This particular Winter holiday with the dog had a few bumps, and I don't mean in the roads. Our experience just goes to show that you need to carefully plan for a successful vacation with dogs, but you also need a plan B in case life throws you a curve ball and your carefully planned dog vacation goes off the rails!
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| When your dog friendly vacation bites back! |
We had planned a wonderful week-long ski vacation. Vermont is super dog friendly, and we brought our Husky along on the road trip from Florida to New Hampshire and then Vermont. We couldn't wait to hike with her through the snow and engage in some fun dog friendly activities with her!
Waterville Valley, New Hampshire is a favorite spot of ours, especially in Winter. The Waterville Valley resort area has a fabulous cross country ski trail that happens to be dog friendly! Our dogs have always loved long hikes on this trail. It's beautifully groomed and runs parallel to a charming stream. There are also two picturesque foot bridges you can hike over.
We started with a 4 day stay in Waterville Valley and planned to visit Vermont right afterwards. After the first day everything was going along according to plan, until this happened......!
Our Vacation With The Dog to Vermont
Because I downhill ski and my husband cross country skis, we take turns skiing. I had the first day to ski, my husband had the second.
I skied the first day and it was glorious! The second day was my husband's turn to ski. While I was resting in the hotel room with my dog that day, I got a call from my husband. He'd been skiing for 2 hours and was having the time of his life!
My husband mentioned he was feeling a bit tired but that he wanted to explore another trail. He planned to ski out another half hour and ski back a half hour - that's another hour of skiing, which is quite taxing if you're already feeling tired!
Knowing how driven my husband can be with any and all physical activities, and knowing how accident prone he is, I strongly suggested that he "end the day on a high note" and just come back to the hotel. We had a few more days left to ski and I didn't want to risk one of us getting injured on the second day. Of course, my stubborn hubby insisted he was fine and that he could easily ski another hour.
The next phone call I got from him went like this.....
"Honey, can you come down to the lobby, and bring a chair that has wheels?" I said "What? Why do you need a chair with wheels? Why do you need a chair at all?? I should have known.
Of course, he fell and got injured. No doubt because he was tired and insisted on continuing to ski.
Actually, he couldn't walk at all. He had fallen and hit his hip and thigh area hard. That was the end of his ski vacation - and the start of me having to do everything myself. It was also the end of us having a great Winter vacation planned for our dog. Images of her romping around on long, snowy hiking trails with the two of us quickly faded.
My husband didn't really need a doctor, he just needed to say off his feet completely and rest. For how long, we weren't sure.
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| My dog Icy sleeping in her bed in the hotel room |
My poor Husky ended up spending most of the time in the hotel room with nothing to entertain her and No Snow to play in! I ended up having to walk her three times a day, including late night potty walks around the hotel parking lot. I did all the dog feeding, and I had to go out to get food for my husband and I day and night as well. None of the romantic restaurant dinners we had hoped for. No room service in the pet friendly hotel we were staying at either!
Two days later I had to drive 200 miles to the second, resort hotel we had planned to stay in. Canceling that part of our trip barely 48 hours before arrival would have resulted in losing 100% of the money we paid for that hotel, and it wasn't cheap!
Oh well, for better or for worse, right? So I played caregiver for both my husband and my dog for the next 5 days, and then drove much of the 1,200 miles home.
We live in Florida, so I was Determined to give our snow dog some fun in the snow. I managed to get her on to a dog friendly trail that we have always loved, about 21 miles from our hotel. John agreed to stay in the car while I took her out on the beautiful snowy trail for about 30 minutes. Here's a short video of Icy enjoying the Winter Wonderland!
In retrospect, I should have been better prepared for a possible injury, illness or other mishap.
* I wish I had researched dog walkers in the area
* I wish I had researched doggie day camp in the area
* I should have looked into how I could get some help, and possibly one more day of skiing in.
*I shouldn't have booked the second hotel, which had NO refund policy if you cancel within 2 weeks of your stay. We could have gone home 4 days earlier.
But I didn't do any of that.
I was so blindsided by my husband's injury and complete inability for him to walk, I just did everything myself and gave in to the idea that we were stuck there even though our vacation was technically over.
I try to hang on to the snippets of fun and beauty we did get to experience. And the times I was able to bring Icy out in the snow, which was so much fun for her!
What about you? Have you ever had a major mishap or disappointment when travelling with your dog? Leave us a comment and share your experience!
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Other posts you might enjoy:
Dog Friendly Summer Vacation in Vermont
Dog Friendly trip to Portsmouth New Hampshire
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