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Photo Friday: Chloe at the letterpress studio

Today’s photo is of Chloe in her Creature Leisure Carry Den XT, resting on the composing stone in the letterpress studio at Seattle’s Pratt Fine Arts Center. I’d like to have a press of my own someday, but before then we’ll have to insulate the garage, and while we’re insulating it, heck, why don’t we just rebuild the thing, and you know how that goes. Happily, Pratt has a couple of lovely old C&P platen presses (named Petunia and Franklin), and I like working and TA-ing there. My husband and I (together, we’re the Grundoon Press) have a few things for sale on Etsy, if you’d like to check them out.

Doesn't she look wary? The noise of the press soon put her to sleep.

This is the first time I took Chloe to the studio with me, and it made the day extra pleasant to look over from time to time and see her snoozing (the debris on letterpress studio floors includes lead particles, so it was safer for her to be off the ground and tethered to her carrier).

You know I’d love to see how you and your pup spent your time together this week — please post your photos on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page so we can all see them!

Hotels, airports, airplanes: Teaching Chloe to use pee pads

When Chloe arrived in our home, we skipped the pee pad part of house-training. We have a (very small) side yard, so when the moment seemed right (and yes, often just after the right moment), we’d whisk her outside. I never regretted that approach until the day we were flying from Seattle to Florida with Chloe and didn’t have a sufficiently long layover to go out to the airport’s pet relief area. Taking my own advice, I blanketed the floor of the big bathroom stall with pee pads, let Chloe out of her carrier, and urged her to proceed. She looked at me like I had three heads, and sat down.

Happily, she managed to hold out for five more hours, but the experience taught me that even the most sweet-natured dog won’t know what to do with a pee pad if she’s never seen one before. There are times, though — like that one — when a pee pad is the answer to all your problems. On a very long flight, too, you can put a couple of pee pads on the floor of your airplane’s bathroom, and give your dog a needed break. And if you’re staying at a hotel in an intensely urban environment, you might well prefer for your dog’s last, late-night bathroom break to happen indoors — no need to change back out of your jammies to take the pup for a walk, no long schlep down to the ground floor, no need to keep your city radar up while you’re waiting for your pup to choose the patch of sidewalk that really speaks to her.

We turned to Ahimsa Dog Training, the same Seattle group that gave Chloe her first obedience lessons and taught us how to teach her to use Poochie Bells. Here’s what they told us: Put a pee pad down in the outside spot she most favors, stand next to it, shorten her leash until she’s restricted to peeing either on the pad or darned near it, and shower her with treats and praise when she does the deed. The goal, of course, is to get her to pee on the pad every time she sees it (extra credit if she poops on the pad). Then you gradually move the pad nearer and nearer the door. Then you move the pad into a bathroom. The hope is that she will form a strong association between the pad and eliminating, such that she will pee or poop indoors only if the pad is present, and only on the pad.

We started the process about a month before leaving for Paris, which I’ll tell you right now is not enough time. By the time we left, Chloe was beginning to pee consistently on or next to the pee pad placed in her preferred outdoor spot, but heaven help us if we moved the pee pad nearer the house at all (and the one time I just, heck, put a pee pad down in one of our bathrooms, she gave me The Look and sat down). Now, between you and me, Chloe’s not one of those quick learners when it comes to house-training. Your dog will likely catch on much faster. But give yourself some time, and be patient with your pup. You really don’t want her to associate the pee pad with shrieking, leash yanking, or other indicia of Crazed Owner Frustration.

I let the process slide a bit after we returned from Paris (and thanks to Chloe’s bladder control and Dulles’ air-side pet relief area, that trip went well), but I’m going to start again. I look forward to the day when I can add pee pads (and a pee pad frame, for hotel room use — the frame keeps the pee pads from bunching up or slipping) to Chloe’s packing list.

Amazon link:
Iris XL Floor Protection Tray for Pet Training Pads

USPS says no pet dogs in the post office

I completely missed Photo Friday yesterday, and thought for a moment or two of cheating and calling this “Snapshot Saturday,” but decided I really couldn’t do that to you.

I was sorry to see this sign today (and at the post office in dog-friendly Friday Harbor, of all places). We’ve carried Chloe into the post office there in the past, but it turns out that pet dogs, and other non-service animals, just aren’t allowed in U.S. post offices, per PO-209, part 13-7. Alas.

SCOTTeVEST Travel Vest: Carrying all the stuff you can’t get to in the overhead bin

A long time ago, I told you about my love for the Filson Travel Vest, and how it improves flying with an in-cabin dog. You stow all the gear you’re likely to need during flight in its vast pockets, and you’ll never miss your purse or backpack, out of reach in the overhead compartment. Normally, of course, you’d put your bag with that essential gear under your seat — but your dog is there, so you can’t. Or perhaps you’d follow my original advice, and pile it on your seat before you stow your dog — but I soon learned that that’s awkward, and makes it horribly likely that you’ll lose something on the cabin floor or in your seat pocket.

A travel vest solves the problem neatly, and I thought the Filson Travel Vest was just about perfect until my water bottle fell out of one of its big side pockets and disappeared off the face of the Earth. I looked around for alternatives, and found the SCOTTeVEST Travel Vest for Men (there’s one for women as well, but I’m too long-waisted for a lot of ladies’ styles)[4/12/11 I took a chance and ordered the women’s vest — the one I tried first is, after all, my husbands’s — and it fits just fine. Go figure!]. Here’s a picture of me wearing it the morning we left Paris, each of its 22 pockets in use:

I look bulky, but I have reason to: Distributed around my torso are an iPad, an iPhone, another cell phone, the charger for the second phone, a camera, a water bottle, our travel documents, earphones, a bag of dog treats, two small rolls of dog food, a collapsible dog water bowl, Chloe’s leash, three energy bars, my Moleskine journal, a pen, my husband’s sunglasses, Chapstick, hand lotion, nail clippers and file, a bottle of Ambien tablets, an inflatable neck pillow, a padded eye shade, keys and my wallet.

Here’s what I like about the SCOTTeVEST travel vest: All of the pockets can be closed, or close themselves with magnets, so my water bottle stayed where it was supposed to (it was also secured with a built-in elastic band, so it wasn’t going anywhere). It comes in black, and it looks stylish (I like to think that I look like Lara Croft in my Filson vest, but we all know that I don’t). If I were traveling without Chloe, I’d rave about the pocket choices — they’re all perfectly designed for the objects SCOTTeVEST envisions for them, which leads me to…

The things I don’t like about the SCOTTeVEST travel vest: The pockets are perfect for the items you’re meant to carry in them, but there are no big pockets for large miscellaneous items like Chloe’s leash, my wallet or my inflatable travel pillow (I carried them, sure, but in the big back pocket, which was awkward). The iPad pocket would be perfect, except that I was carrying my iPad. The big back pocket is huge, but it’s also between you and your seat, so putting anything lumpier than travel documents in it is a mistake (and retrieving travel documents from it is a pain). I’d love it if SCOTTeVEST made the existing pocket just above the iPad pocket deeper, so you could stow big items in there even if you’re carrying your iPad. Another gripe? Some of the pockets feature internal sub-pockets, which I didn’t understand and which irritated me.

So what’s the verdict? I’ll keep both vests. I’ll use the Filson travel vest for shorter flights, where I don’t plan to use my iPad for entertainment — but I’ll be sewing some Velcro strips along the edges of the two big side pockets, so I won’t lose any more water bottles. The SCOTTeVEST travel vest does an admirable job of protecting the heaps of small electronics you carry with you on long trips, so I’ll use it for those, and live with its drawbacks.

Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links

This week’s collection of dog travel links begins with a post from petswelcome.com describing favorite dog-friendly restaurants in Charlotte (North Carolina), San Francisco, New York City, and Austin (Texas).

Thinking of winter getaways? Fido’s City Guide has suggestions for a cozy visit to the Oregon coast, staying at Canon Beach and shopping in Seaside, and A Brooklyn Dog’s Life visited the dog-friendly Emerson Resort & Spa in the Hudson Valley, about three hours from NYC. If you’re looking for warm, darn it, not “cozy,” check out Sedona, Arizona’s El Portal Hotel — you have to love a place that makes an effort to publicize its dog-friendly features, and doesn’t charge a pet fee.

Speaking of hotels, Dog Eared posted a charming story — with heaps of pictures — about a night poodles Mollie Jo and Bobo spent at a local dog-friendly hotel during a serious winter storm.

I’ll leave you with another post from Fido’s City Guide about the Lexi Dog Boutique and Social Club in Portland, Oregon — who knew that there were places like this? Services include “Assisted Swim,” where your dog is in the pool with a therapist (the article describes a swim lesson), and “Self Swim,” where you and your dog may swim recreationally together. If I lived in Portland, I’d be there in a shot — Chloe’s swum once, with no pleasure at all, but I’d like for her to be comfortable in the water.

Photo Friday: Winner of the Holiday Hop for Pets Christmas stocking!

Back on November 17, I announced that Dog Jaunt’s giveaway in the Holiday Hop for Pets giveaway would be a dog-themed Christmas stocking, made from a pattern by Judith Swartz in her book Dogs in Knits. To get a chance to win, you had to “like” Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page and let me know what dog’s name you wanted to have stitched around the top band of the stocking. Forty-three of you responded, and told me your pups’ names — which enchanted me — and today we chose the winner randomly, using a modified version of The Otto Method.

I’ve explained the selection process, with a picture, below, but I want to tell you right away that the winner is Paige, who has four names to choose from: Simon, Sadie, Gracie and Maggie (aka. the RAT). Congratulations, Paige!! Please let me know which name you choose, and your mailing address, as soon as possible — feel free to send me an e-mail (my address is at the bottom of Dog Jaunt’s “About” page). I’ll send you your stocking within a day, or at most two, of receiving your pup’s name.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway — it was such a delight to see your entries and learn your dogs’ names. I loved the pictures you sent, and I love knowing you’re out there when I post something on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page. I hope you’ll stick around, even now that the giveaway is over — and if the Holiday Hop for Pets happens again in 2011, I’ll join it and knit you another stocking. Happy Holidays to you all, from the entire Dog Jaunt menagerie!

Otto, partway through the random selection process

You’ve seen The Otto Method in action before, but this time we didn’t make a sheet for each entrant. Instead, we numbered sheets of paper from “0” to “10,” laid them out randomly and upside-down in our foyer, and waited for Otto to flop over on one. We rousted Otto back onto his feet, wrote the number down, reshuffled, and waited for Otto’s next flop — and then we did it all again. We took those three numbers, put a decimal point in front, multiplied them by the number of entries, truncated the decimal part, and added “1” (since the numbers started at “0”). I’ll admit that I don’t fully understand this particular Otto Method, but my husband does, and he assures me it’s darned random.

Dog jaunt: A walk along Paris’s Promenade Plantée

Before New York’s High Line, there was Paris’s Promenade Plantée (also known as the “Coulée Verte”). This elevated park, built on an abandoned railway viaduct, runs from just behind the Place de la Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes, nearly 3 miles away. The main thing to notice is that it’s elevated, so there’s no street traffic to dodge, or even think about — and the views, down streets and into the courtyards of neighboring buildings, are unusual and interesting. The promenade is narrow — really just a wide, paved path lined with plants and arbors and benches — and like its NYC counterpart, it runs between, and sometimes through, buildings in its path. It’s a beautiful, calm breathing space in the middle of a very busy city, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Walter and Chloe, at a distance

We found a set of stairs up to the promenade at the corner of the Avenue Daumesnil and the Avenue Ledru-Rollin, but that put us above the Viaduc des Arts (a series of arcades that have been filled in with workshops and ateliers) — and according to the official site for the Promenade Plantée, leashed dogs are allowed on the promenade except above the Viaduc des Arts (“Les chiens sont autorisés tenus en laisse, sauf au-dessus du Viaduc des Arts”).

Now that I’m doing the research for this post, I know that the Viaduc des Arts continues for several blocks (you can’t tell where it is when you’re above it), and now I understand all the no-dogs signs we saw during the first part of our walk. Next time, we will find a way up to the promenade at the corner of the Avenue Daumesnil and the Rue de Rambouillet, and we’ll head southeast from there.

Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links

Hey, I’m not late! It’s still the weekend here in Seattle…. It’s been a very miscellaneous week in dog travel links, so I’ll just dive in — starting, in fact, here in Seattle. The wonderful ohmidog! team of John and Ace visited Seattle and Portland recently, and gave “the hipster seal of approval” to the dog-friendly Ace Hotels (the other two are in New York and Palm Springs). The author sends up a plea to guides listing dog-friendly hotels, whether they’re books or web sites, to make a bigger effort to list small, independent hotels that welcome dogs.

Speaking of finding affordable, independent places to stay with your dog, check out this post from How to Travel with Pets, about finding pet-friendly hostels — and speaking of the Pacific Northwest, BeachcombersNW.com now has a list of dog-friendly vacation rentals on the Oregon coast to click through.

Take a look at a new (to me) blog called Journey to the Center — it caught my attention this week because author Bev Wigney (a naturalist, photographer and writer traveling by car around North America with Sabrina and Sage, her Collies) mentioned finding a pet-friendly hotel to shelter in on a recent cold Montana night, but it kept my attention with its beautiful pictures and contemplative writing. Make yourself a cup of tea and settle in with this one — it’s a keeper.

A couple of U.K. links for you to check out: Dugs ‘n’ Pubs (if you can get past the name, it’s a great blog about dog-friendly places in and around Edinburgh) found some dog-friendly rental cottages in the Cairngorms, and Yak & Natter are collecting resources for people who want to take long, scenic walks with their dogs that end at dog-friendly pubs.

And in Australia, trouble is brewing. A Queensland regulation forbids dogs from joining owners “in outdoor dining areas that are attached to licensed food premises,” but many dog owners — and food establishments — are breaking the rules. Why? Café owners need the business. A petition is now before the state government asking it to change the legislation so that café owners have the option of allowing patrons accompanied by dogs to eat on patios.

Holiday Hop for Pets giveaway: Win a hand-knit Christmas stocking, with your dog’s name on it!

When I heard about this blog hop from my friends at DogTipper, Two Little Cavaliers, and Life with Dogs, I knew exactly what to do with the dog-themed Christmas stocking I’d been idly knitting. Here it is:

Photo from "Dogs In Knits" by Judith L. Swartz

Well, to be frank, that’s what it will look like. Mine is done down to the heel, but I promise you I’ll be finishing it over the Thanksgiving break. Isn’t it adorable?? I just love the bands of white snowflakes, red bones and green dogs. And you see that blank cream-colored band at the top? The winner will tell me their dog’s name (it can be up to 15 letters long), and I’ll stitch it in, so the stocking is personalized for your pup!

How to win


It’s easy! All you have to do to earn a chance to win is “like” Dog Jaunt on Facebook (click above), if you haven’t already, and then leave a wall post on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page (click on the “Post” button, at the top of Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page) telling me the dog’s name you will want on the stocking if you win. If you already like Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page, you can still win! Just go straight to the step where you leave a wall post with your dog’s name.

Because of shipping costs, I can only send the stocking to U.S. and Canadian (not Quebec) winners (why not Quebec? That province apparently has some stringent giveaway rules, and I don’t want to get into trouble!).

Entries will be accepted until Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 11.59 pm (EST). The winner will be chosen randomly, and I will announce who it is in a post here on Dog Jaunt and on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page on Friday, November 26th. Happy Howl-idays to all you hop-pers! (Or maybe that should be “Hoppy Howl-idays!”) Be sure to click around the other sites participating in this blog hop — there are lots of wonderful prizes out there.

Reader’s report: Traveling by plane with two in-cabin dogs

This was originally sent to me as an e-mail message by a reader named Carole, who lives in Spain and Turkey (but has also lived in the U.S. and other locations, and has traveled extensively, as you’ll see). I have long wanted a second Cavalier King Charles Spaniel — I’ve even chosen her name (Flora, after the heroine of Cold Comfort Farm). Until now, I’ve hesitated because my husband has long legs, and needs every inch of under-seat space he can find. After reading this post, I have more reasons to hesitate!

We have two small dogs, each 11 pounds, that we take everywhere with us. They were born in the US but later traveled by air to France, to Italy, to Turkey, to Mexico and to Spain, always in-cabin on different airlines.

The biggest problem is that the airlines do not have a standard policy. Worse, whatever policy they have they keep secret from employees! From experience we can say for sure that Turkish Airlines allows only 1 dog in the entire plane. Not just 1 pet per passenger, 1 dog per plane. In the past, my husband and I have had to take separate flights due to this restrictive policy.

Just recently an Alitalia employee in the Istanbul airport informed me (I think incorrectly) that Alitalia has the same policy, at least flying out of Istanbul to Rome: Only 1 dog/cat per flight.

Be prepared to be told one thing on the phone by airline employees, only to arrive at the airport to be told something different.

Through a bad experience with Iberia, the Spanish airline, we ended up recently paying 500 euros and enduring a 2-day delay because of wrong information given to us by Iberia employees. We learned the hard way that Iberia allows 1 pet in business class and 2 in economy. We had been told by Iberia employees in both Miami and in Istanbul that our 2 dogs were reserved on our flight from Istanbul to Madrid, no problem.

On departure day we drove 3 hours to Antalya airport, then flew to Istanbul intending to board the flight to Spain but we were denied boarding because we were holding 2 business class seats and no coach class seats were available for the next two days (only one dog was allowed in business class). We had then to find a pet-friendly hotel in Istanbul (very difficult – took several hours and about 20 phone calls) where we stayed with our dogs for 2 days awaiting an available seat in economy class.

The airline websites do not specify the allowable number of pets-in-cabin. It is true that it depends on the type of plane. It is nearly impossible to get a consistent and correct answer. Therefore, we have decided in future to travel separately, me and one dog, my husband and the other dog on separate flights. This is the only sure solution.

At the end of her message, Carole emphasized that “reservations are ALWAYS required now. If you turn up with a pet without a reservation, your pet will not be able to board with you.”