Columbus Day weekend is the perfect time to make travel reservations, if you have companion animals.
Whether your furry pals are traveling with you or staying with friends for the holidays, make whatever reservations you will need as soon as possible.
Pet sitter and boarding kennel schedules can fill up fast for the holiday season. Airlines limit the number of pets in the cabin and pet-friendly lodgings might have no vacancies, if you wait too long.
Poppy usually travels with us and is packed and ready to go at a moments notice when we find a vacancy at one of our favorite vacation spots that welcome our whole family of three.
Friends & Family Deserve Notice Too
Even informal agreements with family, friends, and other pet lovers for care while you travel should be arranged well in advance to ensure a visitor will fit with their holiday plans. If you’re counting on Mom or Dad to take Fluffy while you are away, check now to see if that feline visitor is welcome this year.
We often meet dogs in the parks who are “grandpups” visiting their “grandparents.” If you have a family member or friend who shares your pet care values and is willing to take your place while you travel, you’re fortunate.
We've covered this topic many times before, both here and in other publications. Here are a couple of BostonZest posts with tips and more advice on boarding or traveling with your dog.
Our Poppy is a subway pro. We take her on the MBTA often enough to keep her acclimatized to the noise, crowded conditions, and movement of the trains. But, as someone who has ridden trains along the Northeast corridor, I know that the motion of those trains is not exactly the same as subway sways.
Under MBTA pet guidelines, your dog or cat is already welcome aboard the Commuter Rail. Pick a destination where you and your dog can have some fun and plan a day trip this spring.
How about Salem as a first trip? It's a fairly short, half hour ride with lots to do when you get there. (In summer, there is also a ferry to Salem which can be a great way to get a dog ready for boat rides.)
If that works out, you could try Newburyport for the next destination – it takes a little more than an hour to reach and should be a good test.
It would be a good idea for us to get Poppy used to riding in her Sherpa Pet Carrier because we usually travel off-peak on the subway and can hold her in a lap or in our arms.
CapeFLYER Is Pet Friendly
If a trip to Cape Cod is more to your liking, you and your dog or cat can ride the CapeFLYER to one of its stops, once the train resumes for the summer season. Pets ride free aboard this popular service. And, I have to wonder if the pet option is one of the reasons it was an immediate success.
New York, Portland, and Philadelphia Here We Come!
Once we are allowed to take Poppy with us, we'll be on board for three of our favorite car-free destinations: New York City, Philadelphia, and Portland, Maine.
The Downeaster to Portland should be one of the first test routes considering how dog-friendly that city happens to be. And, we look forward to spending more time in New York and Philadelphia.
Where will you go by train with your favorite companion animal?
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino Photography: istockphoto for the traveling dog image. Trains are courtesy of the Massachusetts Office of Tourism used under this creative commons license.
We know that our family would travel more if the entire family were allowed to travel by train. Right now, there is a pilot program under way in Illinois and a bill pending in the US House (The Pets on Trains Act of 2015, or H.R. 674) that would begin to allow some people with dogs and cats to ride on Amtrak.
Poppy waiting for a ride on the MBTA
Our Westie Poppy is welcome on the MBTA outside of rush hours. All our dogs have been passengers on ferries in Boston Harbor, Provincetown, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and in Portland Maine. We have never witnessed an incident with dogs on any of these trips. And, on ferries, there is no size limit and no carrier is required.
Not all dogs are appropriate passengers on all mass transit systems. And, it is often the worst case scenarios and most irresponsible people who ruin something like this for the rest of us. We would love to see a registry for dogs and cats allowed to participate, with microchip scanning as a part of the ticketed access.
This way you would only have to sign the responsibility waiver once and any person with a dog who jeopardizes the future of the program could be barred. It would be much better to have barriers to behavior than to size.
Here's Poppy in the back of a Zipcar. We do all we can to be sure her presence is not a problem for the next member to reserve the car.
Learn More and Take Action
Please take the time to learn a bit more about the value of this program to: those of us with companion animals, the environment, and businesses, then contact those who can make it happen. (As of this writing, our Representative, Michael Capuano of Massachusetts, is a co-sponsor of the bill, so we'll be sending him our support and thanks.)
The sponsor of the bill, U.S. Representative Jeff Denham has said, “Last year I worked in collaboration with Amtrak, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and a small working group to launch a six-month pilot program to test the idea of having pets on trains,” said Rep. Denham. “This legislation builds on the success of that pilot program and would help families nationwide save money and time in traveling with their pets while bringing in much-needed revenue for Amtrak.”
The original Co-sponsor, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen said, “For many Americans, pets are simply part of the family—and all of us lucky enough to have pets are incredibly blessed by the companionship they provide.” “I am proud to work with my friend, Congressman Denham, on this important legislation to ensure families can bring their pets when traveling on Amtrak and that pets aren’t left behind to fend for themselves.”
Allowing people to leave the car behind and travel by Mass transit helps with the congestion on the highways and is less polluting.
Businesses (like hotels, shops, and restaurants) that cater to people who travel with companion animals could see an increase in business if this passes.
Whether your Sunday Dog (or cat) is traveling with you or staying with friends for the holidays, it’s time to make that reservation.
Pet sitter and boarding kennel schedules can fill up fast this time of year, so here are some tips to make sure your pal will have all the comforts of home no matter where the journey leads.
All Set to Go!
If you’re considering a boarding kennel, insist on seeing exactly where your pet will be kept and inspect the entire facility before choosing one.
Dog hotels offer rooms with walls and furniture rather than wire pens or kennels and can be quieter, calmer, and more like a home environment.
Pet sitters will come to your home each day, stay in your home, or keep your pet in their home. If you use a dog walker, start with him or her.
There are also a few people in every neighborhood who make a little extra income by taking care of pets. If you ask neighbors for recommendations, you may find a gem in your area.
Some dog breeders provide boarding services for dogs in their line. In the case of small scale breeders, your pet could have the run of their home except at bedtime.
If you’re planning to fly with a small dog or cat, you’ll want to reserve a place in the cabin. Airlines limit the number of companion animals on each plane.
Even informal agreements with family, friends, and other pet lovers for care while you travel should be arranged well in advance to ensure a visitor will fit with their holiday plans.
If you have a dog or cat with serious health issues who needs careful monitoring of a medical condition or is very frail, consider boarding them at a veterinary hospital with 24-hour medical staff on duty. Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain offers this type of service.
Pull out your to-do list and move holiday planning to the top. Doing that now will feel like you’ve given a special gift to yourself when the time comes to travel.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Details: Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino Photography: iStockphoto.com
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.
Whether your Sunday Dog (or cat) is traveling with you or staying with friends for the holidays, it’s time to make that reservation.
Pet sitter and boarding kennel schedules can fill up fast this time of year, so here are some tips to make sure your pal will have all the comforts of home no matter where the journey leads.
All Set to Go!
If you’re considering a boarding kennel, insist on seeing exactly where your pet will be kept and inspect the entire facility before choosing one.
Dog hotels offer rooms with walls and furniture rather than wire pens or kennels and can be quieter, calmer, and more like a home environment.
Pet sitters will come to your home each day, stay in your home, or keep your pet in their home. If you use a dog walker, start with him or her.
There are also a few people in every neighborhood who make a little extra income by taking care of pets. If you ask neighbors for recommendations, you may find a gem in your area.
Some dog breeders provide boarding services for dogs in their line. In the case of small scale breeders, your pet could have the run of their home except at bedtime.
If you’re planning to fly with a small dog or cat, you’ll want to reserve a place in the cabin. Airlines limit the number of companion animals on each plane.
Even informal agreements with family, friends, and other pet lovers for care while you travel should be arranged well in advance to ensure a visitor will fit with their holiday plans.
If you have a dog or cat with serious health issues who needs careful monitoring of a medical condition or is very frail, consider boarding them at a veterinary hospital with 24-hour medical staff on duty. Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain offers this type of service.
Pull out your to-do list and move holiday planning to the top. Doing that now will feel like you’ve given a special gift to yourself when the time comes to travel.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Details: Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino Photography: iStockphoto.com
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.
Whether your Sunday Dog (or cat) is traveling with you or staying with friends for the holidays, it’s time to make that reservation.
Pet sitter and boarding kennel schedules can fill up fast this time of year, so here are some tips to make sure your pal will have all the comforts of home no matter where the journey leads.
All Set to Go!
If you’re considering a boarding kennel, insist on seeing exactly where your pet will be kept and inspect the entire facility before choosing one.
Dog hotels offer rooms with walls and furniture rather than wire pens or kennels and can be quieter, calmer, and more like a home environment.
Pet sitters will come to your home each day, stay in your home, or keep your pet in their home. If you use a dog walker, start with him or her.
There are also a few people in every neighborhood who make a little extra income by taking care of pets. If you ask neighbors for recommendations, you may find a gem in your area.
Some dog breeders provide boarding services for dogs in their line. In the case of small scale breeders, your pet could have the run of their home except at bedtime.
If you’re planning to fly with a small dog or cat, you’ll want to reserve a place in the cabin. Airlines limit the number of companion animals on each plane.
Even informal agreements with family, friends, and other pet lovers for care while you travel should be arranged well in advance to ensure a visitor will fit with their holiday plans.
If you have a dog or cat with serious health issues who needs careful monitoring of a medical condition or is very frail, consider boarding them at a veterinary hospital with 24-hour medical staff on duty. Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain offers this type of service.
Pull out your to-do list and move holiday planning to the top. Doing that now will feel like you’ve given a special gift to yourself when the time comes to travel.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Details: Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino Photography: iStockphoto.com
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.
because we usually travel off-peak on the subway and can hold her in a lap or in our arms. 
from here to support this site!