How To Have A Stress-Free Vacation With Your Dog

There’s nothing like vacationing with your dog!

Two years ago, Charlotte, Tricky, and Marvel joined my now husband and me on our vacation to Vermont. All five of us experienced a whole other level of recreation and relaxation. We chose a dog-friendly hotel on North Hero Island called Shore Acres for the first two-thirds of our trip and then stayed at The Hilton in Burlington for the last third of our trip. Because I am a dog trainer, my focus in this blog will be on dog behavior and the things we did to support all of us having a great trip

Hotel etiquette

My dogs love the hotel experience because they have been raised as travelers and have had many great travel experiences. We stay in hotels several times per year because I compete and train in the dog performance sport, agility. Each hotel is a new adventure for them.

The first thing I do before I let the dogs out of the car is to carefully inspect the room for any ‘minefields’ (pills, food, socks, etc.) that previous travelers may have left behind and housekeeping has missed. After pottying my dogs, I let them loose in the room to investigate all of the new smells of the room—truly an adventure for the nose! After a frenzy of sniffing for several minutes, my dogs find comfortable spots in the room to supervise the humans unpacking and settling in.

The comfort of a familiar crate

Dogs that are comfortable in crates are at an advantage when traveling. In fact, most hotels require that when you leave the room, the dogs are crated. My 12-year-old girl, Charlotte, no longer has that skill. I made sure to hold on to it for my two terriers, Tricky and Marvel. A familiar crate in a new setting gives the dog a home base. A crate is also the safest way to leave your dogs alone in a hotel or other situation where strangers (such as housekeeping) can enter the room and perhaps leave the door open. When my husband and I were getting ready to leave the room, the terriers immediately ran to their individual crates in anticipation of receiving their stuffed Kongs. My dogs associate me getting ready to go out, especially when wearing a dress and heels, as Kong time in the crate for them! Because we have established this routine at home, it is automatic for them in hotel rooms. Routine and predictability allow dogs to feel more secure, even when in a new space.

Exercise and exploration

They also received a TON of exercise. Not only because we were on vacation and that was part of the plan, but because tired dogs meant they were more likely to be ready for a good snooze instead of barking and disturbing the other human guests. We enjoyed hours of fetching in the field, swimming in Lake Champlain, running and chasing, sunbathing, lounging under trees, and watching sunsets with a glass of wine in hand (that was for the humans only!).

Alone time for everyone

And because we were spending so much time together, we also made sure the dogs spent some time alone. Something that can be very challenging for dogs is having their people around 24/7 and then suddenly, when the vacation is over their humans have to go back to work. This could make the dogs anxious about being alone. Charlotte and Tricky can be this way so I keep this in mind when I spend a lot of time with them. The dogs stayed in the room while my husband and I had dinner dates, went kayaking, and explored Burlington. Upon returning home, I had a few days before I returned to work so I made sure to step out of the house for brief periods of time to recondition them to be separate from me.

And most importantly, we took lots of fun pictures!