People are traveling everywhere with their pets, for better or woof. The perils, precautions and purrks.
Stanley has nosed the sand on an Italian beach. He’s rested on a stone wall in Pompeii and let the wind ruffle his hair — er, fur — on a boat to Capri.
Just 4 years old, he’s already crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean twice.
“He’s seen a lot. He’s very cultured,” said Natalie Dupill with a chuckle.
For the past few years, Dupill has taken Stanley — her cocker spaniel-poodle mix — virtually everywhere she’s traveled. Planes and cars, vacations to Mexico and road trips to see the Patriots play in Massachusetts. He’s snuffled his way through a half-dozen states.
He’s a member of the family, and Dupill can’t imagine leaving family at home while she goes off having fun.
“We definitely wanted him to be part of our lives and be with us,” said Dupill, 32, of Peru.
(That’s Peru, Maine, not Peru, the South American country. Stanley hasn’t been there. Yet.)
Once, travelers with pets would have been looked at askance, thought odd for toting Fluffy on a plane or arranging for a Fido-friendly hotel room. Today, they’re far more likely to hear squeals of delight from fellow travelers and innkeepers, earnest requests to scratch behind furry ears and fond stories that start with “My dog . . .”
Well, that and the occasional grumble/eye roll.
“Don’t underestimate your dog’s ability to disrupt others,” said Eric Conrad of Winthrop, whose pup, Jack, used to bark when he got scared in a new place.
Traveling with pets takes skill. Takes finesse. Takes a lot of planning.
Takes the ability to find a grassy spot on an ancient cobblestone street.
But those who try it say they wouldn’t go back to human-only travels.
“We enjoy his company so much, for us it’s worth it,” said Dupill.
Sit, stay
According to a 2011 survey by PetRelocation.com, six out of 10 pet owners traveled with their pets the year before — 22 percent monthly and 35 percent annually. A third of the survey’s pet owners said they’ve taken their animal on an international trip.
Most (58 percent) brought along their dog, while 22 percent scooped up their cat. Eight percent packed up their bird and 6 percent went on a trek with their horse. Another 6 percent traveled with a pet listed enigmatically as “other.”
“Pets have really become part of the family,” said Rauni Kew, spokeswoman for the Inn By the Sea in Cape Elizabeth.
She would know. Inn By the Sea has catered to dogs for years.
Literally, catered.
“We do have a gourmet pet menu for dogs,” she said.
The pampering doesn’t stop there. The luxury hotel also offers in-room pet spa services, a fireplace lounge where dogs and humans can eat together, and handmade organic dog treats at turndown — the canine equivalent of a mint on the pillow. At the end of the summer season, the inn opens its swimming pool to pooches.
It also has a two-night pet package that comes complete with a personalized L.L. Bean dog bed, an Inn By the Sea bowl, a 30-minute pet massage, a nightly selection from its gourmet pet menu and turndown service with those organic treats.
Oh, and humans get to stay, too.
“We get them from all over. Connecticut, New York, certainly the Boston area. People will drive — mostly drive, but some fly — with their pets. They just enjoy being here with their dogs because the dogs can relax,” Kew said.
Travelers can also find a companion for their companion there. The inn recently began hosting adoptable dogs from the local Animal Refuge League. Its first foster, a Bernese mountain dog mix named Mambo, was adopted within a day.
The pets-welcome attitude has drawn in people, including a corporate group whose board members all brought their dogs — even to board meetings onsite.
“I asked the CEO why they thought of doing this,” Kew said. “She just thought that it took the edge off the meeting and made everybody relax and they were more easily able to come to agreement and have an effective meeting.”
The Inn By the Sea might be over the top, but it isn’t the only hotel to notice that travelers don’t want to treat their pets like animals.
“In talking to a bunch of folks in the industry, what we found is that more and more people want to bring their pets with them on vacation,” said Roy Forsberg, owner of the pet-friendly and aptly named Wolf Cove Inn in Poland.
He has two dogs of his own, a young Labrador retriever and “an old man” pug. His black Lab, Gabby, serves as a kind of canine guest liaison, greeting new best friends with a tail wag and an enthusiastic invitation to play.
The Wolf Cove Inn maintains three rooms for dogs and their people. It booked 30 to 40 nights with pets last year.
Forsberg — who doesn’t offer pet massage but does provide bowls, blankets and bags of treats — was delighted to accommodate them.
“The people who bring their pets on vacation are usually so happy to be able to bring their pets that they’re great guests, you know, themselves,” he said.
Good dog
Conrad has always brought his dog along on his travels. When he was single and living in Florida years ago, his companion was a Rhodesian ridgeback named Sam. Today, Conrad, his wife and two teenagers are joined on their excursions by a rescued coon hound mix named Jack.
Beaches. Cabins. Road trips. Family vacations. Thirty to 40 trips total, Conrad figures.
“A lot of people question whether dogs have feelings and memories,” he said. “I really believe that they do. They look at you when you go away and say with their eyes, ‘I want to go, too.’ So, as often as we can we take him along.”
Some of Conrad’s fondest memories are of Sam in the Florida Keys, walking with him at low tide, watching the sun rise or set.
“And then when you have kids and you have your pet with you, part of that memory of that trip is with your pet,” he said.
It hasn’t always been easy. Abused as a pup, Jack was fearful of men and skittish in new places. He often showed he was uncomfortable by barking.
“He was never bad, but loud,” Conrad said.
Conrad was careful of the situations he put Jack in. He slowly socialized him, both with visitors at home and traveling. He always kept Jack under control.
Now 11 years old, Jack is more sociable, even in strange situations. Conrad credits that, in part, to his travels.
“I think if you’re willing to do it and willing to be smart about it, if you show a good dog good examples and they have a good experience time after time after time, they come around,” he said.
Dupill didn’t plan to travel with Stanley when she got him as an 8-week-old puppy. But a year or so later she found herself researching ways to fly with a dog.
“Pretty quickly he became such a part of the family that we didn’t ever want to leave on vacation and leave him,” she said.
His first trip was to Florida with Dupill, her sister and her mother.
The flight was nerve-wracking. For Dupill, not for Stanley.
At 18 pounds, Stanley was small enough to fit into a soft-sided, carry-on-sized pet carrier and fly in the cabin with the rest of the passengers. Dupill had practiced beforehand, leaving him in the carrier for longer periods of time and rewarding him with treats. By the time they boarded the flight and Dupill slid Stanley’s carrier under the seat in front of her, he was comfortable.
Most people didn’t even realize a dog was on the plane.
The rest of the trip went just as well. Dupill had researched pet-friendly hotels and had looked into things to do and places to go with Stanley. She knew Florida weather would be warm enough to dine outside and Stanley could eat with them.
The trip was a blast.
“Once it went so smoothly, it helped us realize that you hear about a lot of people doing it and so we figured why can’t we?” she said.
Over the next few years Stanley became a master traveler, hopping on planes, hiking in the desert, touring ancient ruins. Outside the Colosseum in Rome, Dupill snapped a photo of Stanley as he struck a regal pose, curly head tipped back, gazing upon Italy’s blue sky horizon.
“He appears to enjoy the sights,” Dupill said.
His most recent trip was in April, to Mexico, where he laid on a dog-friendly beach.
“Relaxing, he’s good at that,” Dupill said.
Although she doesn’t choose her trips based solely on Stanley, she does work around him. When he couldn’t go into a museum overseas, she and her mother took turns waiting outside with him. Because dogs aren’t allowed in Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, she took him on excursions around the area and let him hang out in the hotel room, TV tuned to the Patriots’ game “so he can see what’s happening.”
Dupill says research and planning have been the keys to her success traveling with Stanley. Before they set a single paw on a plane or in the car, Dupill knows their hotel’s policy on pets — and carries a printed copy with her in case the front desk doesn’t know the policy or it changed after booking. Same for the airline. She’s careful about when she feeds and waters Stanley before long plane ride, so he doesn’t end up in distress. She travels with food, water, a dog dish and a few favorite toys so Stanley always has something familiar.
Even though it’s more work than a human-only vacation, she believes they both get something out of their trips: togetherness.
“He’s definitely very loyal and he definitely just wants to come, regardless of where we’re going or what we’re doing. I think that he’s very comfortable regardless of where we are. He’s never exhibited any type of anxiety,” she said. “What I think would cause him more anxiety was if he was left home for an extended period of time.”
Dupill feels the rewards of traveling with Stanley are so great that she’s already thinking about his next trip.
“(Mexico) is still fairly fresh in his head,” she said.
ltice@sunjournal.com
Facing reality: Lying, and other tricks and tips
While travel with pets can be fun, it’s not necessarily easy and there’s plenty to thing about beforehand. Including whether you’re going to lie about your pet.
For years, Miranda Smith, a veterinarian at Bath-Brunswick Veterinary Associates, has worked with people who want to take their pet along on their adventures. Some want a short trip out of state. Others are planning to live abroad for months.
Her advice depends on the animal’s health, how they’re traveling, how long they’ll be gone. Although most pets tend do fine, she worries a lot about frail animals who might not eat well on a long trip and end up stressed and sick.
“Is the enjoyment we’re going to get from our pet’s companionship, does that justify the disruption in the animal’s life? For some dogs it’s like, ‘Woo! This is a party!’ And, apparently, there are a few cats that react that way, too,” she said. “But it’s certainly not every animal.”
However, she’s also seen pets do well when she wasn’t sure they’d even survive.
One family worked with her when they wanted to take their elderly cat with them on a temporary move to Europe. The cat was in his late teens and dealing with advanced kidney failure and other medical problems, but he was a member of the family and they couldn’t imagine leaving him behind.
His people made sure he was hydrated, fussed over and as comfortable as he could be during a day full of travel.
“The cat did great. Spent a year in Switzerland and came back,” she said. “He just got terrific care from his owners and he was a very tenacious individual.”
She believes the best thing a family can do is research and plan ahead. Which shots and documents does a pet need to enter a foreign country? (We’re looking at you, Johnny Depp.) Can the dog fly with people or must he go into the cargo hold of a plane? What will the cat eat for six months while she’s away from home?
Often it’s the unconsidered details that flummox families — like the fact pets must be taken out of their carrier at airport security checkpoints. That’s when cats, unleashed and terrified, can do one of two things: bolt or hang on to their human with all the power they have in their claws.
“It’s good to have a harness on the cat so you have something to hang on to. I can just imagine the scene of a cat getting spooked and taking off across the airport,” Smith said. “That’s something that can come as a really surprising and unpleasant thing for owners.”
Some people find ways around the most unpleasant aspects of traveling with pets.
Sarra lives in Oregon, works in Alaska and often flies to Maine, where she grew up. Her 7-year-old, 35-pound Australian shepherd-border collie mix, Pam, flies with her.
But, in order for Pam to avoid riding in a carrier in the cargo hold, Sarra creates fake paperwork and tells the airline Pam is a service dog. That allows her to fly in the cabin, no questions asked.
She’s also gotten good at sneaking into hotels.
“We once stayed in the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec and she had to curl up in a duffel bag to get through the lobby,” Sarra said. “She responds to the command ‘puppies in duffles’ and lets me zip the bag over her.”
Sarra asked that only her first name be used because of her pet travel schemes. In many states, impersonating a service dog is a crime.
Sarra said she feels awful about the deception, but she loves her dog, and Pam comes first.
And besides, she said, Pam is seasoned traveler who has logged miles in the United States and overseas. She knows how to behave.
“Because she’s been faking it for so long, I think that she’s actually really good at it now. She goes on the plane, she marches under the seat in front of me, she curls up, falls asleep,” Sarra said. “Then halfway through the flight she’ll be standing there in between my legs, politely beg for pretzels.”
Vets and experienced travelers say there are easy ways to avoid some of the pitfalls of traveling with pets
Easier even than faking service dog papers.
Talk to your pet’s vet before traveling, particularly if it involves a plane ride. Vets can help gauge whether a pet will be able to stand a long trip, can offer the pros and cons of tranquilizers (for Fido, not you) and can make sure your pet is up to date on shots or needed medical treatments.
If you can look it up, write it down or prepare for it ahead of time, do it. That means you should find out what documents your pet needs to enter a foreign country and how long it will take to get them. (Hint: Some can take months.)
Check out the pet policies of anywhere you plan to go. Get your pet comfortable in the carrier long before your trip. Pack food, toys and comfort items — like you would for a toddler — so your pet can have something familiar in a strange place.
Ask your hotel and airline about pet policies and fees. Some hotels advertise themselves as “pet friendly,” but give visitors with pets the worst rooms, strictly limit the size and number of pets, won’t allow animals in many public areas and charge high fees. Some airlines will let animals ride in the cabin with their human, but only animals under a certain size. They also charge fees.
Be considerate of other travelers. If your dog is a barker, don’t leave him alone in the hotel room. If he doesn’t like other dogs or small children, keep him on a leash and under control at all time. Understand that just because you find your furry family member adorable, the hotel guest riding up with you in the elevator might be scared of animals or the person seated next to you on the plane might have allergies.
And ask yourself if traveling with your pet is the right thing to do. “Objectively, is my dog up for this trip or isn’t it?” Conrad said. “And keeping in mind it’s not just about whether your dog and your family can handle it, but what’s it going to do for the experience of others around you who are also trying to relax and have a good time.”
A 2012 AAA and Best Western survey found that even travelers with pets sometimes had problems with their fellow pet people. Among the pet peeves: people who didn’t clean up after pets (77 percent), dogs that barked constantly (57 percent) and unleashed pets (49 percent).
On the other hand, 93 percent said their pet makes a good travel companion.
ltice@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
