I’m a pawsitive kind of guy, so in this blog, I like to focus on the positive side of travelling with a dog. Also, I don’t generally sweat the small stuff. Like all good dogs, I prefer just to live in the moment.
Adopting a “glass half full” attitude and going with the flow are skills that are particularly refined with travelling. You need those skills when, for example, dealing with the insanity of getting from point A to B and point B suddenly becomes point C.
However, as I now approach a full three years (Wait. Woa. What?) of being a travelling canine, I have to admit, even if reluctantly, that there are certain things my pawsitive energy can’t overcome. You could call them “pet peeves.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) I like to call them “items for the poop list” or, in laymen terms, “The Shit List.”
Here are our Top 6 Shit List Items:
#1 –Unclean Pet Friendly Hotel Rooms: Just because a room is designated as pet friendly, the hotel doesn’t get to slack off with cleaning. A hotel guest should never walk into a pet friendly hotel room and feel like they have just entered a grooming salon or dog kennel. If anything, the opposite should be true: the room should be pristine clean. This is especially true if the hotel is charging a non-refundable pet fee. Isn’t the pet fee to compensate for the extra cleaning that may be required?
If a hotel is serious about their service, why don’t they engage someone on staff who suffers with pet allergies and ask him or her to spend a few minutes in the room after housekeeping has left? The staff person should be able to stay in the room without breaking into … well, whatever symptoms the allergies cause.
It’s also not alright to relegate pet travellers to the creepiest room possible or to one of the old un-renovated rooms or rooms near the ice machine or elevators. You get my point, I am sure.
#2 – Mile Long Pet Friendly Rules in Hotels: Related to Shit List Item #1. A hotel is either pet friendly or it is not. Having a list of rules the length of Santa’s delivery list makes it nearly impossible to use the hotel facilities with your dog. It boils down to false advertising.
If you can’t walk in the lobby (how, then, do you leave and enter the hotel?!), use the beach, lounge by the pool, access the business centre, visit the hotel gardens, or – our favourite – leave the dog in the room unattended, even if quiet and crated (of course), then how is that hotel pet friendly? In fact, in order to really qualify as pet friendly, we maintain that the hotel has to offer a “dining with pooch” option that does not require that you eat in isolation in your room with room service.
#3 – The Pet-In-Cabin Airline Charge: The list of grievances that cross my mind on this subject is so long it should be its own blog post. But I’ll bite my tongue and save you the R-rated expletives waiting to be spit out.
What Airlines Do: Charge (anywhere from $45 to $300 for cross-Atlantic flights, cost depending on airlines) for the privilege of bringing your pet in-cabin with you.
What Airlines Don’t Do: Give travellers the right to bring an additional carry-on bag. The pet carrier becomes the carry-on allowance, meaning the pet takes no extra room. Travellers are not given seating with extra leg-room to accommodate a pet carrier. They are not given pre-boarding or pre-registration privileges. Travellers are not even guaranteed they will be able to take their flight; they could be asked to disembark should other travellers complain about the pet. Airlines do not provide special pet friendly amenities or special waiting rooms with dog play areas and indoor potty options. There are no special filters for allergens above a “with pet” seat. The airline doesn’t even have to absorb an extra cleaning cost given the pet is never allowed out of the carrier.
Conclusion: There is no justification for the airline’s extra charge imposed on those wishing to travel with their pets in-cabin. It seems the only reason the charge exists is to discourage people from flying with their pets. Frankly, that is such a passive-aggressive approach to customer management, it makes our blood boil.
#4 – Erroneous Website Pet Policy Information: Speaking of false advertising and passive-aggressive approaches to customer management … we always tell our readers to call ahead and confirm arrangements because websites are not always accurate or up-to-date regarding pet policies (and other services). This is true of airlines, hotels, parks, museums and many others venues. Frankly, no one should have to double check: if a site says “pet friendly,” a client should be able to book without having to confirm if this is still the case. Oh, and failing to provide any pet information at all, especially when also failing to provide contact details for inquiring, is equally annoying.
#5 – Staff Lack of Knowledge: If a business is misleading with pet friendly policies that aren’t really pet friendly and with inaccurate websites, then I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised when we meet staff who are less informed than we are about a business’s pet friendly status. Still, it’s annoying and poor service. If you are going to be a pet friendly business, then tell your staff what that means and what the procedures are. It is not the client’s job to train staff on the business’s pet policies.
Similarly, no client should ever be made to feel they are being difficult or causing a scene because staff don’t know what to do – or feel it is a burden – when presented with a travelling dog. This is so often the case with most airlines at check-in: the staff can see the pet is registered but have no idea how to issue the correct boarding pass. *rolls eyes*
#6 – No Pets, No Reason: This seems obvious, right? Am I right? Yet, I can’t tell you how often we are confronted with a “no pets allowed” policy without any reason or justification, or with any way to find the information. If you are going to dogscriminate, then the least you can do is provide a reason – even if it is a shitty and/or misguided one.
Do you have a “travelling with pet” burr in your fur you’d like to add to our “Shit List”?
From Linda Morris:
I have a 100 lb dog, a Rottweiler/Pit Bull mix. Try getting hotels to accept HIM but will accept small dogs, cats and asinine children!
If he were even a Great Dane they’d accept him/her but let’s not judge a book by the colour of it’s fur or the shape of it’s head.
From Montecristo:
True. Should be based on the character of the dog, not its breed. If you had a Good Citizen certificate for example. It’s the knee jerk reaction and uncompromising stance that bothers us.
From Skipper:
My biggest pet peeve is flying with my little ones is being forced to keep them in their carrier. My dogs are very well behaved and they have to stay in a bag under a seat, while the screaming ill behaved children disrupt the entire flight.. Aughhhh
From Montecristo:
Absolutely agree Skipper. It drives all of us nuts. Somehow human children are allowed a LOT more wiggle room when it comes to misbehaving.
From Marci:
I have to agree with EVERYTHING you’ve said, especially the flying part! I pay AS much for Layla to sit under a seat as I do for my own seat. There are children who fly FREE OF CHARGE on their parents’ lap who are more noticeable than my dog, yet we can’t ask them to leave now can we? I wish there was a way around it, but sometimes we have to fly.
A note on excellent Pet Friendly hotels- The Drury Inn- they are excellent. Layla is allowed everywhere and there is no fee. They are mostly along the 1-75 from Michigan, down, however they are expanding. They even have free “dinner” nightly- a buffet of things like hot dogs, baked potatoes. There is also a manager’s reception every night where each guest of age gets two free drinks! If you haven’t checked it out, I suggest you do. When we travel with Layla we will only stop at Drury’s.
From Montecristo:
Great tip! Thank you Marci! If ever I am in that neck of the woods I will give them a try! As for flying free of charge on the bipeds lap – we agree … frankly that is what it should be.
From Gigi:
I hear that! #2 is especially perplexing to me. If restaurants don’t allow dogs and I can’t leave my dog in the room…I’m just, what, not supposed to eat during my vacation?
And on #4, I totally agree too. I go as far as to email with places and print out the emails so that I have proof in writing when I arrive.
From Montecristo:
Nothing to add Gigi? really? wow … I was so sure! LOL! Maybe you should ask Luna.
From Gigi:
Here’s another: people who assume everyone who has an ESA is a lying dirt bag who is just trying to game the system. Uncool, people. PTSD, Panic Disorder, etc. are super real things. ESAs exist for a reason. And just cause there are one or two system gamers out there doesn’t mean you should assume everyone is just messing about.
From Montecristo:
Oh yes Gigi!! THAT is a good one. I may write an entire post on that. Thanks for bringing that up. We know ALL too well how real Panic Disorders are. Thanks Gigi … always so much to offer our little blog.
From Pepito's mom:
The hotel policy about not letting the dog in the lobby is ridiculous! Yes, I’ve seen it before. And as you said, how are you supposed to bring your dog in and out, if they are not allowed in the lobby? Such a stupid rule, it doesn’t even make sense.
One of my biggest peeves is the “no pets allowed” on trains here in Canada. We don’t do much air travel, as a matter of fact, hubby does not fly. So our travels are limited to car and train mostly. In the summer time, using our car is fine, but should we want to travel in the winter, the train being the safest way, we do not travel as much because we can not bring Pepi with us. This really “ticks” me off! I even saw a Via Rail baggage person refuse a single mom with her 3 kids getting on the train because one of the kids had received a hamster for Christmas, and was trying to bring it on board in a 1X1 cage (if that big). Luckily for her, the ticket guy had a big heart and told the baggage guy to let them on. I found this situation to be unbelievable! I’m still thinking of writing to Via Rail about this one. I’m sure lots of people would use the train if there was a car for pet owners. Pets are allowed to travel in the cargo car on some routes, and that would be ok for a larger dog who can handle colder or warmer temperatures, but not for a small dog, hamster, cat or bird.
Another pet peeve is outdoor terraces that say pets are allowed, but that they must sit on the outside of the fence. Well, then there are “no pets allowed” is what they are telling me! Sitting on the other side of the gated off terrace is not considered part of the restaurant! Don’t advertize as a “pet friendly” restaurant.
I also wanted to go visit these gardens on the Quebec side and checked their website if pets were allowed. Well guess what, they are allowed…. in the parking lot only!!!!!!!! What? Yup, it specifically said pets are allowed in the parking, but not in the gardens. So after all the media about not leaving your pooch in the car on hot days, it’s like they are encouraging it! No, that’s NOT pet friendly, I’m sorry, do not advertize as such.
I am lucky I have a family who loves my little guy, and just love watching him when I need to go away, but not everyone has that luxury. I think business owners need to start making accommodations for pets as more and more families not only own a pet, but also travel with their “furry kid” as they are just as important as their own kids. Pets are no longer considered “just an animal”, they are an integral part of our families and it’s time the travel industry realizes this.
Bon Voyage!
From Montecristo:
Parking lot only? What the … *shakes head* … there are times i just don’t understand humans.
As for VIA … DO not get us started!! And yet thanks for bringing it up! I may have to write a post on that one day.
From Rico:
Rico needs some relief from the perfumes and heavily scented cleaners they use in hotels. Ay caramba, the smells overload my sniffer!
From Montecristo:
You and my Mama Rico!! She has really bad allergies to all synthetic scents.
From Amanda:
Great article! Our biggest pet peeves are the airline in-cabin fee and employees who don’t know their own companies’ policies.
Regarding the former, you’re right… the pet replaces a carry-on bag, and does not cause any additional inconvenience or expense… so why the fee? (On the plus side, though, I view the fee as insurance that airlines will never ban in-cabin pets — they’d miss the revenue!)
We encountered the latter — employees who don’t know their own company policies — last time we flew with Wrigley. When we checked in for our flight to the Bahamas, the ticket agent tried to tell us that dogs weren’t allowed on flights to the Bahamas — even though we have made this trip with Wrigley before on American, even though we had an import permit from the Bahamas stating that our dog had been cleared for entry, and even though American Airlines’ own website says dogs can fly into the Bahamas in-cabin.
Fortunately, having had similar problems in the past, I had printed off American Airlines’ carry-on pet policies from their website and had them with me, with the relevant sections highlighted. I had to educate this employee on her own company’s policies. Eventually, she checked us in, but not after some unnecessarily tense moments.
Regarding the mile-long lists of pet rules at hotels, I’m curious as to how other pet owners manage at hotels. How do you go out for dinner or to the theatre, etc. if you can’t leave your dog (quietly crated, of course) in your hotel room?!
From Montecristo:
Well, for the Hotel … we just do it anyway. I get placed in my pop-up play pen where I will be quiet and a Do Not Disturb sign goes on the door. Not much of a choice. As Mom studied Hotel Management, she knows that the rule is there for the hotel to protect itself if a person has a trouble dog. They are really not likely to enforce. But it is a risk. As a result we tend to rent apartments instead. WAY cheaper … and no mile long rules.
Your experience going to the Bahamas is EXACTLY what we are talking about. Travel can already be stressful. We don’t need this extra tension.
You and I MUST talk at some point – we want to go diving in the bahamas …. so I will need to pick your brain! OMG Maybe we should go together!!
From Michelle at Have Pet Will Travel:
Great article Monte!
My peeve? Why must our well behaved pets remain in their carrier in the departure lounge and on flights when human children and some adults are allowed to reek havoc around us???
I just want to yell…Home training people! It’s not just for pets!
From Montecristo:
LMAO!! Home training!! Love it … and so true.
From Amanda:
Monte, we tend to rent villas/cottages when we go to the Bahamas instead of hotels, for this same reason. Plus, it’s nice to be able to have a kitchen, porch, etc. I just wondered how people do it in hotels, since so many seem to say you can’t leave your pet alone in the room. Wrigley, unfortunately, is not as quiet as you are. He’s crate trained, so we know he’d do no damage in a hotel room, however being part terrier, he likes to alert anyone he hears that he’s guarding his territory.
We’re working on training him to use his “inside voice”, but we’re not quite there yet.
I’d be happy to share info with you about the Bahamas. I’m not a diver, but my husband is, and he’s gone diving in a number of places in the Bahamas. I’ll send you a private message on Facebook, and we can chat more about it!
From Montecristo:
I would love that – especially the paperwork needed to bring a dog into the Bahamas!! Thanks Amanda! (and just so you know we much prefer renting as well. It costs less, gives more freedom and well … we just like it better!)
From Jessica @ YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner:
Sadly, with #2, “pet friendly” has become a marketing ploy like “heart healthy” or “all natural” is. That term gets slapped on everything it possibly can but it doesn’t mean the same thing on all items. Maybe someday they will enact a standard for “pet friendly” or an extra certification for establishments that claim to be. That way if they had a “we love pets” seal or something like that, travelers would know that they meet at least certain minimum requirements.
From Montecristo:
OMG Jessica LOVE that idea!!! A job I would totally sign up for! Can you imagine being the one that checks that out? Hands them out the pass or fail? Mwahahahahahaaa….. *ahmmmm* sorry was that my outside voice?