Dear Jubilee,

My husband and I like to travel with our dogs. But it is getting more and more difficult to find hotels that will accept our dogs. Why is this and what can be done about it?

Disappointed

Dear Disappointed,

We travel cross country with one or two dogs once a year. And you are right: It is more difficult to find hotels than it used to be. One thing that we always carry when we travel with dogs is the most recent Triple A guide to dog friendly hotels. There are also books about dog friendly hotels and dog friendly bed and Breakfasts.

Our regional Airedale club holds several events every year, and we have to provide lists of hotels that people can use when they bring their dogs with them to these events. Hotel managers have told us that because some dog people are very careless of hotel property, they have to restrict or ban dogs in their hotels. We work very closely with these hotel managers and with our club members to make sure that our members are good dog customers. As a result, there are several hotels that have banned dogs but which will accept our club Airedales.

Here is what we have learned that you can do to make sure that you do not become the one bad apple that ruins it for everyone:

1. Be thoughtful of others. Make sure that your dog does not bark when people need to sleep, does not relieve himself where people walk, and does not jump on people in an attempt to be friendly.
2. Take care of your room: do not let your dog chew on the woodwork or furniture, play tug of war with hotel towels, dig up the carpet, etc. In short, leave the room looking better than when you arrived. Bring a large plastic mat with you for your dog’s water and food bowls. Put a larger plastic mat under your dog’s crate to protect the carpet. Always bring a crate for use in the hotel room so your dog will have a safe and familiar place to stay while you go out for dinner. And if your dog has an accident in the hotel room, make sure you have everything you need to clean it up and leave the carpet as clean as you would like it to be when you occupy a room.
3. If your room is not clean, do not hesitate to have the hotel clean it up for you before you take occupancy. We stayed in a suite hotel last year that had a kitchenette: there were old dried up food droppings under the cabinets and caked on the floor. Our puppies thought these were great fun. We went to the manager and they had someone come and clean the floor to our satisfaction. Only then did we unpack and let our dogs in the room.
4. Bring a sheet or a blanket to cover the bed and sofas in the room so if your dog jumps on the furniture, he will not leave it dirty for the next customer.
5. Bring lots of poop bags so you can always pick up after your dog.
6. Do not let your dogs piddle where people have to walk. And if you have a male, do not let him lift his leg on the building, the shrubs and plants, or on any of the furniture in your room. (And don’t let any dog, male or female, mark their territory in your hotel room. You would be surprised at how many hotel rooms have had to be re-carpeted after a dog family departed: It is no wonder that these hotels do not want dog people back.
7. Don’t let your dogs go into any well tended gardens on the hotel grounds.

In short, always remember that restrictions come about because somebody has complained about a dog or a careless owner has let a dog damage hotel property. Unfortunately, the dogs get blamed for their owners lack of manners. So it is very important that you not give any non-dog people any reasons to complain about our dogs.

So do what you can do to educate the dog people you know. If we all treat hotel property with respect and act like good dog citizens, more hotels will be dog friendly.