It’s that time of year—for a vacation!
I asked pet owners and pet professionals about the best vacation they’ve ever had with a pet or pets.
Here are some of their vacation stories.
Cheri Spaulding (Oregon) I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days and I can’t pick out just one. Any vacation when I take my dogs is wonderful. But I think the important part of it is that when I take my dogs on vacation, I make sure it’s an appropriate vacation for them.
April Stevenson (Washington) Drove across country and back with my Great Pyrenees and German shepherd. Best trips ever.
Toni Vignogna (California) My favorite trips with Stella—cocker spaniel, age seven—are camping trips. She gets to go for multiple walks every day, is a total dust-bomb from the dirt, and even has her own camp chair to sleep on.
Kathy Smith (North Carolina) Other than dog shows, I’d have to say taking Rebel (Samoyed) to North Myrtle Beach. Long walks in the sand and checking out places like Barefoot Landing together. We had a great time!
Tim Beau (Oregon) I can’t really think of a true vacation that was the “best” with the pups, but whenever we take a day trip to the beach, the dogs run like they never do anywhere else, not even at the park. I think the beach must be what dog heaven is like. Our favorite is Neskowin, Oregon.
Sandie Hanlon (Massachusetts) One of my favorite trips was to Acadia National Park. The dogs are welcome everywhere—they can sit at dinner with you at many places in Bar Harbor. The town is dog friendly with two good-sized parks to walk about. The hikes in the park are very scenic.
Nathalie Mosbach Smith (California) RV. Kids. Dogs. Outdoor Adventurers. Our highlight this year? Taking four of our five pups on hiking adventures in Arizona and Utah. We got a permit to The Wave and took the four on an adventure of a lifetime. (There is a permit application process that will allow only 20 people a day to the area. The rock structure is unique.) We loved it. All of our dogs are dogs that came through owner surrender or rescue. Youngest is two and oldest is nine. Our 14-year-old Lab had to stay home. She has laryngeal paralysis and doesn’t do well in the heat.
Photo by Nathalie Mosbach Smith
Sarah Adams (Oregon) Cross-country road trip from Portland, Oregon, to Purina Farms in Missouri for our national specialty. I had Tess, a seven-year-old spayed bitch, and Pirate, a three-year-old male, both Staffordshire bull terriers. I took a couple weeks off so we didn’t have to rush, and we did sightseeing and hiking along the way. My favorite part was the Black Hills, in South Dakota. I’d love to go back there sometime, get a cabin for a week, hike every day, and leave the dogs in the cabin so I can go to museums and stuff. I was lucky enough to get cool weather on the way out, so I could leave the dogs in the car to explore (though the guy running one of the stores at Wall Drug told me I could have brought my dog in). On the way back, it was too warm to leave them in the car, but I did find some nice places to explore that were dog friendly.
Micha Michlewicz (Maryland) We went to a remote beach in the Outer Banks. It was off-leash and the few dogs there were without incident, as was mine. It was pretty much a beautiful week of just spending time on a beautiful beach with my beautiful dog. We went into the water together, fished together, ate together, dug in the sand and showered ourselves with it, discovered the wildlife (respectfully, without bothering it), and just enjoyed each other’s company.
Kristie Riché Allen (South Carolina) Five-day stay at DogWoods Retreat in Brevard, North Carolina. The cabins are owned by dog trainer Nan Long. I went with my mom and 12-year-old hound cross and four-year-old Lab cross. We actually went because Nan offered me a complimentary stay after I lost my 43-year-old husband in a tragic accident . . . just so I could get away and decompress. We went on my and his anniversary weekend. The cabins were extremely dog friendly with awesome dog beds, crates if needed, bowls, etc. Each has a very large fenced-in yard and the scenery is beautiful. The cabins were beautiful. They are ten minutes from DuPont State Park, with hundreds of trails and hikes to beautiful waterfalls. Asheville isn’t too far away and we found many places to explore there also. When we would come back in the evening, the dogs would rest or chill with us outside on the balcony as we fired up the grill and had a few cocktails. They also had lots of room to run and play in the yard after they caught a second wind. We explored the small quaint towns of Brevard and Hendersonville and drove to Pisgah Forest, finding lots of things to do with the dogs in tow at each place. I would freeze gallon jugs of water overnight to make sure to have plenty of fresh cool water for the pups on our all-day outings. We all had a fantastic time, will definitely go back, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Eden Halbert (California) The best trip I took with a dog was a recent one with just me and my oldest dog Luna, who is my heart and soul, and is 16 years old. She’s a large husky mix (80+ pounds). Her mom was a big husky, father unknown. The mom and the whole litter went into husky rescue, and I adopted Luna at about three-and-a-half months and have had her ever since. I feared she was failing and wanted to take her on a last trip to the beach, which is her happy place. We stayed in a little dog-friendly hotel right on the beach in Cayucos, California, for a couple of days. The whole trip was geared toward her. She loved it so much that the trip seemed to rejuvenate her, and she’s still with me and going strong two months later. I’ll always be grateful for that special time together.
What was the best vacation you’ve ever taken with a pet?
