve been to multiple beaches along the California southern coast. Some require dogs be on leash, other no leash. The expectation is that the owner will ensure good behavior and pickup.
However, as probably expected there seems to either complete ignorance of the “dogs on leash” symbol or when walking with multiple dogs, one is on leash and the rest are off. Hmmm, interesting.
My take is that people simply hate rules, especially when it comes to the beach. Of course, there is the contrast. For example, we went to on Del Mar Beach (Del Mar, CA), BTW a fantastic fun spot for dogs (and people). I had one person immediately alerting me to the fact that my dog had shat! She didn’t see me pulling out the plastic blue bag! Then there are those who walk lachsadaiscally cross the cool sand or sit on a rock soaking in the sun with with no tracking on where their dogs have gone or what mischief they have found. Frankly, I don’t care. It simply shows who you are. Either a rule-abiding citizen or what ever. Well, I suppose it depends on your mood for the day.
Name Those Beaches
Here are comments about some dog beaches we visited. Please add comments about other beaches worth visiting with your dog. (This is a work in progress… adding more pictures from the trip and comments.)
Requirements: Dogs on leash, pick up after. Actually, almost all dogs we saw were off leash having a BLAST of a time running around through the water, sniffing out smells and saying “hi” to all the other dogs.
Condition of beach: Great shape. We would certainly go back.
Condition of beach: Hard to get to. We were staying in the Leo Corillo State Park south (probs 1/2 mile) and dogs were not allowed on the nearer South beach. The beach was changed off except at the furthest end (quite a walk) and the embankment was eroded by previous storms. Unfortunately, we didn’t see other dogs. What good is that for dog play time?
We drove by pristine beaches in Biloxi, MS. However, a search online indicated pet friendliness along the Mississippi Gulf Coast depends on the county you are in.
We are on the road travelling, and needed repair work done on our RV in Barkersfield, CA. So, a few questions come to mind: where do we stay in the meantime and how do we get to and from, particularly with our go bags and our dog?
We located several nearby hotels that were pet friendly. However, several had sketchy ratings and almost all charged $50 per nite for the dog. I figured that price was a bit much. Fortunately we found the Vagabond Inn, which had raving reviews and a more reasonable dog rate.
For getting to the hotel, there was no problem. CampingWorld had a staff member drive us to the hotel which only a 1 1/2 away. That was nice. We got their and spent the night.
The next day, we were told the repairs were going to be completed and we could check out. We inquired about a ride back but had to wait a few hours. I thought I would check to what other options there are if we did not have friendly transportation by CampingWorld. Here is what we discovered:
Walking – Although the distance between CampiingWorld and the hotel was a little over a mile, there was a ton of traffic and the road noise would scare our dog.
Uber – only service animals can be transported
Taxi – Jesse (owner) answered our call to Azteca Taxi Cab in Bakersfield. He adds a pet fee based on size: $10 for up to 12 pounds and $15 for over 12 lb. Seems reasonable to me!
As this situation turned out, our friend Tiffiany at the hotel offerred to let us stay in our room after the check out time to wait for our ride from our friends at CampingWorld in a few hours. Nice! It that hadn’t happened we would certainly would have set up a transport with Jesse!
Thank heavens there are options and friendly and undertanding service people!
