Dogs Abroad: The Most Dog-Friendly Countries


I adopted my first dog as an adult last July. In January, I happened upon a stray dog and took him in, too. Now I have two dogs. It was only a year ago that I was without a dog and, in regard to traveling, without a worry. I now see that I took for granted my ability to hop on a plane to anywhere in the world and leave, for as long as I wanted to, prior to having dogs. Destinations still aren’t off limits for me – I can still go wherever I want to go – but my dogs can’t go everywhere with me and certain restrictions make it not worth trying in some cases. So where can we travel with dogs? What are the most dog-friendly countries?

The dog-friendly countries I have seen listed with the most frequency are below. If you have any you’d like to add to the list, please tell us about the country and respective rules in the comments.Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
France
Puerto Rico
Morocco

Missing your pet when you travel? Just borrow one

I love my two cats and I miss them dearly them when I travel for extended periods of time. Though there are more and more options for traveling with a pet, I’m still not about to bring them with me. It’s just too expensive, too much of a hassle, and too much stress on the pet to fly them with me for a two-week jaunt. So they stay home and I snuggle-attack any furry friends I happen to make along my travels.

For dog lovers, there’s another option available. As Peter Greenberg showcases in a video posted on his site, several hotels around the country are now offering special pet “rental” programs. At select Fairmont hotels, guests can borrow a dog for a day to take it out on a walk around town.

At the Fairmont Tremblant in Quebec, Gracie the canine ambassador is available for walks. At the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Catie the former guide-dog fills the role. Other hotels offer similar programs, like the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek. Greenberg also highlights a program run by a shelter near Aspen. The shelter “rents” out dogs up for adoption for play dates. Many local hotels like the St. Regis and The Little Nell even allow the dogs to stay overnight. Of course, as Greenberg points out, the hope is that the temporary owner will then become a permanent one.

So next time you are traveling and missing your pets at home, you may not be out of luck. Just look for a hotel that offers one of these innovative pet-lover-friendly programs.

[via Peter Greenberg]

Motion Sickness Travel Pills for Dogs

If your dog is prone to getting car sick, there is a FDA approved pill that can help. Cerenia was approved in February as the first ever medication that can prevent a dog’s vomiting from motion sickness. According to Pfizer, the company that makes the drug 1.2 million dogs suffer from car sickness a year. As one of the vets pointed out in this article, dogs don’t throw up in a bag either.

We just took our dog to Cleveland, Ohio for the weekend. This is only a two hour drive on a fairly straight interstate, but according to the FDA Web site, five minutes is enough for some dogs to start feeling punky. If you have a dog that’s prone to getting sick when you travel, this might be a solution. You do need to get a veterinarian’s prescription.