We travel with our dogs whenever we can. Zoe and Punkin have seen more of the United States than most humans I know. Sometimes when we venture out on the town, we have to leave them in the hotel. We make it so comfortable for them, that sometimes they don’t even seem to notice that we are gone. Here are a few pet travel tips on how to keep your dogs happy and quiet when leaving them in hotels. All it takes is a few minutes to prepare your pet friendly hotel room and they should be ready to go!
Always ready for adventure!
1) When you check into your room make sure to bring your luggage, Â your pets food, and their bedding in immediately. The smell is comforting and the dogs will feel a little more at home in the hotel knowing that there are things in the room that smell familiar.
2) Once the dogs are settled in, we make it a point to leave the room. We take a short stroll around the hotel and come back into the room 15 – 20 minutes later. Â This keeps the dogs from having separation anxiety because they know we are not abandoning them. It also let’s us know if they are going to bark or not when we leave for a longer period of time.
Punkin is always happy in the room
3) I immediately shut the toilet. My dogs never drink out of the toilet at home, but for some reason, hotel toilet water seems to be a delicacy.
4) Pick up all of the garbage cans and put them on counter tops out of reach. I cannot tell you how many times we have returned to our room to find torn up tissue rolls and bits of soap wrapper everywhere. They never do this at home either. Traveling causes some stress for pets so they tend to act up. Zoe also likes to snack on hotel soaps. We have found this out the hard way, several times
5) I always lay out Zoe’s blanket and pillows in a chair or a corner of the room for her. This let’s her know to stay out of the bed. I also put their favorite stuffed turtle in the room so they can snuggle him and feel safe. Dogs are den animals, and having a space of their own is very important to keep them un-stressed.
Zoe always likes to make a bed out of all her blankets
6) I leave the TV or radio on when we go out. The noise seems to lull the dogs to sleep. If they should bark at something, hopefully the sound will also block out the barking. It also does a good job of filtering out noise coming from the hallway.
7) Make sure to leave your pets with a sufficient amount of water for the amount of time you are gone. Remember that stress causes dogs to pant and panting makes them extra thirsty.
Zoe loves to sleep in recliners too!
8) If you are leaving your pets alone for more than a few hours, take them for a nice long stroll before you go. This gives them some quality time with you and also ensures nap time for them while you are gone.
9) Give lots of love and lots of treats before leaving. Leave toys and chew sticks or bones so they have something constructive to occupy their time. Bored pets will find something to chew. Make sure that it is a toy!
Punkin sleeping soundly because he’s so comfortable!
10) ALWAYS PUT UP THE DO NOT DISTURB SIGN! You don’t want an angry room attendant making a phone call and dragging you back to the hotel away from your fun, or worse, the hotel asking you to vacate your room.
These easy pet travel tips will ensure that you and your pet have a happy, stress-free journey. Ramble on!
Feel free to share your tips an ideas below!
