Dog Jaunt

Sep 24 2009

Leaving your dog in your hotel room? Let housekeeping know!

photo-13 These clever tags either hang over your hotel room door knob or slide into the slots of front- or top-facing electronic locks, and tell housekeeping to pass over your room because your dog is inside (or to come in because your dog is out). They’re particularly useful if your dog is unconfined in your room, but even if your dog is in a travel crate you probably don’t want housekeeping in your room while you’re away. The alternative is to leave a message with housekeeping, but we all know that messages can go astray. These tags are inexpensive and impossible to miss. I’m adding them to Chloe’s travel and packing checklist!

Sep 23 2009

Outward Hound dog walking bag

Photo by Kyjen

I don’t need another dog walking bag — I’m happy with my OllyDog Walker and my Walker Arm Gusset — but I’m a sucker for dog gear, so I bought the Outward Hound Hook-Anywhere Leash Bag anyway. I’m glad I did — it’s a nice alternative to the Arm Gusset, and it’s well-made and well-designed.

A carabiner clips it onto a belt loop (or onto the leash handle, though things hanging off the leash annoy me). Two pockets hold poop bags and treats, and a lanyard with a clip holds your house key (put the key on an O-ring first, though — the clip won’t easily fit through the end of your key). The only thing I can find to criticize is that poop bags really won’t dispense out the bottom slot. Not a big deal, though, to undo the Velcro flap and lift the roll out when you want it.

Sep 22 2009

Danger to dogs playing on northern French beaches

Visiting the northern Brittany coast sounds completely delightful — Mont St. Michel, Paimpol, the pink granite coast — but several recent articles have revealed serious problems with Brittany’s northern beaches, especially in the Côtes-d’Armor department. Algae, washing up on shore and decaying, has made some beaches perilous:

Harmless while in water, the algae form dangerous gases — notably hydrogen sulfide, with its characteristic rotten-egg smell — when they wash up on land and decay. A white crust forms and traps the gases, which are released when stepped on or otherwise disturbed. Over time, putrefied algae turns sand into a black silt muck, sometimes containing pockets of poison gas.

The excessive build-up of algae is probably caused by nitrate-heavy fertilizers in use at coastal farms. The deaths last year of two dogs running on the Grandville beach set off warning bells, but the recent death of a horse (and sickening of its rider) on the beach near Saint-Michel-en-Grève seems to have caught the government’s attention.

Until the problem is resolved, be careful about walking with your dog — or letting your dog run — on northern Brittany beaches. Look out for white crusty spots, or spots of black silt, and avoid areas around streams running into the water — in fact, to be on the safe side, I’d first ask a local resident whether it’s okay to walk on a particular beach.

Sep 21 2009

Shorter Chuckit! Mini Launcher for travel

Chloe with Chuckit! mini ball

I’ve just added the new Chuckit! Mini Launcher to Chloe’s travel packing list. She’s devoted to her old Mini Launcher, but the new one is about seven inches shorter, and will pack more conveniently in her suitcase. It would also fit more comfortably into a backpack or messenger bag. Don’t forget to bring a couple of the mini Chuckit! balls too — regular tennis balls are too big for the Mini Launcher.

Amazon links:
Canine Hardware New Chuckit! Mini Launcher
Chuckit! Mini Tennis Balls

Sep 20 2009

Seattle dog-friendly restaurant: Samui Thai

I write this on behalf of my husband, who loves Thai food (I am deathly allergic to nuts, so no Thai restaurants for me, alas). Our neighborhood has two Thai restaurants, and the one my husband prefers is Samui Thai. Samui has a big front deck, recently painted a cheerful turquoise — it’s a nice, sunny location in Capitol Hill’s quiet 15th Ave. business district. When my husband arrived there with Chloe this afternoon they were made welcome (the hostess brought Chloe a bowl of water), though it won’t be too long before the deck is closed again for the winter.

I’m not giving Samui a rating, because I haven’t eaten there myself. I can report, though, that my husband approves of the food, as does my mother-in-law, who lived in Thailand for several years, is a sensational cook herself, and is bracingly honest in her reviews of restaurants.

Samui Thai
524 15th Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98112
T: 206-328-2406
Open Mon. to Thurs. 11 am to 9 pm; Fri. 11 am to 9:30 pm; Sat. 12 pm to 9:30 pm; Sun. 12 pm to 9 pm

Sep 19 2009

Dog-friendly Royal Parks in London

Photo by ddqhu

There are eight “royal parks” in London — parks which are officially the hereditary possessions of the Crown but to which the public is given access. They are (in alphabetical order): Bushy Park, Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent’s Park, Richmond Park, and St. James’s Park. Dogs are allowed in all of the royal parks; in some parts of the parks, however, dogs are either not allowed or need to be on a leash (including “ecologically sensitive sites, children’s play areas, restaurants, cafes and some sports areas”).

At certain times of the year, dogs need to be kept away from deer, ground nesting birds and other wildlife. There are signs in the parks telling you which areas to avoid, and the Royal Parks agency has also issued a helpful booklet (PDF) with more details about dogs in the royal parks. For each park, it tells you where dogs are not permitted, and where dogs must be on leashes. Otherwise, it appears, off-leash dogs under voice control are welcome to romp.

Remember to bring poop bags, and dispose of them in the marked dog waste bins.

Sep 18 2009

Traveling by Philadelphia public transit with a small dog

Photo by Bev Sykes

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operates bus, subway, tram, light rail and commuter rail systems in and around Philadelphia. A separate entity, PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corporation) operates a rail line connecting Philadelphia with southern New Jersey suburbs from Camden to Lindenwold.

Two PATCO stops (Broadway and Lindenwold) connect with NJ Transit‘s rail system. At SEPTA’s Doylestown stop, riders can connect with Doylestown Rushbus (formerly Doylestown DART). The R2 branch of SEPTA is operated in conjunction with Delaware’s DART First State, and riders can connect with the DART First State bus system at the Delaware stops (Claymont, Wilmington, Churchmans Crossing and Newark).

Pet Policies

SEPTA’s pet policy is as follows: “Small animals that are carried in a covered, secured container, that can be stored on the owner’s lap, without danger or disturbance to other customers, will be permitted on vehicles.” [2/24/12 This language no longer appears on SEPTA’s site, but when I spoke today to a customer service rep, she told me that the rules are still the same.][2/18/16 Four years later I checked again, and small pet dogs in carriers are still, apparently, allowed on SEPTA per the following language: “Consistent with US Dept. of Transportation ADA regulations, companion animals, pets, therapy, comfort, mental health, or emotional support animals are not classed as service animals for purposes of public transit, and cannot ride on SEPTA vehicles except in carriers.” (emphasis added)]

The PATCO customer service representative I spoke to told me that that small dogs in carriers are allowed on board, for no extra fee. NJ Transit also allows small dogs in carriers on its buses and trains.

The Doylestown Rushbus allows small dog in carriers on board for no extra fee, a customer service representative told me. DART First State, however, only allows service dogs on board.

For other posts about traveling with dogs on public transit, take a look at Dog Jaunt’s handy guide!

Sep 17 2009

iPhone dog resources app: PetMD Finder

A while ago I wrote about an iPhone application called Off Leash that helps you locate nearby off-leash dog parks. Since then, I’ve added a couple more dog-related apps to my iPhone, including PetMD Finder. Despite the name, the app is not just focused on veterinarians. It also provides lists of daycare centers, dog parks, dog sitters, dog walkers, groomers, and pet-friendly hotels. It searches for relevant results using either your current location or a zip code you type in.

On the bright side, it’s free. On the other hand, it’s not giving me much useful information. The zip code function is broken, so the only results I can get are for my current location. They are incomplete, which I could live with, but they’re also presented alphabetically, so the first dog park on my list is a park 17.7 miles away. The second one is closer, but on an island in the middle of Puget Sound. And so on.

The app’s solution is a “Map” button, which does allow you to figure out which park is closest to you — but the map is balky and slow to navigate. It’s even trickier to navigate when you look for a nearby veterinarian — there are so many vets in Seattle that you have to expand the map repeatedly to separate the hits from one another sufficiently to see them and click on them individually.

The app does have some nice features: Once you select an entry, the app offers you a phone number to call or a map with your driving route marked on it (no written directions, though). It also provides you with user reviews of the park or hotel or vet — there weren’t any for the entries I tried, but I like it that the option is there.

It’s early days for this application yet (this is only Version 1.0.2), and some of these gripes will be sorted out in upcoming revisions (the results when you click on “current location” will soon be listed by distance, for example). It’s not that helpful at the moment, but additional revs will likely smooth out the rough spots, and user input will add helpful details.

Sep 16 2009

List of dog-friendly gardens and parks in Paris

The Mairie de Paris has published a useful list of Paris parks and gardens that allow dogs (PDF) — well worth consulting, because Paris is pretty strict about dogs in parks. [7/1/13 Please note that this link still works, but the resulting document is organized slightly differently, and more clearly, than I’ve described below.]

The name of the park is in the left column. The middle column shows that dogs are allowed on that property; if there’s a caption, it describes the limits to the area where dogs are allowed. The right-hand column describes the parts of the park where dogs are not allowed. So, for example, in the Jardins des Champs-Elysées, dogs are allowed on the “allées cavalières” or bridle paths, which I assume means the Allée Marcel Proust and similar. Dogs are not allowed in the “aires de jeux pour les enfants,” or children’s play areas.

Remember to bring a poop bag with you! Picking up after your dog is the rule, even if it’s not always observed by the locals.

Sep 15 2009

Seattle, WA off-leash dog park: Golden Gardens Park

Chloe and I went to the Golden Gardens off-leash dog area in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood this morning, and we can report that it includes an area for small dogs — always a cause for celebration — and is in a lovely wooded location. The big dog area has lots of trees and benches, and the ground is covered in wood chips.

The small dog area is just to the north and shares one length of fence with the big dog area. You reach it by walking along the west side of the dog park, past the big yellow sculpture, and entering the gate on the north side. It’s small — much smaller than Magnuson Park‘s small dog area — but it has a couple of benches and poop bags are provided. I didn’t see a source of water in the small dog area. It’s set on a hill, but the ground is mostly dirt, so I suspect that it’ll be muddy in the rainy season — come prepared!

At the south end of the big dog area are toilets for humans. There is plenty of parking in the lot at the south side of the off-leash area.

Golden Gardens Park
8498 Seaview Place N.W.
Seattle, WA 98117
Open 6 am to 11:30 pm