PSmitty Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Alex has been staying in hotels since the first day we got him. We stopped overnight in Georgia on the way home from picking him up. This is actually the same crate he's pictured in the other photo. (And I'm very grateful to have so many dog-friendly hotels in our country.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I am absolutely horrified by the thought of my dogs barking and disturbing anyone at a hotel -- And if I am not there, how am I to be sure they aren't barking? I will never, ever leave my dogs alone in a hotel room for any longer than it takes me to run to the ice machine down the hall. I don't "eat out" when we travel -- I pick up something that I can bring back to the room and eat with the dogs. I know there are plenty of people who do leave their dogs in hotels, though. Because I hear them barking ALL THE TIME. There is no better way to make a hotel change their dog policy than to be a rude guest -- that includes barking dogs and not picking up poop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I also generally bring sheets/blankets and cover the carpets and the beds so that my dogs aren't tracking in dirt all over everything, and also because if there's an accident, it's more likely to be somewhat contained on whatever I have put on the floor. I do this because I appreciate being able to take my dogs into a hotel and hope to at least do my small part to encourage hotels to continue to allow dogs (and because I usually travel with 5-7 dogs and so need to be really careful that we aren't causing a problem for others). J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemist Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I've never left my dog alone in a hotel room, but if I did, I'd leave him in a wire crate, even though I'm confident he wouldn't get into trouble if uncrated. You just never know when someone will come into your room. I leave him uncrated in my office all the time, even when I'm not there. He knows the custodial people, and even when a new custodian starts, he's friendly to strangers who walk into my office, as it's a regular occurrence. He's not a barker (in fact my next-door neighbors once, to my horror, asked me if I'd had him "debarked"!). I know he's quiet and respectful of others because I'd sure hear about it from people with adjacent offices if this weren't the case! He's learned that knocking on doors around him is a part of life that requires no response from him. Probably means he isn't as much of a deterrent to strangers who knock on our front door at home as he might be, but I can live with that if means he can come to work with me each day. Anyway, I expect he'd view any hotel room as equivalent to a large office (only he'd feel less of a sense of ownership to it). All that being said - I DO bring a wire crate when we travel. I was at my SIL's recently taking care of my FIL (who has Parkinson's and isn't very steady on his feet). It was convenient to crate Duncan in the garage if I had to go out somewhere. The caregiver is a bit dog shy, and the last thing anyone needed would be to have my FIL trip over the dog. I could make sure there was no danger of this when I was around, but if that wasn't the case, well, safe is far better than sorry. I also bring a crate when we go to NH in the summers, or when I visit my SIL in NY at Thanksgiving. I'd rather leave Duncan crated when we go out than leave him uncrated in a strange house with a cat who hates dogs (SIL's); it's all part of ensuring he's a good guest. I also like to leave him crated in NH, where there are screens on the porch that he could easily scratch through if he felt he really needed to be out (NH). Again, not sure he'd get into trouble in either situation, but safe is better than sorry; my last dog (who was thunderphobic) DID once scratch her way through a screen on a porch when a thunderstorm came up suddenly. But these are all situations where I feel more comfortable with a wire crate than with a soft-sided crate. In my mind, the former is a far more versatile alternative for travel than the latter. My thunderphobic dog would have torn her way through a soft-sided crate in mere moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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