Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links
This week’s collection of dog travel links is a nicely-balanced blend of adventure and caution. On the adventure side, check out youdidwhatwithyourwiener‘s what-the-hell-why-not post about buying a dog trailer and taking it and the dogs for an inaugural bike ride from Mukilteo (just north of Seattle) to Langley (on the east side of Whidbey Island). The trip sounds like a total hoot — Langley was delightfully dog-friendly, and the dog trailer was a brilliant idea, and you have to read the post. Also fun: Edie Jarolim’s nearly-annual visit to Dateland, in Yuma County, AZ, this time with Her Dog Frankie.
In related news, Dollywood too has a place for visiting dogs to stay comfortably while their owners frolic. Not too far away, The Road Unleashed posted a whole album of pictures from their recent visit to Savannah, GA, and their report on the city’s on- and off-leash parks and dog-friendly cemeteries is invaluable. RedEye posted a quick report about what sounds like a terrific dog beach in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, complete with a nearby dog-friendly beach bar (the Dock at Montrose Beach).
And that leads seamlessly (really, this post is writing itself) to a petswelcome.com post about four other dog-friendly Chicago restaurants. Seattle will likely be adding more dog-friendly restaurants to its list too, in light of a recent rule change allowing restaurants to provide sidewalk seating in front of their buildings. Sad news, though, from New York City, where the health department is now enforcing the city’s rule against dogs in bars: “The stricter enforcement is apparently bringing to an end a rich tradition of dog-friendly bars in New York.” As I said on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page, wouldn’t you think that New York’s health department has better things to do than shutting dogs out of places that only serve drinks and bar snacks? Many thanks to reader Jennie for the link.
On the caution side of the ledger, be sure to take a look at dogtipper.com‘s shopping list for an evacuation kit for your dog — inspired by Hurricane Irene, of course, but as we’ve learned from this past week’s East Coast earthquake, the natural disaster you’re expecting isn’t always the one you get. The Take Paws team has been spending a good deal of time on West Coast beaches recently, and wrote a useful post about keeping your dog safe at the beach.
And finally, Helen Asquine Fazio is planning another exotic trip with the intrepid Raja — I don’t know where, precisely, but it involves mountain trekking at altitude — and wrote an intelligent post about thinking through, in advance, the kinds of hazards your dog may encounter on a demanding trip (or even a seemingly undemanding trip — as Helen points out, “a very real danger to dogs relaxing with their people on the French Riviera this late summer is canine leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted through the bites of the phlebotomine sand flies”).