Can't wait to see the picture!
Vacationing with a B
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I'm planning on a couple of mini-trips in the next few months. Durations of 3-4 days, distances of 4+ hours from home, destinations yet to be determined. I am planning on taking doodle with us, but not 100% sure how to plan the trip.
I typically make a stop at a rest area so she can get out of the car and stretch her legs. But I'm kind of stumped on where we should (or could) go that would allow us to include her in at least part of our day.
Any ideas on dog friendly vacation activities?
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I went to Oregon in 2018. I took 2 of my basenjis with me. The motel accepted dogs, so that was fine. When I left the room, the dogs where with me. Its a 14 hour drive from California up to the northern tip of Oregon (mouth of the Columbia river). I stopped a couple of time for potty breaks. I spent a night in a motel going up.........too long of a drive for just one person. I took the dogs to the beach, we walked the main streets, went to a farmer's market. I ate in a sit down restaurant and dogs were in the car. I took out a goodie bag for them. Am going back next month, now will only have 1 dog with me as Zak has dementia pretty bad, so he will be staying home with my adult son. Where ever you go, you should check to see if there are dog friendly places to take them.
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I drove across the US in May with my puppy B and used bringfido.com to find accommodations and they have an "activities" link. I found stuff to do via hotel reviews on their site ... like nearby walking trails. It's a good app/website because they tell you upfront what the fees are associated with having a dog with you.
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We've vacationed with a Basenji for about 8/9 years now. Mostly in an RV, which makes it pretty easy. All of our Basenjis seem to love going someplace in the RV. They get excited when it shows up in the driveway, anxious while we load it (They seem to be afraid they'll get left behind), and happy once we're rolling. So, the simple answer is... get an RV! Just kidding.
Once on the road we tend to look for parks or fields near fuel and snack/lunch spots to walk the dogs. Sometimes baseball diamonds or football fields work well because they're sometimes fenced! We try to keep them off the asphalt especially in the heat (AZ, NM, NV, UT), which is most of the southwest US.
When camping, I prefer a larger primitive site to a smaller parking lot style site with full hook ups. Larger sites allow more outdoor space for a dog. Primitive sites are also almost always in the dirt, which means no asphalt. YAY! Dirty dog, but happy feet. I've used exercise pens and slide lines. I like slide lines better, but only while I'm outside to supervise. One line is strung between a couple of trees and is fairly taught. A second line is clipped to the first so that it can slide back and forth from one end to the other. The opposite end of the second line gets hooked to a martingale. Don't use a harness as they can back out of it. Same with a buckle collar. My B's all seem to get triggered by other dogs and critters, so I like to be near them in case they try to bolt while on a line. Jengo was fine on a line. Haven't tried with the new two yet but I will. I've also started brining Kuranda elevated dog beds so they can lay on that instead of the dirt. If I am forced to stay at a parking lot style site I tend to favor KOA. Some KOA's have a "K9 Camp", which is a fenced off area. Some even have agility equipment. The one in Vernal Utah had balance beam and a teeter totter. That was fun getting Logan to cross them. If you don't have an RV many KOA's have small cabins you can rent. Vernal had a GIANT teepee.
Camping with dogs is great because there's always someplace to hike with them. I could turn Jengo loose in several of our favorite spots. Always bring lots of water and a collapsible dog bowl. Also took him lake swimming and on boat rides. I preferred renting a pontoon, or party boat because they have a large flat carpeted deck. Again, happy toes! The smaller aluminum boats were a bit warmer on the feet, but not too bad. The big thing to watch out for is the aluminum dock. That gets really hot!
Food. I look for restaurants that have outdoor seating and that are dog friendly. We've taken Logan to several different restaurants. He did fine, though I always brought snacks, so that he didn't feel left out. Best place ever is the Cypress Inn in Carmel, CA once owned by Doris Day. They allowed Jengo to sit inside the restaurant, in a chair, at the table. One of my favorite dog vacation memories of all time. Carmel is insanely dog friendly too. There's a dog water bowl outside every shop and bowl of doggy cookies on every counter in town. The Beach down the street is also an off leash beach.
Which brings up beaches... We love to take the dogs to beaches! We look for off leash beaches that are set back far from any road. I'll usually unhook them and let them run while watching them closely. If I see another dog approaching I'll hook 'em up and steer clear. Jengo was hit n miss, Logan's ok, and Sparkle gets excited. The fun part is when we have a beach to ourselves. The absolute and genuine joyful happiness I see in every dog I've turned loose on a beach is unmistakable. I swear you can see them smiling. Logan lives to run.
Shopping. I'm not really a fan of taking my dogs in stores. In fact... I don't do it. I'm always afraid they're going to mark something. Jengo marked an end cap at Petco once. That was the last time I took a dog shopping, so I got nuthin' to say about that activity, or how to do it successfully.
Motels/Hotels/Inns... never had to do that, so nothing to offer. Sorry.
Bicycling... Now this is something I'd like to try. Again, gotta be careful with asphalt temp, but this could be fun. I'd like to get a bar that extends out a couple feet and keeps the dog away from the wheel. This could be useful on a vacation where there are no fields, beaches, trails, etc. The Sherpa Cycleash is the one I have my eye on.
Hope that helps a little. Let us know what you decide to do and how it goes!!!
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@jengosmonkey said in Vacationing with a B:
the simple answer is... get an RV!
... one of the smaller ones. Maybe.We live 6 miles from the ocean, so we do a lot beaches and forest hikes! I'm thinking we might do some historic tour kinds of things for our vacations. I will have to check out a few and see what their rules are regarding pups. I suppose as long as doodle gets a healthy walk in -- she should be as chill in a hotel room as she would be if we did that at home. cringe I don't want to travel and then leave her behind while we go off to do things though. (guilt!) But, I realize that we won't be able to take her everywhere. I suppose I just need to do a lot of research when we start selecting locations.
I would love to have doodle trot alongside my bike with me. I have worked with her a little bit using a 10' leash. She is very street leary and prefers to be on the sidewalk, so the long leash works. And it has the added benefit of being able to drop it if needed. I don't really like having her running along side me on our suburban streets though. I have found that she is comfortable keeping up at a trot speed, but for me it seems really, really slow. I'm used to riding my bike at a faster speed. And I don't want to force her to run fast while she is on a restraint, I would be more comfortable with her running off leash so she can stop if she needs to. Let's just say that we haven't perfected what works for us. Yet.
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@elbrant said in Vacationing with a B:
I have worked with her a little bit using a 10' leash.
This can be dangerous if she decides to go around the bike. I always used a 6 foot and snugged my dog in tight so he didn't get ideas about going around the front of the bike.
"In order to get along with a Basenji, you have to be at least half as smart as the dog!"
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@eeeefarm said in Vacationing with a B:
This can be dangerous if she decides to go around the bike
Yes, we addressed that. Doodle prefers to keep her distance from the bike. I am far more concerned about speed. She's fast, but I am not into riding 5mph and I don't think it's a good idea to ask her to run extended periods at 15mph. Cycling just might be a solo activity. I'm still holding out hope that she'll enjoy jogging with me.
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We just returned a couple days ago from a 3 week cross- country trip with our two (2.5 y/o and 7 months) puppers. It was Zulu’s first big trip and he did well. We’d stop about every 3-4 hours for potty and stretches. We camp in a truck camper so there were lots of activities. (One adventure we didn’t care for was when he discovered that mountain cattle poop was tasty ugh). They were really interested in the marmots and didn’t know what to think of them since they were almost the same size. They were very wary, not sure if they were a big squirrel or what lol!
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@chenke Colorado? Love the pic. Thanks for feeding my soul a snack!
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@chenke said in Vacationing with a B:
when he discovered that mountain cattle poop was tasty
At least he didn't roll in it ?
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@jengosmonkey
Wyoming, but close! -
@zande we caught him before he did but he was sure ready to ugh!
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So I took my 5-month-old pup with me on a road trip from south Florida to North Carolina. it was 11 hours and I was prepared for the worst..... I was not looking forward to the trip in the car.
But the ride couldn't be easier, every time I stopped for gas she went pee and poop. For the rest of the trip, she was either sleeping or sitting in the seat, She wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was the same on the drive back. My nephew, on the other hand, was an absolute terror. If I would do that ride again, I would have put my nephew in the kennel and my puppy in the front seat with me.
Your mileage may vary of course from dog to dog.
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@chenke
“ My nephew, on the other hand, was an absolute terror. If I would do that ride again, I would have put my nephew in the kennel and my puppy in the front seat with me.”
Sometimes the dogs are more behaved than the children! -
@kembe said in Vacationing with a B:
Sometimes the dogs are more behaved than the children!
Only sometimes ?
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@zande
You’re RIGHT Sally - as a retired school teacher I should KNOW that! -
I did my first trip with my dog this past May. We went to the beach for a few days. It rained most of the time there, but oddly enough his curiosity outweighed his fear of getting wet. We stayed in a BnB. I would definitely recommend taking something familiar along wherever you stay to make the adjustment a little easier or if you need to leave them alone for a little bit.
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A campsite would be good for them to roam around. When we take on vacation, I also make sure to visit any local pet cafe so they could eat food we usually don't cook.
