This blog is all about traveling with your pets, primarily dogs and staying at pet friendly hotels. And about traveling with my dog Cici who is a 7-1/2 year old pit bull mix (Dalmatian plus American Pit Bull Terrier).
dog travel tips
http://celiasue.com/2013/06/10/save-money-on-pet-friendly-travel/
Since pit bulls and pit bull mixes have a bad reputation in the media and society, it’s a good idea to make sure when you are traveling and that means throughout your life that your dog is a good ambassador for the breed. That way, you are part of the solution. And hopefully, soon, no more breed specific legislation will happen. No more dogs will be banned from cities. And no more pibbles will be left to die in shelters across America. Right now 5 million dogs are euthanized yearly in America. A large percentage of them are pit bulls and mixes.
Also, I just found out that dog fighting is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Some people like to fight pit bulls and make money through betting. Hopefully, dog fighting will also end soon. The more people learn about what great dogs and pets pit bulls are, the more positive press pit bulls get, the better for everyone in our society.
Here are some free tips on how to make sure that your dog is a good ambassador for the breed. Many of the free tips are obvious and good for all dog owners. But when you have a pibble, it is good to go the extra mile.
1. Clean up after your dog. Be a good neighbor.
2. Socialize and train your puppy early to have good manners around people and other pets. Go the extra mile, if you can, and get a Good Canine Citizen certificate, therapy dog or service dog training.
3. Don’t let your dog roam the neighborhood on the loose.
4. Don’t keep your dog chained up 24/7.
5. If someone criticizes you or your dog in public, don’t curse them out or start a fight. Be calm, cool and collected. Thank them and walk away.
6. When your dog has issues with other dogs or cats, keep them away from other animals.
7. Make sure your dog is not being a nuisance, barking excessively, digging in your neighbor’s yard, or other annoying habits.
8. Encourage your neighbors to get to know your dog individually. Educate them. Raise awareness whenever possible. Teach don’t preach.
9. If/when a child or other dog owner approaches and wants to pet or say hi to your dog, make sure that your dog and you are up for it. Otherwise, politely refuse. On occasion, I just say no. I am not in the mood for any trouble. Usually if they want to know why, I say am in a hurry and don’t have time or I don’t feel well. That way, we keep the peace.
10. If/when your dog manages to do something wrong, apologize and leave the scene. Some people will blame your dog no matter what you or your dog do. They will look at your dog and become afraid. And try to get others to gang up or agree with them. Best response is to skadaddle as quickly as possible. You don’t want an angry mob scene attacking you and your dog. And you don’t want someone’s fears to escalate into craziness. If someone makes a ridiculous and ignorant remark about my vicious dog, I thank them for their opinion and leave. You are never going to change some people’s minds. Ignorance is bliss.
11. Keep your dog healthy, well groomed and on leash.
12. Don’t leave your dog tied up outside stores. Some unscrupulous people will steal your dog and use them as a bait dog in a dog fighting ring. Keep your dog safe. This is difficult for me at times I cannot bring Cici inside a store and I am alone so there is no one to watch out for her. If I see someone outside, I will generally ask if they can watch her for me. Usually they will say yes. Peace of mind. If not, I hurry up and keep a watch out from inside. Cici tends to bark in these situations anyway which makes it easy for me to know that she is there. It doesn’t always make me feel comfortable though.
13. When in doubt, if you can, leave your dog home, in the pet friendly hotel room or the yard. I can trust Cici to be left alone in a pet friendly hotel room or at home for 3-4 hours. If you should have to leave your dog alone in a pet friendly hotel room, make sure that they won’t freak out, bark, whine, eat furniture, pillows and stuff while you are gone. Also, put a DO Not Disturb sign on the door to notify housekeeping not to enter the room. Better safe than sorry.
Hope this helps. Let me know if it does. Thanks.
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Have dog blog will travel 
thank you so much for talking so gratly about pitbulls ive been raised around all breeds of dogs and hav reaslised at least for me that pitbulls are trully the best companions when my daughter could barely walk shed go right up to my huge pit to pet him and hed stand there ever so calmly as to not make her fall i couldnt hav taught him that even if i tried thats just how awesome they are hes been long gone but i hav a 1 yr old kknow wich i want to go with me everywhere i go is that ok to do or is that to much to ask of him?
with all of the misspellings, it is difficult to know what you are asking. besides, I am not a pit bull dog expert, just an owner of a sweet pit bull. I don’t take cici everywhere, although I did for two years, practically everywhere. if it’s too hot, it is not good to leave dogs in a car. and dogs are not accepted everywhere.
I was hoping you would address traveling with your dog by airplane and what to do to make your dog safe. I have never traveled by airplane with my furry “girls” and certainly concerned for their wellbeing. Any tips? Love your blog 🙂
tip: if you can take pet airways, I have not traveled by plane with my dog either, sorry. But thanks, we will address this more in an upcoming post. thx for stopping by.
Currently, I am making arrangements to travel with both my small breed dogs from Australia to USA. My husband and I have hired a woman, Kay, through Allied Pickfords for this since they are experts in the area. There are many things that come into play with such a long journey, with Allied Pickfords reputation, high level of success, and care for the animals, I wouldn’t leave it to anyone else.
Below is their website. You can email them for info.
http://www.alliedpickfords.com/au-en/Pages/Home.aspx
Great, great insight on dog travel! Our newest blog post is on this same topic – particularly involving road trips with your dog. (Did you know that New Zealand has a seatbelt law for pets?)
Great comments about airplane travel with dogs. Here are a couple of things to check. make sure your pet is ok with motion travel first. Nothing like a motion sick pup on a plane. Check with your airline for their rules and guidelines, most have a section on their websites. Get an appropriate dog carrier that meets the airline rules!! You don’t want to get to the boarding area and have them tell you your bag doesn’t meet the requirements and give you 2 options – leave your pet or buy their approved bag from the shop in the concourse for at least double the price. Ted