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Memphis International Airport pet relief area

MEM lawn

MEM lawn near Door A1

Memphis International Airport (MEM) does not have an official pet relief area. [5/15/16 Alert reader Bob has advised me that there’s good news from MEM: The airport now not only has a pet relief area, it has three of them, and they’re the convenient kind, located on the air side of security (rather than requiring dogs and their people to exit and reenter the airport. More info about their locations in this article.]  It does, however, have generous patches of lawn at both ends of the baggage claim area. To reach them, leave baggage claim by either Door A1 (and turn left) or Door C11 (and turn right). Poop bags are not provided, of course, so prepare yourself in advance.

This post is part of an ongoing series of reviews of airport pet relief areas we’ve visited. To see others, visit Dog Jaunt’s handy guide to airport pet relief areas.

Dog jaunt: Kubota Garden (Seattle, WA)

Photo by Kent Wang

Photo by Kent Wang

Yes, it’s a shame that the Japanese Garden in Seattle’s Arboretum doesn’t allow dogs in the park. It turns out, however, that Seattle has two Japanese gardens, and the lesser-known one (Kubota Garden) is larger, equally beautiful, free, and welcomes leashed dogs. Love it when that happens!

The park is located in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood. Directions are provided for car and bus travel. If you drive, be sure to tuck your belongings into the trunk of your car, or carry them with you.

[Dog Jaunt’s friend Jessica, of You Did What With Your Wiener, and Chester and Gretel, her Dachshunds, visited Kubota Garden in July 2013, and here’s their excellent post about it.]

Kubota Garden
9817 55th Avenue S.
Seattle, WA 98118
T: 206-684-4584
Open “all daylight hours”

Website for dogs visiting NYC, Chicago, S.F.

UrbanHound calls itself “the city dog’s ultimate survival guide,” and the site is a great resource for dogs living in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. It’s also a great resource for dogs visiting those cities — in particular, the sections on Hound Play, Hound Health and Hound Services provide lots of useful information about dog parks, swimming holes and fun things to do; 24-hour emergency vets (in Chicago and S.F., not provided for NYC); and dog services like day care, walkers and groomers, and shops.

The default city, when you arrive at www.urbanhound.com, is New York. Click on “change city,” under the logo, to access Chicago and S.F. information.

Zentek crate pad

It’s H-O-T in Seattle today (really hot, not just hot-for-the-Pacific-Northwest), and all of our pets are suffering. Happily, a local company called Zentek sells jackets and crate blankets made of Comfortemp® fabric, a material impregnated with crystals that “interactively react to changing body or outside temperatures. Depending on the individual situation or activity level they absorb excess body heat and store it until it is needed again. This keeps your dog in the comfort zone longer.”

We bought a Zentek jacket for Chloe which has proven itself in winter weather and rain, and will now get its hot-weather workout. We also bought a Zentek crate blanket made of the same material. In the hot weather we just encountered in NYC, and now in Seattle, Chloe has sought out her Zentek pad (the pads feel cool to the human touch, I have to admit). Check them out — and if you’re planning to travel with your dog to a hot climate, consider taking one along with you.

Tip for long plane flights with a small dog

So far, the longest flights Chloe has taken have been about 5-6 hours long. Traveling to Europe or Asia, however, will take almost twice as long. What if I miscalculate my ice cube rations, and she has to pee en route? I recently came across this suggestion: Carry a stack of wee wee pads with you (and this time, you want the scented ones, that prompt your dog to pee on the pad). If you see your dog showing signs of distress, take her (in her carrier) to the lavatory, spread the pads out on the floor, and encourage her to go.

There are two crucial points to make here. Be careful to (1) choose a time to go when the demand for lavatories is low and the flight is calm, since it may take your dog a moment or two to relax in an en-route airplane lavatory, and (2) cover the floor carefully and thoroughly with wee wee pads. Your fellow passengers will not thank you for leaks. In fact, consider adding to your 3-1-1 bag of permitted carry-on toiletries a 3-oz. bottle of enzymatic cleaner designed for dog clean-ups, and bring it into the lavatory with you. (And of course dispose of the soiled wee wee pads in the wastebasket, not down the toilet.)

I love this idea, but it should be used only for emergencies!

Seattle airport outdoor pet relief area (North end of baggage claim)

I thought it wasn’t possible for an airport pet relief area to be any nastier than Denver’s, but I was wrong. I learned last night that here in my own city, the airport pet relief area is seriously grim. There’s only one outdoor pet relief area, and it’s located at the far northern end of the arrivals level. [7/13/13 Sea-Tac has created a second outdoor pet relief area since this post was written, located at the opposite, southern end of baggage claim. Folks traveling on United, Virgin America, Frontier, Delta, U.S. Air, or an international flight now have a better alternative than the much-trampled bit of landscaping I first proposed as an alternative, or the very distant grassy berm I discovered in 2011.]

For passengers on Alaska/Horizon, American, Southwest, or JetBlue, this is good news. However, everyone else is looking at a long walk. (If you’re trying to give your dog a bathroom break on a layover, go instead to SEA’s indoor pet relief area.)

SEA pet relief area

SEA pet relief area

To find the official pet relief area, walk to baggage carousel 16, and go out Door 24. Turn left, and at the far end of the small parking area you’ll see a sign saying “Pet Area.” For a brief, happy moment, I thought the sign was telling me to go up the nearby stairs to what looked like a fenced enclosure, but then I realized my mistake. The pet relief area is directly under the sign, and it’s a small, unfenced patch of gravel — essentially a bit of widened sidewalk, with the concrete replaced by gravel. There is a poop bag dispenser and attached trashcan.

The only reason I can see to schlep all the way to this place is if you aren’t carrying a poop bag with you. If you have poop bags, then I would exit the baggage claim area by Door 2, near baggage carousel 1, and use the small park area you’ll find there as a pet relief area. But clean up after your dog! This scheme won’t work if the little park becomes nasty.

[8/14/11] And sure enough, the little park to the south of Baggage Claim is now pretty bedraggled. I was really happy, therefore, to discover this past weekend that if you keep walking south, away from the terminal, on the sidewalk along the airport roadway, you soon get to a large, useful patch of grass, pictured below. Keep going, and you’ll intersect International Boulevard, which is a busy, unattractive street — but it does have sidewalks, so you and your dog can stretch your legs a bit. The intersection is not far away — those large green signs you can see are telling drivers which way to turn on it.

The international arrivals area and baggage claim are behind me in this picture, and I’m walking towards International Boulevard

This post is part of an ongoing series of reviews of airport pet relief areas we’ve visited. To see others, visit Dog Jaunt’s handy guide to airport pet relief areas.

Biking with your small dog

Maybe you want to visit Block Island with your small dog and you don’t want to make a reservation months in advance to take your car on the one ferry that accepts cars — but you still want to travel around the island. Or maybe you just really enjoy biking, and wonder if you can bring your new love along with you. Whatever the scenario, at some point you’ll find yourself with a bike and a dog that can’t, let’s face it, keep up for that long with a bicycle’s pace.

Photo by Marc Oh!

Photo by Marc Oh!

The solution is to carry your dog with you, and I’m happy to report that there are several good products that help you do that safely and conveniently. The European Market Basket, with the liner, pillow and harness options, is a charming, old-fashioned option. Snoozer, the maker of Chloe’s beloved Lookout car seat, makes three bike products, including the Sporty Pet Bike Basket, a padded basket with optional rain cover that hangs from the front of your bike, and the Pet Rider Bicycle Seat Lookout, a larger padded platform that straps onto the back of your bike.

The Roof Box Company’s Walky Basket  might be a good way to handle the Block Island scenario described above, since it collapses for storage and appears to have a user-friendly attachment that would work with a rented bike. It also readily converts to a shoulder bag/carrier. Yet another approach might be Solvit’s Deluxe Tagalong Pet Bicycle Basket, which was reviewed favorably in the Bike Commuters blog (but be sure to read the comment that talks about paint abrasion).

A sweatier approach to handling the Block Island scenario (that is, biking somewhere away from home) would be a carrier that converts to a backpack, so your dog would ride on your shoulders. Intriguing ones I’ve seen include Creature Leisure’s Carry-Den XT and Pet Gear’s line of I GO2 rolling carriers. Alternatively, you could pack a dog backpack in your suitcase, like Timbuk2’s Muttmover.

Carrying the convertible theme to its limit, PetEgo’s Jet Set Carrier, previously reviewed by Dog Jaunt in its role as an airplane carrier, can (with a couple of accessories) clamp on to your bike and serve as a bike carrier. Unfortunately, although it will keep your dog contained and safe, her only view will be to the sides through mesh panels, and is therefore less than ideal. PetEgo’s PodILove, a roomy (15Lx15Wx15D) dome, won’t work as an airplane carrier, but converts from a bed to a car carrier to a bike carrier, and can be carried conveniently (though not stealthily) over your shoulder. No problem with the view here, which is out the front, and the domed top even provides your dog with some shelter from the sun.

Whichever carrier you choose, spend time getting your dog used to it on the ground at first (lure her in with tasty treats; then reward her when she hops in voluntarily). When that seems comfortable, pick her up in the carrier briefly. Gradually work up to walking around the house with her in the carrier. Shower her with treats and praise. Choose a quiet road for your first bike ride, and make it brief and cheerful (and full of treats, naturally). Be sure to use the leash clip that tethers your dog to the carrier! Over time, add distance and traffic to the mix, keeping a close eye on your dog for signs of discomfort (if she seems anxious, back up to the last comfortable step, get her comfortable again, and then proceed a bit more slowly). It may be a snap, or it may take a little while, but what fun it will be to look down as you pedal and see her sniffing the breeze!

Keep in mind that she’s getting a lot of sun out there, and she doesn’t have a helmet protecting her from the sun. Some of the carriers have a sunshade (or a rainshade that can serve the same purpose). If yours doesn’t, consider rigging one up with a handkerchief or some fabric and clothespins over at least part of the carrier, so she can get some shelter. A stiffened, opaque fabric like oilcloth works well, and you can use the bit you don’t use as a sunshade for a travel placemat. (If there isn’t an obvious place on the carrier to clip the clothespins, consider the brake cables — clothespins won’t affect your brakes’ performance.) Carry as much water as possible and a collapsible water bowl (or make one of your water bottles a Gulpy), and be sure to keep her hydrated.

List of NYC parks with dog-friendly areas

This useful page from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation site lists all of the Parks Departments’ dog-friendly areas in NYC. Scroll down and click on the name of the borough you’re investigating. The site doesn’t provide a lot of information about each location, but there’s enough to know, at least, whether the listing is a dog run or an off-leash area (which in this case means that dogs may be off leash but must be under voice control).

Dog jaunt: Hudson River Park (NYC)

It was gorgeous in NYC today, and friends took Chloe and me to the Hudson River Park. We walked from Washington Square to Pier 51 by way of some great streets in the West Village, then turned south. The river sparkled on our right, there was a narrow but well-kept strip of lawn on the left for sunbathing and picnicking, and we had a view of the Statue of Liberty in the distance. It was a delightful afternoon for Chloe and her human attendants.

The park extends south to Battery Place and north to Riverside Park, and dogs are welcome. Your dog needs to be “on a leash not longer than 6 feet,” except in the three off-leash dog runs (at W. 44th St., at W. 22nd St., and at Leroy St.). The park and the runs close at 1 am.

Washington Square (NYC) off-leash dog park

Big dog area

Big dog area

Washington Square has finally emerged from construction, and the off-leash dog park is once more in business (dog parks, I should say, because there’s a separate one for small ‘n’ shy dogs). The big dog area is large; the small ‘n’ shy area is on the small side, but I’m not really complaining. It’s a bit of a miracle to find an off-leash small ‘n’ shy area anywhere, much less Manhattan, so it could be closet-sized and I’d be thrilled.

Small 'n' shy area

Small 'n' shy area

Both areas are fully-fenced and have the usual double gates at the entrances. The ground is covered in fine, smooth gravel, which the dogs seem to find pleasant. There are benches for humans, trash cans, poop rakes and poop bags. Both areas have water hoses and a water bowl. There are trees for shade in the big dog area, and a canvas shelter in the small ‘n’ shy area. And when you’re done with the dog park, the square and surrounding streets are lovely to roam around in.