Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Big dogs deserve vacations too!

It is really great that so many hotels are now pet friendly.  Some even offer additional amenities for the vacationing pooches.  But did you know that lots of hotels have weight restrictions for their four-legged guests?  The restriction does not make a whole lot of sense to me--I know plenty of gentle giants that tread more lightly than dogs the size of their head.  This means that the most common family dog--the Labrador-cannot travel with their packs.  Giant George would surely be excluded, as well as medium sized mutts like me.

My friends at GoPetFriendly.com have teamed up with AndASmallDog.com to get the message to hotels because big dogs deserve vacations too!  They have launched a campaign called Give Big Dogs a Break where they are collecting signatures for a petition they will send to hotels to encourage them to lift their strict restrictions on size.

In part, the petition states, "We believe size should not be a factor in deciding which pets are appropriate hotel guests. Other factors, such as training, temperament and level of socialization are far more indicative of a well-behaved pet. By instituting alternative policies, such as cleaning charges and crating requirements, hotels can welcome large dogs and avoid the undesirable outcomes their weight restrictions are designed to prevent." Click here to read more and sign the petition!

5 comments:

  1. I signed the petition! I'd love to be able to take my big boys on vacation with me!

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  2. Thank you so much for lending support to this cause on your blog.

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  3. I have an 80 lb, well behaved dog. When we checked into the Hotel Nikko in SF i was unaware of the fine print of their dog policy. My dog sat patiently at the desk as I signed in, the front desk clerk gave us a weird look. I asked "is there a problem"? She smiled and said "we have a 30 lb limit, how much does your dog weigh"? I responded witha staight face--"30 lbs". We checked in and have returned on several occasions. Happy at Hotel Nikko.

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  4. If you are traveling to Savannah, GA., I can highly recommend Mermaid Cottages on Tybee Island 15 mins. outside Savannah. Most of their cottages are pet friendly without weight restrictions. Thet have fenced backyards and there are 2 dogparks on Tybee. My husband and I jsut returned from there and took our four dogs and had a great time!

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  5. Sorry - I just saw this post! Thanks for sharing our petition - we're racking up the signatures but still need help. We now have downloadable petitions available at www.givebigdogsabreak.com - great for taking to the dog park or Yappy Hour! Just scan and email them back, or we'll provide postage.
    Thanks again for your support! Big dogs deserve breaks, too!

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