No room at the doggy inn?
japra | Jul 14, 2009 | Comments 24
Trudy on the Noordzee.
We’ve hit a little glitch on our summer vacation plans. The hotels are reserved and our car is serviced, but we cannot seem to find a kennel or pet sitter for Trudy! Every place I’ve tried is fully booked.
What in the world?
Apparently, people make reservations months (sometimes six months) in advance. I do have a few more enquiries out, but if we can’t find a place today, we’re going to have to scrap this particular vacation and just do day trips from here. It’s not a bad alternative, but still…
Filed Under: Blog • Expat Life • Featured
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Hi
How about taking Trudy with you?
I am sure there are some pet friendly hotels available..
Sharon
Hi Sharon! That is something we are looking into, but not for the trip we had in mind initially (it involved more sightseeing than outdoors-ing). I’m going to do some “Plan B” research today :-)
We’ve gone through this before. Frustrating, I know. The Netherlands were probably the most dog friendly spots we’ve ever been, where dogs were routinely allowed in restaurants. It’s been awhile since we were there so maybe things have changed…? Good luck.
The best laid plans… LOL! Thanks for your sympathy :-)
This may be a really stupid idea but at the univ. near here they keep a list of babysitters for local families. Is there a univ. near you that might have students looking for this kind of work?
Actually, Julia, that is a great idea. Our school has an online bulletin board and I found a few people that way, but it was too late as we had already cancelled our trip. Just goes to show that sometimes last minute isn’t necessarily the way to go! LOL
Oh no! Have you thought of a pet friendly hotel where you could take Trudy with? Some self-catering places do have room for pets. I googled this: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dog+friendly+hotels+europe
Emm, we did think of this, but there were several things we wanted to do in Switzerland that would require us to leave Trudy for many, many hours in a hotel room. Maybe if we had planned a different vacation, taking her along would have been ok. Have you taken trips with your dogs? I just wondered what happens when you need to leave them in the room… do you bring along a travel kennel?
No, we haven’t taken them yet. I would really, really love to do it but Stephen isn’t keen, saying that he wants a holiday away from all responsibilities. I think if we did go (maybe to the Lake District) the idea would be to take a holiday with them and eat self-catering etc. But still, that means that you can’t even go out and have a meal! They are way too big to leave in a hotel room alone – they’d go spare.
Trudy is big too–about 32K, so a bit much in the hotel. I think a trip to the Lake District with your dogs would be wonderful, though!
Poor Trudy! These folks must be amazingly organized to know six months in advance the who, what, when and where of their vacations! And I was so looking forward to a travel blog! Not that all your posts aren’t wonderful.
Lucy Lucia, the only thing I can think of is the Dutch have a short break between school years and take a lot of their vacation during the summer months. I know our yard guy was going to take THREE WEEKS off. And this is during his busy season too. Very different from America, huh?
Poor Trudy is going to feel very deprived if she has to miss her holiday. She was so looking forward to going away Hope you can find a dog friendly place for her
Barbara, you’re funny! :-)
glad you have a backup plan, and maybe a better idea will surface. so frustrating.
Christine, it IS! But I have to say, in a way I am glad we had to cancel our trip to Switzerland because it is supposed to rain there for the next four days. It would have made for some soggy hiking!
Hey, JaPRA!! We’ll watch Trudy!
This is surprising. I wonder if there are not as many dog hotels there? It’s very hard to find a good place for our babies. I sure hope you find something…
OK, we’ll be right over! Hahaha!
SIX months in advance? Really?
Yes! I’ve never lived in a place where there’s been a shortage of kennels. *sigh*
What a pain about Trudy. Six months sounds excessive. Can you find a teenager? At least you have a new country to explore at your doorstep.
Those sand castle/sculptures below are impressive.
Sarah, it is a great pain! Apparently this is the busy holiday season. People tend to go on vacation for three weeks at a time. Maybe because the summer school break is so short? And yes, at least we have a new country to for our new adventures (though I wasn’t quite done with England yet…). Hope you’re having a lovely holiday :-)
I’ll watch Trudy, but I can’t get away right now. Can she fly back to Texas?
Wouldn’t she love that?!