Tips and tails from a professional pet traveler
By Keith Turner
July 30, 2008
Having just flown across across the country to attend an automotive event here in New York City, I was pleased to notice several airline passengers toting their well-behaved pets along with them on the plane.
One young lady, who was carrying her year-old cat in a nice travel case, told me that she wouldn’t think of leaving her kitty home alone while she went off to visit family in Chicago.
“She gets upset when I just go out for the evening,” the girl said. “And is waiting right by the door until I get home.”
The tiny barking sound I heard when I arrived in the New York airport was also a welcome change from the usual airport noise of PA systems and crying babies. I quickly noticed a family of four heading off on vacation with their small dog comfortably contained in a snazzy carry-on bag. A small crowd of young children were gathered around to get a peek at the cute pup.
Little by little, we’re seeing pets being welcomed on some airlines and in some hotels.
But if you really want to know the scoop behind the pet friendly amenities of a hotel, talk to Marjorie Darby, a long-time dog trainer and responsible dog ownership advocate who has written extensively on pet travel. She’s even conducted a survey or North American hotels and their pet policies, and has written guidelines for helping hotels become less discriminatory toward pet owners.
Marjorie submitted an extensive comment to our recent post about pet-friendly hotels, but we wanted to highlight some of her views here as well.
I would only caution that pet-related services often don’t quite match with the overall pet-”friendliness” (or should I make that “friendliness towards the owner?) of the hotel.
I readily admit that many dog owners aren’t as experienced as I am, nor to many dog owners have the same (high) standards that I have, when it comes to travel and accommodations. Most probably aren’t as militant, either. (blushing)
Many people do, indeed, travel with the kinds of poorly-behaved dogs most hotel pet policies mean to address. So these policies may make perfect sense to them. All dogs bark incessantly in a strange place or when someone knocks at the door, right? That’s why it’s reasonable to prohibit dogs from being left alone in the room. All dogs smell bad, right? That’s why it’s okay to force pet owners to stay in a smoking room. Big dogs are dangerous, right? That’s why it’s okay if hotels only want small dogs staying with them.
I remember someone asking me for hotel recommendations, and when the only ones I could truly recommend were over $400 a night, she admitted that she’d never stayed in a hotel that was more than 3-stars. On the plus side, I pointed out that motels and the like are often much more pet-friendly than their 5-star counterparts. There are whole chains of motor lodges with pretty darn good pet policies. If that’s your bag, then you’re in pretty good shape, I’d say.
Marjorie goes on to describe a nightmare situation that she encountered at one high-end hotel who promised her that her large dog was welcome in their room. But what she was told upon arrival was that the dog was not allowed to be left in the room unsupervised.
Well so much for going to that . . . restaurant we’d been dying to try, or even using one of the hotel’s many-starred restaurants. Forget about seeing that foreign film at the local repertory theater or doing any shopping at all. That is, unless we decided to do those things individually, while one of us stayed behind with the pooch.
I hope you like watching television in your room . . .
You can read the rest of Marjorie’s insights into dog-friendly travel in the comment section of this post. But here’s her conclusion:
I wish more hotels considered that people are individuals. Just because they don’t know much about dogs or dog owners doesn’t mean we’re all dirty, noisey, careless louts. Some of us are happy to pay just about anything for a comfortable stay away from home, and our dogs reflect our standard of living and respect for others.
We couldn’t agree more. Thanks Marjorie!
We recently stayed at a hotel and found out that not only were you not allowed to leave your dog alone in the room, he has to be in a cage while you are in the room. Our dog came from the pound and cages upset him. We don’t have a cage for him. He’s a good boy or we wouldn’t take him with us. He has stayed at several hotels without incident. Since we were already there, we ignored the “rules”. They never noticed and everything went well, but I would hardly call the place pet friendly. We won’t be going back to that hotel.
Comment by Riley & Tiki's Mom — July 30, 2008 @ 10:06 am
Seems to me it would be reasonable for these high-end hotels to require that a dog be crated when left alone, and that the guest leave a cell phone number where he or she could be reached in case of emergency or noise. If the motel was really high-end, and really “pet-friendly,” it would have a stock of dog crates for loan. (And noise? Don’t get me started about the ritzy Chicago hotel where a guest’s car alarm screamed under my window for THREE HOURS in the middle of the night, and the front desk claimed they could do nothing.)
I’ve found it generally nightmarish dealing with allegedly “pet-friendly” hotels of every ilk. Never trust a “listing” that claims a place allows animals. 90% of the time, I find one or more of these “friendly” features in place:
* Size limitations. Under 30 pounds. Under 20 pounds. “Small” pet, not defined. (If our desk clerk is scared of dogs, yours isn’t “small.” We’ll leave you hanging until you try to check in.)
* “One small pet.”
* Smoking room only. Room formerly inhabited by a slots addict named Marge who was sucking unfiltered Camels through her stoma and snubbing the butts on the side of the mattress. Housekeeping thoughtfully gave the room a five-second spritz with Glade, so it’s all okay.
*”Non-refundable deposit.” Ummmm … that’s called a FEE. As high as $100 per night/$100 per animal per stay. These “deposits” can easily cost more than the room rate.
* Breed bans. None o’ them rockwilders or pibbles. Or in our case, German shepherds. Usually not stated outright. When making the reservation “What kind of dog is it?” “A medium-sized dog, ma’am. That’s all you need to know.”
Comment by H Houlahan — July 30, 2008 @ 10:56 am
To Riley & Tiki’s Mom,
Yes, I’ve come across that stipulation too (although I’ve never had the misfortune of making the mistake of booking a room at such an establishment).
Hotel policies are like the blind leading the blind, it seems. If you simply require people to leave the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door if/when they leave their pets alone, that removes any concerns about hotel staff being surprised by a pet.
Responsible owners confidently leave their pets alone at home (dare I point out…”uncaged”?) for any number of reasons. When one is travelling, one’s hotel room is considered “home.” I wonder how parents would feel if those same hotels required children to be caged? Oh yeah, that’s right. Children can go everywhere you’re going, so there’s no need to leave them behind. …I forgot. (winking)
Pretty much everything else is down to the responsibility of the owner. Clean dog. Quiet dog. Well-behaved dog that won’t damage anything. Hold individuals responsible for their individual actions.
I wrote an article on pet travel, that’s still available online:
http://www.goodpooch.com/MyGoo.....elling.htm
As for cages, I’d laugh in the face of anyone who suggested I cage my dog. Again, that kind of thing goes back to hotel staff who know next to nothing about canine behaviour, training, and responsible ownership, but fancy themselves expert enough to dictate what someone like me (a 30 year dog training veteran who specialized in extreme behaviour problems) can do with her perfectly-behaved, silent, scrupulously-groomed dog.
Uh, huh.
Oh, and I should mention that I naturally followed-up with the staff member who contacted me and encouraged me to book a room at the Four Seasons (Yorkville). I explained my disdain about the surprise I discovered at check-in (not being able to leave the dog alone in the room). His comment? “Well, Marjorie, rules are made to be broken.” …Nice.
Comment by Marjorie — August 1, 2008 @ 7:58 am