The last week of
March, we went on a family vacation. I have taken ages to write this, because I
have mostly abandoned this blog. However, I needed to write down all that
happened. Particularly because of the following reasons
- I was
very happy with our vacation
- I
wanted to share the experience with the meager readers of this blog
- wanted
to share some do's and don’ts about traveling with a pet because that is
still a rarity in India
We made plans to go to
Goa. The reasons were many. Firstly, the
humans wanted to go there. Secondly, it is one of the most pet friendly places
in India.
The only part that
worried me was the fact that goa would be like a furnace in the end of March. But
we countered that by picking an air conditioned resort which was bang on the beach
and meant we would have nice sea breeze the whole day.
I mentioned on the pet
sitter’s forum, that a friendly dog was half the battle won while traveling. I
said this because of a few reasons. One being, that a friendly dog is welcome
almost anywhere. If I would have collected 10 bucks every time someone stopped
to pet Sage or called him cute, we could have stayed an extra night!
Let me add well
behaved to the list. We ensured right from the time Sage was a puppy, that
people didn’t pet him till he was calmly seated. So despite meeting several
strangers everyday, he knows that no matter how excited he is, he will have to
sit still till they can pet Sage. No one wants to make friends with a dog that
is over excited or aggressive. When people realise the dog is friendly and
harmless, they lighten up and allow him into places like shopping arcades too
where an ill behaved pet would hardly be welcome.
While we haven’t
taught Sage any tricks like bring and fetch, roll over or even the basic
handshake, he knows to sit and stay still when we are in public. It has held all
of us in good stead and ensured we can travel with him and not be embarrassed
or inconvenienced.
On our way back to Hyderabad, we decided to
stop over at Bijapur. This is a small town and had hardly any hotels to speak
of, leave alone a pet friendly one. We called a place, one day ahead of our
journey to get accommodation, clearly mentioning we had a dog. We were assured
we could bring the dog but Murphy’s Law was at work and when we did land up,
after a tiring hot day in the car, with a tired and hungry Sage, they suddenly
refused to give us a room. It was past 8 p.m and we had few options. After K
spoke with them (politely) and said we had only made the drive because of their
reassurance, also promising that he was a well behaved dog, they relented and
let us stay. All the while during the discussion, Sage patiently waited on the
leash with me outside the reception, but within sight of the manager. I doubt
he would have allowed us to stay if he was acting like a crazy dog.
Most highway dhabas
allow people to bring their pets. Except places like kamat and stuff. What we
do in that case is, request for the food to be carried outside and eat near the
car/ in the garden if they have one/ ask them to set up a table for us outside.
They have the right to property and only a polite request has some chance of
being obliged to. At a dhaba too, we ensure the dog is leashed and sits at our
feet, not running around mad.
The most important
thing while traveling with a pet is to know if he/ she can travel. Sage has
been car sick from the time he was a puppy. All my dreams of vacationing with him
crashed at that point. Even a trip to the vet would make him empty his intestines
on the floor or seat of my car. For a full year, on the advice of the vet, we
continued to take him around on short drives, in the city. To friends homes,
the in laws place, to the market, etc. the first thing was to make this a
routine, to make the dog comfortable with getting in and sitting in the car so
that at some point he would be ready to go a longer distance. It is much more
difficult to travel with a pet which has travel anxiety and has never sat in a
vehicle.
Pet parents wanting to
travel, try lounging with your pet in the car while it is parked for a few
days, gradually take them on really short drives, increasing time and distance
slowly. If your pet cannot adjust, it is better for everyone to leave him/ her
at home or with someone instead of ruining everyone’s holiday.
Some pointers to other
pet parents who would like to consider traveling with their pets.
Pick a pet friendly
destination / place to stay. Do your research, make enough calls, speak to the
people and tell them if your pet has special needs. It should have enough space
to exercise your pet and should not be very complicated to approach or
navigate. So no heavily decorated place, no place that is above the 5th
floor and no place that does not have a yard / garden or at least easy access
to the road outside so we can walk Sage.
Pick a mode of
transport that the pet is used to and comfortable with. We took Him by road
(hired an Innova) and gave Him the middle seat. We also broke the roughly 700
km journey into two days. Covering about 600 kms the first day and the rest on
the second. We ideally like to complete about 70-75% of the distance on day one
and do the rest on the second day after a good night's rest.
Carry enough towels
and bed sheets (to line the seats and floor of the car, incase your pet gets
sick), newspaper.
Carry food, bowls, water, glucose powder and stop every
3-4 hours for a vanilla ice-cream treat as well as loo breaks. We don’t feed Him
till we stop for the night because Him have terrible motion sickness. That has
not stopped us from doing road trips with Sage. We have figured out a way to
combat it. Firstly, we start early in the morning, lets say by 5 a.m and stop
about 5-6 pm in the evening. Him do not feel hungry till about 10 a.m which
means we would have already covered 5 hours of driving by then. We give Him an
anti vomit tablet an hour before we begin to help Sage. Stop for loo breaks,
keep Him hydrated with water and give Him glucose powder every 30 minutes or
so. Every 3-4 hours, we give Him a small cup of vanilla ice-cream. This is
sufficient nourishment for Him till we reach. After the first hour, he figures
out the routine, slump off on the seat and sleep.
The goa drive was a bit hard on him (as compared to Bangalore – Coorg last
year). He vomited a few times, mostly bile. But once cleaned up, he was fine
and good to go.
A word to pet parents, this is the stuff that works for
us. We have been doing this after speaking to our veterinarian. In fact the
glucose and ice-cream thing is based on her advice. Please check with your vet
before you travel anywhere.
Once we reach our destination for the day, we wash him with
a wet towel so he feels fresh, give him lots of water and feed him the amount he
would eat for one meal. We do not try to over feed him just because we starved him
through the day. We ensure we sleep early so the dog too can catch up on his
sleep and recover.
At the destination:
We keep him leashed till;
He gets familiar with the place (usually one day)
People / staff of the place get familiar with Sage
There are other guests and if we are in public places like
restaurants and shopping areas.
At the hotel / place we are staying at, I spread my own
double bed sheet on the bed over the hotel provided linen to prevent / minimize
damage.
While most hotels specifically mention that the pets are
not to be allowed on the furniture and beds, we all know how much dogs love to
leap onto said bed and furniture. While Sage does not sleep on the bed, he likes
to climb on for some cuddling or play time. Most hotel linen is white and its
best to carry some thick heavy duty stuff which will prevent damage and
embarrassment.
Carry emergency medication for basic stuff and be in touch
with your vet incase your pet needs anything.
I continue with his regular daily routine even when on
holiday. So while I crib about waking up before sunrise on a holiday, it keeps the
dog sane that he can still have his walk / meals / playtime as usual even
though the location and people have changed.
At meal times, check if the pet can be taken into the
restaurant and sit in an area where he/she will be comfortable. For instance,
in Goa, we sat in places which were not bang
in the middle of the restaurant, but on the side, so Sage had enough space to
sprawl on the floor and didn’t come in the way of other guests.
Politeness and smiles go a long way in opening doors to
people traveling with pets. We always called ahead at restaurants to check if
we could take the dog and kept him leashed till they said it was ok to let him off.
Carry food, water, bowls and paper towels everywhere,
preferably in a bag. So when the dog embarrassingly pooped in the sand in
middle of a beach shack, I just cleaned up and walked on. We asked for ice
cubes to cool the water for him and gave Sage his own food to prevent him from
begging at the table (failing miserably, he is a sorry little beggar)
If people stop by to make friends with / pet Sage, we
always make sure he is sitting and calm before they can do that. We also tell
them specifically where they can touch him for the first time (usually the back
or his ears) so the dog is not startled. We also repeat the key word “friend so
he knows they are friends.
Some don’ts while traveling with a pet
Do not overfeed or drug your pet with tranquilizers or
sedatives. If your pet is car sick he will repeatedly vomit if he has
undigested food in the tummy. This is just a very unpleasant experience for
everyone involved. Many people told me they give sedatives and mild tranquilizers
to their pets. I discussed this with the vet who cautioned us against doping him
(thank god!). I much prefer to talk to Sage, make him comfortable, and stroke
his body while he sleeps.
Do not force your pet onto people anywhere. Most people
are generally wary of an animal they don’t know and will be scared. This is
natural. Do not take offense.
Do not leave your pet unattended no matter how friendly
he/she is. He is one of the friendliest dogs around. Our dog loves it when
people stop to pet/ talk to him. Yet I or K constantly has an eye on Sage. We
do not allow people however friendly to lead him away from us and never ever
leave him unattended especially when there are kids around. The problem is,
they are new to Sage, and there is no telling how he may react. There could be
a tone of voice or a gesture or a sudden movement which annoys the dog. Or they
could do something to tease Sage. Or may just have a juicy piece of food on
their plate that looks appealing. It’s better to be a little cautious than have
unexpected behavior from anyone. In case there is a misbehavior, the pet always
takes the blame and that can be avoided if the human is somewhere around.
Do not feed your pet strange food or something he / she is
not used to eating. For the simple reason that Him don’t want to make them sick
and ruin your holiday.
Do not exert your pet unnecessarily. We ensured he stayed
in the air-conditioned room for the hottest part of the day and got his regular
siesta. Walks on the beach were always early morning and evening after sundown.
If we were going to a restaurant close by, we would walk; else we took the car
everywhere we thought we couldn’t walk comfortably.
The resort we stayed at in Goa
They are very pet friendly, allow the pet in the lounge
and restaurant provided it is well behaved and doesn’t bother other guests
Pet Friendly Cafes / restaurants
Coorg Pet Friendly Homestay
