BISCUITS ON ARRIVAL, DESIGNER DOG BEDS, and supercute Do Not Disturb signs are just the beginning. Hotels now offer dog-walking and cat-sitting services, kitty litter boxes, and even wildlife videos (to make your own beast feel more at ease). Is homesickness a problem?At the Alexis Hotel in Seattle, the concierge can book a session with an animal psychologist. All this is leading to a revolution in hotel housekeeping. Chambermaids at Loews hotels use HEPA filters to remove pet evidence when they vacuum the rooms, ensuring the next guest's comfort.
But what about going abroad?While many deluxe restaurants in France and Italy welcome dogs big and small, a number of countries require lengthy, hazardous quarantines, and more than a few enforce breed restrictions—which is why I can never travel to the Netherlands with my pit bulls. The United Kingdom's six-month quarantine is notorious (Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and their Pekingese once skirted it by taking up residence on a yacht docked in the Thames); many people would be shocked to learn that even closer to home, Hawaii has one, too.
Although pets have been flying in cargo on passenger planes since 1950, they haven't always survived the trip, and pet people know instinctively that the only way to ensure Fluffy's safe passage is never to let her out of your sight. Worry-free air travel is now a reality for small pets, thanks to the efforts of flight attendant turned entrepreneur Gayle Martz, who campaigned arduously to get her soft-sided, under-the-seat Sherpa Bag approved by most major airlines. The only plane that allows you to book a seat for your pet is the Concorde, and big dogs everywhere are hopeful that it will resume commercial flights this fall.
But preparing to transport your pet abroad, even in a carrier, entails a lot of legwork. To the busy pet lover's rescue comes a new species of travel agent, to tell you exactly which inoculations and documents are required.
"WE ARE A FULL-SERVICE PET TRAVEL AGENCY, so we do all the hard work," explains Matthew Oberlander of Lori Travel in Miami, which has sent cats to Cancún and a chow chow to Glasgow (by way of Amsterdam). One client who was relocating to Italy needed to move her cat, two dogs, and 11 potbellied pigs. "She made two trips back and forth," Oberlander recalls, "because the State Department allows only ten farm animals to travel at a time, and the airlines permit only two pets per plane."
It can be easier to charter a plane, an option frequently exercised by the high-flying pet set. Oberlander also advises clients to charter boats. "Rent a yacht and bring your pet on board with you," he says. "There's no headache, and you can travel anywhere you want, provided pets are welcome at your destination."
Nowhere are they more welcome than in California, which might as well be called Cloud Canine. The Cypress Inn in Carmel (where there's no leash law on the beach to put a crimp in a game of fetch) is part-owned by animal activist Doris Day and provides complimentary dog biscuits, a dispenser for pickup bags, and fuzzy blankets to protect bedspreads from sandy paws. In San Francisco, where dog runs go by the seriously P.C. term OLA's, or Off-Leash Areas, the Hotel Monaco supplies a chew toy, ball, and doggie scoop bags at check-in; provides temporary ID tags in case your pet should stray; and offers turndown service complete with bottled water and liver biscotti.
If the dog run isn't enough of a challenge, why not sniff out the Dordogne?Europeds offers Doggie Walk tours of this region as well as Provence, where dogs can accompany guests into Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels. And fitness-conscious Fidos will love Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos, Mexico. They can tag along with you for beach and desert walks and wind down in tandem, too, with the ultimate spa pampering: a 25-minute side-by-side session with a massage therapist who's expert in human and canine relaxation. But nothing longer than that. "Usually," explains a staffer, "dogs don't want a really long massage."
Julia Szabo writes the Pets column for the Sunday New York Post. Her book, Animal House Style: Designing a Home to Share with Your Pets (Bulfinch Press) was just published.
