I asked friends on social media to tell us about their best vacations with pets.
They told wonderful tales and shared some evocative vacation photos!
Mandy Lorian (Wisconsin) I have Biggs on a trip out west now! We rented an SUV and have been hitting up national parks and forests. You have to modify your activities slightly because there are a number of trails that dogs can’t hike on due to being “eco bait,” but there’s still plenty they can do!
Photo by Mandy Lorian
Kim Campbell Thornton (California) Harper and I flew up to Oregon in 2019 for a nosework trial. The day before, we drove the coast all day in our rental SUV, exploring and listening to country music. The day of, we acquitted ourselves respectably, doing well enough to get our Elite1 title. We had a good meal at a brewpub in the evening. The day after, we went to the carousel museum before flying home later that day. It was a great three days.
Photo by Kim Campbell Thornton
Jennifer Grant (New Mexico) I took my older dog with my then-boyfriend and his dog to Maine and rented a house. My dog seemed to re-find his youth, climbing rocks by the ocean and exploring. He loved it.
Kasia Mikurda (Texas) I took my senior Chi mix to Colorado and had the same experience. She even regained her appetite!
Lauren Fetterman (California) Pet-friendly Airbnb in the foothills of California.
Photo by Lauren Fetterman
Kathryn Horn (California) Three months and 14,000 miles around the country with a travel-trailer for home. I’d leave again in a heartbeat—it would have to be with a different dog—if I could. (Shorter trips are also lovely!)
Here he is in Gettysburg at Little Round Top.
Photo by Kathryn Horn
Amy Suggars (Ohio) KD and I recently stayed at The Retriever Retreat in Clarkrange, Tennessee. It was a relatively easy drive from Ohio. We spent a week training with Sherie Korelitz Catledge of Bear Country Retrievers and Gun Dogs, learning advanced retrieving skills. There were six other retrievers and their owners attending with us. We all stayed in small cabins on the property and most meals were served on site. The setting was beautiful, the food delicious, and the company was fantastic! KD and I both learned so much and had a lot of fun!
A typical day started with breakfast and some discussion around the table. Then we headed outside for retriever training both on land and water. The training was customized toward the needs of the attendees. After lunch we had more training on different skills. Good conversation was served with dinner! After dinner there was time to do homework (skill drills with your dog) before tumbling in to bed!
Photo by Amy Suggars
Julie Ellingson (California) Visiting my grandparents in Oregon. Mom piled our Saint Bernard, CeeCee, our Dalmatian, Mackie, Mehitabel the goat kid, and my sister and me in our 1970 Volkswagen Bug and drove from Sacramento to Bend, Oregon. My sister and I had a blast. (My mother, probably not as much.) Goat hooves are sharp on a lap, by the way! And Saint Bernards are hot in a little Bug in summer. This was a million years ago—the Bug was new.
Lynn Cashion Kosmakos (California) Dog-friendly beaches from Canada to Mexico, camping in a converted Promaster cargo van. Just a Border Collie + old lady. We haven’t yet hit them all, but will. The dog is equally happy in a busy California state park with tons of kids or boondocking alone with elk or bears hanging around.
Photo by Lynn Cashion Kosmakos
Trish Ryan (New Jersey) Sussex County NJ! Friends have a farm with a cottage for guests, and Gracie is loving farm life!
Photo by Trish Ryan
Shelly Keel (California) Three-month RV trip around the U.S. with my then two-year-old Dakota and a nephew and a niece. Visiting the Grand Canyon, family history sites, national monuments, Niagara Falls, and camping . . . lots of camping.
Photo by Shelly Keel
Trillium Schlosser (Oregon) Costa Rica! Mountains, cloud forests, oceans, new smells. It was wonderful.
Sandie Hanlon (Massachusetts) We flew from Boston to Phoenix with my border collie who was coming to compete at USDAA National Agility Championships. Before the competition, we took time to drive up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We stayed two days and did some short dog-safe hikes with great views and memories kept in photos. From there we drove to Second Mesa on Navajo land, and found ourselves standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, before heading to Sedona for three days. There we walked through canyons and found some incredible trails with vortexes where many people gather. Ty had clay-colored paws from the hiking in those famous landmarks, many seen in Western movies. The last leg of the trip was to Scottsdale, where we met up with friends and ran agility courses and finished in the top 10%.
Alisha Ardiana (California) We rented a house in Ukiah. The dog hunted for lizards and floated in the pool. We specifically rented the house because we wanted QUIET. It was amazing to see the difference in the dog. She was so happy, she didn’t bark, and she happily explored the property independently. The behavior is not in the dog—they respond to the environment we put them in!
Photo by Alisha Ardiana
April Stevenson (Washington) Road trips from Spokane to Florida and back five times with my German shepherd and great Pyrenees. Best times ever.
Jackie Pritchard (Canada) Drove out to Tofino on Vancouver Island from Calgary, Alberta, with our three dogs. Camped at Pacific Rim National Park.
Marcy Rauch (New York) Acadia National Park in Maine. Hiking with a friend and her GSD and my deaf Aussie (who proved to be part mountain goat on the trails). Amazing trails and vistas, dog-friendly restaurant in the middle of the park, and a great house rental overlooking the water. It was a fantastic week!
Christine Hale Vertucci (Illinois) I have two. First, I drove with Omar from Chicago to New York and then Massachusetts for two nosework trials. Just the two of us. It took two days to get there and back, but our trip lasted 10 days. We rented an Airbnb and hiked and visited wineries every day. We had such a great time just relaxing together.
Photo by Christine Hale Vertucci
Second, Kima and I drove from Chicago to Los Angeles with a friend and her dog last September. It was during COVID, so many things were closed, but we had a blast. We stopped in Moab (on my bucket list), did nosework on the Vegas strip, took pictures where we got married— I got married in Sedona, stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, went to Santa Fe, Taos, and the Grand Canyon, and played on the beach by the Pacific Ocean. Many, many stops in between.
Photo by Christine Hale Vertucci
Debby McMullen (Pennsylvania) Lubec, Maine, for 10 days with Kenzo and Trent, after tourist season, along the rocky coast. It was amazing and peaceful.
Photo by Debby McMullen
Darcey Byrne (Washington) Mount Washington in New Hampshire in winter! Cross-country skiing and camping.
Phyllis DeGioia (Wisconsin) We rented a lakeside cabin in the woods for a week in spring and brought both dogs. Despite my collie’s fear of and refusal to go out on the deck overlooking the lake, we had a fantastic, relaxing time. They loved having to be walked several times a day instead of being let out into the back yard. Lots of reading, snuggling, and naps. Heaven!
Sarah Langevin-Gaspar (Florida) Oh! We went to Nashville with Spirit! It was winter, and he loved the cold (as we’re from Florida). We found a hotel that seemed to like dogs better than humans, and they had lovely set-ups in the rooms for pets. We ended up going to all sorts of parks, chased many squirrels, and he was admired by many people. The best part of the trip was when we first got to our hotel room. He jumped on the bed and looked at us like, “This is wonderful. Where are you guys sleeping?” Oooooh . . . and he also got to ride in an elevator for the first time in his life there. It was just so much fun to be able to share a vacation with my pup.
