Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Lists…Day Two Hundred, Eighty Nine

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As you may know, I am currently participating in the 31 Days To Building A Better Blog challenge over at BlogPaws.  By default you will be discovering and learning the same ideas and techniques as I am.  This particular challenge is designed to do two posts per week for 15 1/2 weeks as opposed to doing one task a day for 31 days.  We are only into our second challenge so it’s not too late for you to head on over. 😉

Our second challenge is to create a list on your blog.  I do at times use lists, I have for the ABC’s of a Dog-a-holic, as well as my Seven Links challenge. My Follow-up Friday posts are also in the basic shape of a list.

Pets are in and it was only a matter of time before the tourism industry decided to cash in on it.  Nowadays many rentals houses as well as hotels are pet friendly.  There are also some restaurants that are pet friendly as well.  So without further procrastination, here is my list touting the benefits of taking your dogs with you on vacation.

1)  Cost Effective – Generally speaking you would be driving instead of flying, so you are saving money on airfare.  Also think of the money you are saving by not paying someone to come to your house to feed and walk your pet, never mind the cost of placing your pet in a kennel.

2)  Exercise –  I don’t know about you, but having to walk my dog is a good excuse to get me up and moving, besides isn’t it great to have a pal to walk on the beach with?

3)  Companionship – You always have someone to do something with, whether it be fishing

Or bird watching (in Delilah’s case that would be bird chasing)

4) Conversation starter – I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met simply because they stopped to comment on what a beautiful dog I have.  Really is there anything cuter than a dog on a golf cart?


5) Separation anxiety – I hate being away from my dogs and I know they don’t like me being away either, if they come with us no-one misses anyone; and Delilah doesn’t destroy the house while we’re gone.

6) Quality care – Let’s face it no-one takes better care of my dog than me (at least in my mind)  when my dogs are with me, I don’t worry about them because I know they are safe and well taken care of.

If you’ve never experienced the joy of having your pet with you on vacation; I urge you to consider it, it may take a little more planning on your part, but the benefits to both you and your pet are well worth it.

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Comments

  2. I’m so nervous to go to FL in Nov b/c of how Foxy is not going to be with me! Poor Lynn is gonna have to deal w/me talking about her every few mins!

    • Meesh, we are going to Cali in November and I can’t take them and I am freaking out already. Luckily for Foxy she has your parents which should help.

      S & D will have someone staying at the house and Sara has agreed to pick them up on her way into daycare and let them tag along.

      I will be a wreck.

  3. Great list post.

    And we’ve had great experiences renting houses at the beach with our dogs. Showing that well-behaved dogs should be welcomed anywhere is valuable in itself.

    Gee, I guess that would make Samson and Delilah canine ambassadors.

  4. Nice post! I’ve been on holiday with my humans a couple of times. Here in England its generally OK for dogs to come along to rented cottages as long as we don’t jump on to the furniture.

  7. OMG–I’m so happy to read these comments and realize I’m not the only one who stresses months in advance over any vacation that is dog-free! I’d much rather drive somewhere with the pups than fly away without them–those are the real vacations that allow me to relax, rather than worrying and feeling guilty about my little sweeties home with someone else taking care of them.

    Plus, I just adore watching a dog’s head looming way out the car window, ears flapping in the breeze!

  8. I’m with you on that one. Last year we had to fly to St. Louis to for our daughter’s graduation from boot camp. I cried when I said good bye to the pups and missed them so much!

    Yes, having them with you makes it all worth the while!

  9. Hi Jodi!

    This list is perfect for me, as I’ve been contemplating taking Clancy on vacation with me next year. I think your list convinced me to give it a shot! And about the dog on the golf cart, I have to say no, there isn’t anything cuter! 😀

    • Thanks for the comment Julie, I think you will love having Clancy with you! You will have a much better vacation knowing he is well taken care of. 😉

  12. That last picture is just too cute! We always vacation with our pets, (or at times vacation because we are doing something with our pets). Only poor Nestle gets left behind at times, (and she does NOT like to be boarded). Part of the reason we bought out little cabin in the woods was to have a retreat to go with our pets. Made more sense to us than taking a big fancy vacation each year without our pals.

  14. Over summer I went on two trips with Leila: San Diego (Dog Beach) and an RV trip to the Grand Canyon. I must say she was much better than I expected for traveling with a 5-6 month old puppy. Not only was she having fun but we were doing things and having fun with each other. It was wonderful to sit at Dog Beach while she ran around playing and we could just relax together. On both of these trips we definitely had some bonding time spending every minute of the week together.

    • I imagine traveling with a puppy would be awfully fun! I have fun with S & D but puppies, well everything is just so new to them.

      I love the unfettered joy as they play. Enjoy her while she is still small, they grow too fast.

  15. Hi Jodi,

    That is a great list and a nice post. It’s making Mom look at me funny though, cause she and Dad have to take separate vacations since one of them has to stay home with me.

    I’ve become a little high maintenance in the last year or so and won’t let anyone but them change my pants, and I can’t leave my bathroom without ’em, so it’s either lock me in the bathroom the whole time they’re gone and have someone come in and feed me (not really acceptable for more than a day or two at the most), and just have one of them stay home with me! (My preferred plan.)

    Mom swears that if I ever go to the RB (which isn’t at all a certainty at this point, since I’m 17 and going strong, thank you), they’re either getting a dog, or a cat who LOVES THE CAR.

    Whatever.

    =^..^=
    Cokie the Cat
    http://www.cokiethecat.com

    • I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well Cokie; I can certainly understand why you would only want Mom or Dad to take care of you and why Mom would not trust your care to anyone else!

  17. It’s totally true. I hate traveling without them but don’t like the idea of placing them in cargo just to go on vacation, which is why most of my vacations are within driving distance. 😉

  18. Great post and so true. We have to kennel Arie or get someone to watch her most of the time when we go on vacation because many places don’t allow German Shepherd Dogs (Rude) as she is considered an “agressive” breed (more rude). Still, when we take her to my see my family, it’s always a treat, for many of the reasons you have listed here. Great post!

    • That’s terrible that you cannot bring her with you. I wish people would judge by the dog not by the breed!

      I’m glad she can travel with you to your family. Have you looked into renting houses? Perhaps they would be more lenient than a hotel.