Don't deprive your dog of the opportunity to dress up in tacky tourist outfits. Take him on holiday with you. At
the five-star Fairmont Whistler Hotel in British Columbia, cocker
spaniels, golden retrievers and even German shepherds can be seen
strutting through the hallways with their owners.
Out the hotel's back entrance, stainless steel dog bowls filled with
fresh water are set out to rehydrate tired pets returning from brisk
walks in the mountain air.
Long gone are the days when pet owners were banished to grim roadside motels with their contraband canines.
Thanks to a surge in the number of pet-friendly hotels, airlines with
pet-friendly policies and pet immigration guidelines to facilitate
international travel, more people than ever are taking their dogs
overseas with them.
“I travel with my dog everywhere," says TV's “Dog Whisperer,” Cesar Millan. "It’s the right thing to do. In Mexico, we went to the market -- dogs follow. Went to school -- dogs follow."
He adds that being able to fly with them is a chance no one should pass up.
Who to fly with
Frankfurt
International's Animal Lounge covers 3,750 square meters and combines
handling, animal coordination and veterinary services. Website Petfriendlytravel.com has an extensive round up of global airlines and their policies on pets.
Among the most pet-friendly of the pack is Virgin Atlantic, with its
Flying Paws plan that gives pets their very own reward scheme.
Sorry, no free flights though. Pets collect "paw prints," which can
be redeemed for gifts like Burberry, Prada and Gucci pet clothing.
Fancy dress delights aside, pet owners do need to pay attention to the small print when booking flights for their animals.
For instance, Air France says some pets are accepted in the aircraft cabin and in the aircraft hold. But
"dogs of the following breeds cannot be transported on any Air France
flights, including by freight: Staffordshire terrier, mastiff
(boerbull), tosa, pitbull. Ferrets and polecats can only travel by
freight. Parrots must be transported by cargo."
Singapore Airlines requires that your pet has a certificate of good health but does not allow pets to travel in the cabin of the aircraft.
Most North American airlines, however, do let small pets travel in
the cabin with you on flights -- fees can be steep, while some only
allow domestic travel -- provided you let them know at the time of
booking.
“Pets traveling in the cabin require a reservation to ensure no more
than seven pets are booked on any single flight," says American
Airlines.
Get that dog a passport
Before you fly overseas, make sure your dog has the necessary paperwork specific to your destination's immigration laws. So you've found an airline that will accommodate you and your pooch. Next comes the hard part. Red tape.
Pet immigration laws are specific to each country, but one way to cut down on some of the headaches is to create a pet passport
, which is "a collection of all identifying and required documents for entering a given country," advises Pettravel.com.
A pet passport is an essential part of the Pet Travel Scheme
("PETS"), a system that allows animals to travel into the United
Kingdom without undergoing quarantine if all the regulations are
followed.
It was originally introduced in 2001 for animals entering or
returning to the UK from other European Union countries, but has since
rolled out to other countries such as the United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand.
Pettravel.com has a full list of country-specific pet immigration rules, with an option to purchase the necessary forms online.
'Like training for a marathon'
Give your dog time to get used to its crate before you fly, say travel experts. Next step: pee control.
Though probably a little easier than flying with kids, heading out on
an epic journey with your dog isn't as simple as throwing it into a pet
carrier and taking off, says Millan.
You need to prepare them for the long journey and let them get used to their carrier.
"Don’t just put them in a crate the day before. It should be a
transition," he says. "You have to teach your dog to hold its bladder --
it's almost like training for a marathon.
"Go through the process before you fly. For example, flying from Los
Angeles to Spain is 14 hours. So I conditioned Julio and rest of my dogs
to gradually be able to wait two, four, six, eight hours."
Before you buy a pet crate, check out the International Air Transport Association's list of pet carrier requirements, which most airlines adhere to.
Finding a hotel
The uptrend in people traveling with pets isn't reserved to the
West. Dog owners in Asia are also keen to let their pets tag along on
holiday with them, though hotels are slower to adapt to the trend than
in North America or Europe.
Kasama Nontamit, Bangkok-based vice president of distribution strategy for an international insurance company, often takes her tiny Maltese Baileys with her whenever she travels. (Thai Airways allows some dogs in the cabin.)
The challenge, however, is finding accommodations that will take her.
"If we want to take Baileys with us, we definitely call the
hotel first or search on the Internet for one that allows pets," she
says. "Most of the four- and five-star hotels in Thailand don't allow
dogs, no matter how cute and tiny they are."
One of the best resources for people looking to travel overseas with their pets is Bringfido.com, which has a global database of pet-friendly hotels -- Thailand included.
Just click on the continent and the country you wish to visit. A list of cities with pet-friendly hotels will appear.
Though North America has hundreds of hotels that accept dogs, some charge extra for pets while others have size limits.
Couch surfing for pets or a luxury dog hotel?
D Pet Hotel Chelsea offers a fitness center, private chef and a suite for US$200 a night. There are of course those times when man's best friend can't tag along. Kennels are the obvious solution, but there are plenty of other options.
DogVacay.com lets people look up hosts in their area who will care for your dog in their own home. A doggy version of Airbnb or CouchSurfing.org, it costs an average of US$25-30 a day.
"For a dog lover to host on DogVacay.com they must complete an
extensive online application, which our staff of experts manually
reviews and approves," says the website.
You could always send your dog on its own luxury holiday. From
Melbourne to London, pet hotels are popping up in cities around the
world.
One pet hotel that just opened in New York's Chelsea neighborhood
aims to give dogs the same experiences a holidaying human gets. Maybe
even better.
Part of the D Pet Hotels chain
(there are already properties in pampered pooch capital Los Angeles and
Scottsdale, Arizona), your dog will sleep in a double bed, watch movies
on a flat-screen TV ("Lassie" or "Beethoven" anyone?), dine on gourmet
dog goodies, spend hours in the spa and run on a treadmill.
Tokyo's Narita Airport has its own pet hotel, Pet Inn Royal, where travelers can drop off their animals before they take off on holiday.
Mentally prepare your dog
If you do have to leave your dog behind, don't worry about separation anxiety. Cesar Millan says that with proper training your pet can handle the time apart -- even if you can't.
But it's also an issue that needs to be worked out if you're
traveling with your dog, as there will be times you want to leave it in
the hotel room without having to worry about it barking and clawing at
the door or chewing things up when you're out.
Baileys the Maltese waits to check in for her flight at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport. "Separation
anxiety is created by humans because they feel closer to the dog the
more they bond. That’s not realistic for the dog, which doesn’t
understand."
“I have to help people and show them how we create separation
anxiety. In Mexico, a dog is not allowed in the intimate space. We don’t
have a living room. Dog lives outside. Detached from humans.
"In America, a dog lives on top of the human. The human goes to work,
the dog doesn’t know how to separate from them. It’s easy to
rehabilitate, but you have to understand the concept of proximity for
training to work.
"It's not good to let your dog follow you everywhere. Tell them
when they can be near you, then tell them to go away," suggests Millan
as a method of lessening your dog's attachment to you.
Frequent traveler Kasama agrees that making sure your dog is well behaved is the key to an enjoyable holiday.
"You have to be very responsible and considerate for others as
well -- especially when in public areas or using public transportation,"
she says.
"The pets need to be trained and controllable."
