Dog Jaunt's new pet travel book is now out! Buy it, or learn more about it here. And please review it on Amazon!

Dog-friendly luxury: Kimpton Hotels

The Kimpton Hotel Group has 54 properties in 16 states, and they’re all pet-friendly. We’ve stayed in a handful, in Boston, Seattle and Portland, and each has been a delight. They’re typically small- to medium-sized boutique hotels, each with a distinctive decor and an excellent attitude towards pets.

For starters, Kimpton hotels don’t charge a fee or require a deposit for visiting pets, and there is no limit on how much your pet can weigh. Each member hotel puts together its own pet package, but they generally include an indulgent welcome basket, lots of information about local dog-friendly resources, and a cheerful willingness to hook you up with the dog-friendly services you need (or just want!).

Find the city and hotel you’re interested in, then click on the “Pet Friendly” button in the left sidebar for more information. And if, for some reason, you have to travel without your own pet, the front desk will loan you a goldfish for company!

Seattle, WA off-leash dog park: Genesee Park

This dog park, in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, is significantly smaller than Magnuson Park‘s off-leash area, but it’s still a good size. There are benches for humans, and poop bags are available. I didn’t see any source of water. [Editor’s note: But see the comment from Declan, below.] The park is on a small hill, so mud is likely not to be a problem.

That said, Chloe and I stayed for about a minute, and then hot-footed it out of there. There is no small ‘n’ shy area, and we witnessed a really tense encounter between a collection of big dogs barely under their dogwalker’s control and a very unhappy Corgi dog. Dog parks are such a rarity that I hate to bad-mouth any of them, and most of the dogs and owners there seemed to be enjoying themselves. I’ll just say that we were happy to leave and drive up to Magnuson Park instead.

There is plenty of street parking on S. Genesee Street next to the fenced off-leash area.

Genesee Park
4316 S. Genesee Street
Seattle, WA 98118
Open 4 am to 11:30 pm

Dog eye protection while biking, motorcycling

photo-8I thought that dog goggles were a gimmick until I read that search and rescue dogs wear them to protect their eyes from debris and toxic substances. I realize that Chloe’s not going to be in that kind of environment, but she will be biking with us, and some dogs ride motorcycles or scooters with their owners, and in situations like those (lots of wind and road grit) a dog’s eyes need to be protected. So I bought a pair of Doggles dog goggles for her, and they arrived today (she got the shiny red frame with smoke lenses, in a size Small). They’re well made, they fit perfectly, and she doesn’t seem to mind them a bit.

Road grit and bugs often smack into my glasses when I’m biking, and motorcyclists wear goggles (or glasses, or a visor) — it just makes sense for dogs to wear them too. And you’ve got to admit she looks good.

Seattle, WA off-leash dog park: Magnuson Park

Magnuson Park’s off-leash dog park is the one closest to us, and because it’s not perfect I’ve sought out other Seattle dog parks — especially ones with small dog areas. The more dog parks I see, however, the more I appreciate Magnuson.

It’s huge, for starters. The big dog area covers nine acres in Seattle’s Laurelhurst neighborhood, and includes a narrow strip of land that leads dogs and their owners to Lake Washington and a small but well-loved beach where the dogs can play. There is a vast wood chip Chuck-It field, with a smaller (but still vast) gravel Chuck-It field behind it. There are portable toilets and a rain shelter for humans, and water and poop bags are provided. The only downside to the big dog area is that it gets really mucky when it rains. Wear tall boots and be prepared for your dog to turn into a mud ball.

The small dog area is also very large — large enough for discreet Chuck-It hurls — and water and poop bags are provided. There are plenty of benches and chairs for humans. Its major flaw is that there isn’t a scrap of shade available, which makes summer visits grueling (yes, even in Seattle!). I have also twice come away from the small dog area with flea bites, so consider spraying your ankles with insect repellant. The regulars are friendly, though, and there are plenty of regulars, so your dog will likely have company.

When you turn into the park, follow the signs to the off-leash dog area. There is a small parking lot located right outside the dog park, with a larger one a few steps away, next to the children’s play area.

Magnuson Park
7400 Sand Point Way N.E.
Seattle, WA 98105
Open 4 am to 10 pm (11:30 pm during the summer)

Taking your small dog to an off-leash dog park

We seek out off-leash dog parks with areas set aside for small or shy dogs. Until recently, it was because dogs Chloe’s size being sniffed by big dogs end up balancing resignedly on their front paws with their rear ends draped over the big dog’s nose. Once or twice a day during her morning walk? Fine. But all the time? No, thanks.

I just learned, however, that there’s an even better reason to look for off-leash dog parks that have small dog areas. During the kind of active play that occurs at dog parks, an individual dog can become overwhelmed or anxious or hurt, and a yelp or a dash to escape can trigger what’s called “predatory drift” in one or more other dogs. Here’s a good description of what happens:

The trigger for predatory drift can be pain, over-arousal (play that gets out of hand), or a yelp or scream. It can happen when a dog is hurt or frightened by another dog in play and squeals. The squeal triggers a predatory reaction, which can ripple through the entire pack in an instant.

The author makes it clear that all dogs have these instincts, even your sweetheart of a dog:

Predatory drift is what happened in the cases I wrote about in my last two columns, in which dogs were either badly mauled or killed by otherwise perfectly nice, normal dogs. Predatory drift can happen suddenly and unpredictably. It can even occur between two dogs who have played together for years – or live together and have always gotten along.

The victim needn’t be a small dog — the author refers to a young but fully-grown Old English Sheepdog that was badly injured at a doggy daycare when 13 other dogs suddenly turned on him. Jasper survived his horrific injuries, but a small dog likely wouldn’t. A dog Chloe’s size or smaller is about as easy for a larger dog to kill as a rabbit or a squirrel — a good shake will do it, if a dog has a grip on her neck. You can see the damage Jasper suffered, if you can bear it, by doing a Google search for “youtube old english sheepdog attack.”

A lot of owners of small dogs think that small dog areas are for wimps. My fingers are crossed for them. Happily, Seattle now has three dog parks that have small ‘n’ shy areas, and I hope the trend will continue.

Finding dog-friendly B&Bs

One great resource is Bed & Breakfast Inns Online, which has over 5200 B&Bs in its database. On its home page, just below the map of the U.S., click on “Search Inns by Amenity” and select “Pets Welcome.” That will take you to a listing, by state, of bed & breakfast inns where pets are welcome. Follow the instructions at the top of the page to find out about each property’s policy.

In-cabin airplane carriers and other pet carriers

I’ve started another blog called Pet Carrier Reviews, and the name says it all: It’s a collection of my reviews of pet carriers and crates and accessories I’ve bought and/or encountered. It’s hard to find unbiased reviews of pet carriers — a lot of what you find is just the manufacturer’s praise of its own product.

I could post the reviews here on Dog Jaunt, but why waste your time with carriers that are badly-made or -designed, or are meant for bigger pets than small dogs? Instead, I’ll do a round-up every so often of good carriers for small dogs, particularly including good in-cabin airplane carriers, and post that on Dog Jaunt.

In the meantime, please check out www.pet-carrier-reviews.com. All of the carriers I’ve talked about on Dog Jaunt are now there, with more information, and I’m starting to add new ones. If you want to find in-cabin airplane carriers, for example, go to the sidebar and click on “Airplane carrier (in-cabin).”

I hope you’ll find my reviews helpful when you’re making choices about pet carriers!

The Cross Sound Ferry: Dogs allowed

My sister-in-law, whose family has lived on Long Island since forever, read a recent Dog Jaunt post about the Port Jefferson ferry and told me that the Cross Sound Ferry (or the Orient Point ferry) is also dog-friendly. The ferry travels between Orient Point, at the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, and New London, CT. (The same company also operates the Block Island Express, from New London to Block Island.)

When I called, the customer service representative told me that that dogs are allowed on board for no additional fee. They must be on a leash or in a carrier, and they are allowed only in “designated areas.” Ask the crew for more information, but my impression is that food serving areas are off limits.

Connections in New London

Once you arrive in New London, you can make a variety of connections with other forms of transportation. Some connections won’t do you any good, if you’re accompanied by a dog — neither Amtrak nor Greyhound allow pet dogs on board. Shore Line East, however, providing commuter rail service between New London and New Haven, CT, does allow pets in carriers onboard. At New Haven, you have the option of continuing on certain SLE trains to Bridgeport and Stamford, or you can walk across the platform and catch a New Haven Line train to points west.

The New Haven Line is part of the Metro-North rail network, and will take you along the rest of the Connecticut coast into New York and, ultimately, to Grand Central Station. Dogs on a leash or in a carrier are allowed on Metro-North trains.

Connections in Orient Point

In the other direction, once you arrive at Orient Point you can catch a Suffolk County Transit bus to locations all over Long Island. A customer service representative told me that small dogs in carriers are allowed onboard SCT buses.

Trying to get to New York? Take an SCT bus to the Greenport LIRR station, only a short distance away from Orient Point, and head to the city by LIRR, which allows dogs in carriers onboard. Alternatively, for a good chunk of the summer, you can take a Hampton Jitney bus from the Orient Point ferry terminal to New York (small pets in carriers are allowed on most Hampton Jitney buses; from the North Fork to New York, the fee for your pet is $10, unless her carrier occupies a seat).

If you’re trying to get to Shelter Island instead, take an SCT bus to the Greenport LIRR station, which is also where the North Ferry leaves from. A North Ferry customer service representative told me that dogs, either on a leash or in a carrier, are allowed on board for no additional fee.

Seattle dog-friendly restaurant: Olympic Pizza & Spaghetti House III

I’ve never had the pizza at this Olympic (there are three), and I don’t plan to — there are other excellent places in town to get pizza. What we love here are entrées that taste just like the big Italian meals you used to have in college, remember? Lots of cheese, lots of sauce — and here, because it’s fundamentally a Greek operation, lots of oregano. We go for the manicotti, the cannelloni, the chicken Parmesan, and the spaghetti and meatballs (not too often, of course, because we’d die if we ate there more than once a month or so).

After reading an article in The Stranger about Seattle’s best sandwiches, we tried the Canadian bacon sandwich with pineapple and a side of marinara sauce (the author suggests pizza sauce, but we like the marinara). Add a house salad (plenty of iceberg-ish lettuce and cheese) and Thousand Islands dressing (the author says Blue Cheese, but I’m not a Blue Cheese gal), and you’ve got your happy meal.

The point of this post, however, is that you’ve got your happy meal and you can have it with your dog next to you. Olympic III has four sidewalk tables on 15th, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, and your dog is welcome at them.

Olympic Pizza & Spaghetti House III
516 15th Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98112
T: 206-329-4500
Open Sun. to Thurs. 11 am to 11 pm; Fri. and Sat. 11 am to 12 am

More competition for Dog Jaunt: Travels with My Dog blog

A while ago, I published a post about Dog Jaunt’s competitors — other dog travel blogs out there that you should know about. Here’s one that I missed: Travels with My Dog: Observations on the Global Scene. Helen and her Shih Tzu Raja travel around the U.S. and Europe and beyond, and their posts are really entertaining. They’re also helpful — I particularly appreciate a recent one about finding food while traveling for dogs who aren’t interested in kibble or canned food. Take a look!