Holidays With Dogs

[JulesP]

I haven't had a holiday for about ummm 15 years. The last 6 years mainly because of the animals. I would really like to go away for a couple of nights over the Xmas holidays.

I have 3 border collies though. Has anyone taken that amount of dogs away by themselves? They are pretty quite and crated trained. I took them away for 1 night for a herding thing and they were pretty good.

[Guest choice_brandy]

We never go away without our dog in tow and even took our two foster dogs camping for a couple of nights. There are a few hotels around that allow you to bring along the WHOLE family. My favorite is at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast, feels norty riding up a lift to your fifth floor hotel room with your ACD bracing herself against the wall... but she loves it and they offer great facilities for the doggies. I know that's probably a little further than you planned but there are many others around that allow pets as well.

[tlc]

We never go away without our dogs, it is difficult to find places that allow 4 but they are out there. I have found theusual limit is 2 or 3, 4 is just pushing the boundries but we manage. I travel a lot with my guys on my own (when OH can't come) but usually stay with family once I get to my destination.

Not sure where you are but I loved best friends holiday retreat in the tarra valley, it was great. It rained the whole time we were there but we still had a ball!!

http://www.bestfriend.net.au/

[dee lee]

Stayz has a whole section for pet friendly holidays.

You do have to check what the facilities are like though. They may be pet friendly, but not all are pet safe.

We rented a place one year that had no fences! :D Luckily at the last minute we had decided not to take our dog.

Also some only allow dogs outside.

We are going to a beach on the north coast of NSW in 2 weeks- with a high-walled yard and 2 minutes walk to a dog friendly beach! I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!

[Tassie]

Yep - I've done lots of travelling with 2 BCs - never with 3 cos I'm only allowed 2 :D .

I used to camp, but prefer self-contained now - getting too old for camping . Stayz and Take-a-break are useful - but as has been said - check exactly what dog-friendly means - re fences and dogs inside.

I find that it's worth contacting people, and explaining that your dogs are obedience trained and are used to travelling .... sell them as good citizens and yourself as responsible. (The dogs and I have travelled so much that I can even offer references for the dogs now

Your main problem will be getting in to places - depends what you were thinking of.

[labsrule]

There is a lot of dog friendly accommodation around but I think the issue you will encounter is finding available accommodation over the xmas holidays as most of it is booked out well in advance. Best holidays I have ever had have been with my dogs and we have stayed in some fabulous dog friendly accommodation over the years, from farm stays, villas and houses a few minutes walk or drive to dog friendly beaches to dog friendly hotel

[JulesP]

I've been looking at Stayz. The main issue seems to be that they want you to book for 3+ nights over that period and I can only really do 1 night anyhow.

That Best Friend place looks great for the dogs.

Maybe I'll just book myself into a day spa treatment, lol.

[Tassie]

@ JulesP - why not.

Yes - minimum stay is an issue, especially at this time of year.

You should book yourself up something nice after the main holiday rush, if you can get away for a few days. I stayed in a super cottage in Echuca - fenced yard, outdoor eating set up, cottage with a lovely feel

Here's the link to it

Best Friends is great - are Ralph and Coralie stil lthere? They went over from here to there - they had a couple of lovely and talented Beagle girls - agility, tracking and obedience. I called in to see them early on - fabulous set up.

[cornell]

Yes do it!

We have booked through takeabreak.com.au

(Some of their pet friendly properties will let you stay for one night)

I agree, check to see if they are allowed indoors and if they are fully fenced.

GOOD LUCK!

[Staff'n'Toller]

I've done Best Friends with two dogs, and recently Phillip Island with three- but I had other human help!

Our dogs were great though, they didn't need a lot of management.

[wuffles]

We are taking both of ours on our drive up to Brisbane (from Canberra) this year. We haven't really had any problems finding pet friendly accommodation, Google is your friend I just googled the places we might like to stay along the way with "pet friendly" or "dogs allowed".

Last year we took our big boy to Bright, Harrietville, Mt Beauty and we had a great time. Heaps of pet friendly accommodation around there.

[altheau]

yeah we had similar problems in that alot of the places we looked at down the coast either had no fences, or did not allow the dogs inside or both. But good places are out there. We have decided this year though that Yuki is going to stay with the grand parents and have a holiday of her own (as they spoil the crap out of her hehe) as it gets a bit to hot for her down the coast at new years

[dancinbcs]

I took my two Borders on a 4500km, 16 day road trip in May last year. I chose May because of the mild weather but would be more careful about travelling in summer. I also picked an out of season time so I didn't need to book anywhere more than a day ahead and we could stop wherever I felt like stopping. We went from Sydney, through Wagga, Echuca, Bendigo, Ballarat, Melbourne, round the Great Ocean Rd, into SA, Adelaide, the Riverland and back through the Riverina, Batlow and Canberra.

For 10 of the nights, we stayed in dog friendly, houses, guesthouses, cabins, motels and caravans or with friends, where the dogs were allowed inside. The other 6 nights were in motels with the dogs in their crates in the car. Only the two houses had fenced yards but one of those had a low section so I had to be with the dogs when they were outside. Tariffs for two people and two dogs ranged from $60 - $140 per night.

Apart from the fact that we couldn't leave the dogs to go into some places, they were no trouble at all and thoroughly enjoyed their holiday.

Travelling at Christmas time is a lot harder though. Many places are booked out or have minimum number of nights and some places don't take dogs at all during school holidays. Hot weather also makes travelling with dogs very difficult as well. Winter holidays with dogs are great, summer ones more challenging.

[cassie]

Many campgrounds are dog friendly, although not many are available over Christmas/New Years. We've just booked a campground at Port Fairy in Victoria for over New Years, and we're taking Zeph with us Really excited can't wait!

[2tollers]

We're staying in Port Fairy for 2 weeks at http://www.gumtreecaravanpark.com.au/ and we've stayed here before http://www.skenescreek.com/.

Skenes Creek was great. It was like staying at an old fashioned caravan park. Facilities were basic but clean and it's right on the beach. Dogs are very welcome and you get to meet other dogs.

I'm hoping Port Fairy will be a great place for kids and dogs.

[2tollers]

Many campgrounds are dog friendly, although not many are available over Christmas/New Years. We've just booked a campground at Port Fairy in Victoria for over New Years, and we're taking Zeph with us Really excited can't wait!

Which camp grounds have you booked in to? We're booked into Gum Tree Caravan Park from 2/1/11.