Dogs on Vacation

We take our dogs on vacation with us whenever possible. They've been to Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New York State and Vermont. Our vacation planning starts with a search for dog-friendly accommodations.

This does limit our range, as you can see. Our dogs are too big to travel in an airplane cabin, and the airline's practice of stowing dogs as cargo is proven unsafe. I'm anxiously monitoring Companion Air and hoping it will begin flying non-charter flights soon. This niche airline has figured out how to allow dogs and their owners to travel together in the cabin.

Vacations are not always quite as peaceful as this photo from July 2005 indicates. Here, the dogs are truly enjoying their morning romp on a rocky Maine beach. Two days into the trip, the dogs came out on the short end of an encounter with a porcupine and required emergency veterinary care.

Once in a while, we do go out West to ski or to the Carribean. In these cases, we get a dog sitter to stay with our dogs in our home rather than boarding them and forcing them to handle both relocation and our absence. As our dog walker always says, dogs do best in their own environment. And I think that's true.