A get rid of the winter blahs getaway-vacation for people and dogs

by Jamie Rhein on

For anyone who loves to travel with a dog companion, here’s a weekend getaway with pooch and you in mind. Camp Dogwood is offering everything to get your dog in top form after the holidays during Winter Camp, January 16-18, 2009.

To get rid of stiffness and stress, there’s the dog massage. If you dog is having “issues,” perhaps trying to tell you something and you don’t know what, there’s a session in animal communication. What about a tune-up in the trick department? Or maybe your dog is game for learning a new trick, or to do a bit more of what you want instead of doing whatever on the walks in your neighborhood. A brush up on obedience training may make both of your lives more swell.

Recognizing that a happy person can help make for a happy dog, there are people geared activities a well, such as wine-tasting, photography and arts and crafts.

The camp, located in Illinois not far from Chicago, offers cabins, shared lodging and private rooms. The Comfort Inn also has rooms available. In case you can’t swing the winter session, there is a spring session May 22-25.

Raoul’s travel adventures: The world through a pug’s eyes

by Jamie Rhein on

Raoul, the traveling pug may have a future as a dog travel consultant. “I love to travel, enjoy napping on anything wool or with down feathers, and I adore brussel sprouts!” he writes in his profile that also highlights his interests and favorite books.

This dog’s blog “Raoul’s Travels” is utterly charming and a breezy read, chock full of pictures with captions that highlight Raoul’s world travels. Just this week, he visited Zurich where the pig’s ears were every dog’s dreams. Raoul has lived in Geneva for the past three years.

Travel from Raoul’s life is the pace we might all enjoy. Visits with friends in parks, taking delight in the simple things–like a hole, or that great nap in a seat to ourselves. Then there are those dogs (or people) that make our heart skip a beat with a casual chat on a sidewalk. Raoul’s heart pitapat came from meeting up with a poodle who he describes as “foxy.”

As for the people Raoul travels with, I’d say they’ve discovered an excellent way to reduce stress during their own adventures, much better than taking a fake baby around. [Thanks to Darren Cronian who posted a link to Raoul’s blog on Twitter.]

Bring your dog to the first annual Wine and Bitch weekend at The Resort at Paws Up

by Meg Massie on

With the economy in the crapper, hotels are really struggling for your business. Some of them are getting creative with their special offers, like the Wine and Bitch weekend at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana.

For the weekend of November 14-16, you and your dog are invited to this special getaway. Your stay will include three gourmet meals each day, wine tastings from Mutt Lynch Winery, and luxury accommodations. For the dogs, there’s a canine fashion show, dog parade, and lots of handmade treats. You can also attend doggie seminars on training and wellness.

$1,392 pays for three days and two nights for two humans and one pup at Paws Up. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the resort offers spa treatments, horseback rides, wilderness adventures, and some of America’s best fly fishing.

It’s gimmicky, sure, but it actually sounds like a nice vacation. So often traveling means putting pets up in kennels and suffering through a guilt trip when you return home. It’s nice to have the opportunity to pamper yourself without leaving your best friends behind.

Statistics for pets lost, injured or dead while in an airline’s care

by Jamie Rhein on

I’ve never put an animal in an airline’s care before, but I have friends who have. Friends of ours shipped their dogs to and from Singapore. One person took a parrot and another shipped two cats. All went well in these instances.

The situation where the dog was lost by United Airlines this past week is not common, I would guess, otherwise it wouldn’t have made it to the national news. Grant gave a Gadling heads up, and this article on ABCNews this past Monday outlines more specifics about the unfortunate situation when Jeddah, the beloved dog of John and Ronia Weisner went missing at Dulles International Airport after only an hour in the airline’s care.

If you are wondering what the statistics are for problems when shipping pets, and the airlines involved with the mishaps, check out this PDF file to Air Travel and Consumer Report published by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings: Aviation Consumer Protection Division.

May 2008 was just posted this month. On page 38, you’ll find the recent stats for pet troubles. Here’s the summary:

No animals were lost in May.

Two were injured. (Alaska-1; Skywest-1)

Four died. (Continnental- 3; United-1)

The chart doesn’t list the specifics of the incidents, but you can click on the airline name in the chart in order to get the report summaries.

In the Weisner’s case, I can’t imagine what it must be like to have such a significant change already in ones life such as a move to Saudi Arabia for a year only to have it start out with a missing dog.

Traveling doggy style!

by Abha Malpani on


It seems like more and more pet-owners want their dogs to match their lifestyle, not only at home, but also when they travel. Hence the recent popularity for doggy dining restaurants, and special welcome packs for dogs on check-in at hotels is no longer uncommon.

Dog food companies are taking advantage of the growing ‘in-separation’ between owners and their dogs and producing doggy latte drinks, doggy beer, and doggy donuts — how awesome is that!

In Spain every other person has a dog, but I haven’t really noticed the kick-off of dog beauty salons or clothes/accessories shops here in Madrid, let alone doggy dining. But, every 14th of January, on the day of Saint Anton (Saint of Animals), Spaniards get to take their pets to church. On this day, you will see queues of people waiting for their dogs and ducks to be blessed.

So, pets are going to restaurants, hotels and churches — do you think they’ll ever be able to fly with us rather than with our baggage?

[Via MSNBC]

Photo: Gavin Ashworth, MSNBC