Hotel Rooms
 

So, we need to drive down to Florida next week for a relative's wedding. I have decided to take Mia with us because I just can't bring myself to leave her in a cage for 5 (or possibly more) days at the vet's office. We are staying at a pet friendly hotel. They accept dogs up to 60 lbs, so we should be just fine LOL. Apparently they even have dog kits when you check-in. Anyhow, I remember reading that I should not leave Mia alone in a hotel room. We are bringing her xpen with us, and I thought it would be fine to leave her in there (with wee wee pads, toys, water, food, etc.) with a do not disturb sign on the door. BUT, I want to know if there is a danger I am not aware of. Is it okay to leave her in the hotel room for several hours? If not, why?
Thanks!

is mia a barker?

we frequent pet friendly hotels in florida too. we leave romeo alone only in upscale hotels. i tell the desk and give them my cell phone number. they are usually cool with it. i usually make sure i really exhaust him first so i know he will be sleeping. i will take him for a long walk or car ride and poop him out. at the royal pacific in orlando the bell men offer to walk him while we are out!

Well... it's hard to say. She doesn't bark out of the blue. She used to make me stay in her sight at all times but recently she has been much better about it. She is more of a crier than a barker. Even then, she seems to stop after a while. We will stay in a suite, but I don't know how much difference that makes.

Thanks Romeo's Mommy. If I end up deciding to leave her alone, I will inform the front desk, and I will tire her out first :)

informing the front desk is good. leave the tv on for her to have company and also cover up any noise so that she keeps the barking down. i would not want anyone to think you are not there, hear her and decide to come and get her.
it is a shame that they don't offer to puppy sit her while you are gone. I am sure she would be a hit with them all.
when we had to leave ahia and buckeye while on a trip to a ball game, we hired a dog sitter. it worked out really well for us. other wise we would have been kicked out for the noise that i am sure they would have created.:aimeeyork :aimeeyork

I was going to take Pixie with me on a business trip once... But then someone said "Won't you be afraid someone will get into the room and take her while you're gone?" :( That ruined it. Now I'm too paranoid to take her to a hotel and leave her alone.

We frequently took Mitzi with us to hotels and motels. With her travel play pen, the TV on and the 'Do not disturb' sign we never had any problems. :aimeeyork

I worked the front desk of a mid-scale, worldwide, hotel chain, (small town)barking was the only problem we ever had with a dog left in a room. The television was not left on though, that probably would have made a difference. Some of the front desk staff there would have been happy to dogsit for the guests, a couple would not have, they weren't dog people. In our area I would not have been too worried someone would take the dog, in other markets though, I'm not familiar enough with their history to say whether or not thievery is a problem. I would certainly put out the DND sign. Housekeeping would never go into a room with a DND, they didn't need any more cleaning to do, so they did avoid those rooms.

It is funny, because this is how I ended up with Ruby, a guest at the hotel asked me to hold her yorkie while she got a bagel from our breakfast bar, I held the dog, (I'm not a dog person) fell in love and had to have one. Spent the next two months looking, wanting, searching, researching and finally Ruby is here. I've now quit work and stay home with her, what a happy ending, huh?:D :D

I'm nervous too!!!!!
 

I'm ahving the same issue. I have to go to competitions to coach (for my job) and got a small dog to take with me. This week will be our first competition (he is 6mos old). I have to leave him in the hotel for 1-3 hours at a time because taking him to the rink is too much. I pray that he doesn't bark or that no one steals him...but there is nothing else I can do besides constantly leaving him with my family (who acts like they've just given me a kidney for watching him and makes me feel guilty) or in a kennel (which I won't do). All the hotels I've looked at always say you can't leave a dog in the room. I plan on getting up early and taking him for an hour walk before I leave, gating him in the bathroom with pee pad, TV on, and DND sign out (I HOPE the maids will respect that and not come in. When I am not coaching and just at the rink, I plan on having him in his bag with me. On the last day, I have to check out early and still have one more skater to stand with. I'm going to have to keep him zipped up in his bag. Dogs are allowed in the rink but I don't want to look unprofessional and have people gushing over him when I am trying to coach. So I thought...if I can train him to stay quiet in the bag...no one would know. I bought some meaty bones to throw in there to entice him...can't decide if I should give them to him raw or cooked. If I boil them...i think it would take all the enticment out.
Anyways...my point is...I'm nervous too.
suz

When we go away and bring Holly I put a do not distrub sign on the door, make her very tired before we leave by going for a walk. I give her a bully stick which will keep her busy for hours and leave my cell phone number with the front desk if she gets too loud or noisy with the other guest. I left Holly for up to 5 hours in the hotel room. She was fine.

I'm Nervous Too
 

Yorkieskater, just a suggestion; on your last day ask the hotel for a late checkout time. I don't know what time you would leave the rink that day, but at the hotel where I worked we routinely had guest request and receive late ck out times, say 2:00 - 3:00, at no extra charge. This might give you most of the day w/o having to worry about where to keep your dog:) .

I tried that. I can't get a late check out because of the busy weekend. I'd have to pay a whole other day fee.
My mother is trying to discourage me from bringing him saying that she has had cameras and things stolen from her hotel room and she is afraid he will get stolen.
I don't know what to do. ugh.
suz

Sorry But,
 

I have done that. Left Daisy in a pet friendly hotel, put the no disturb sign on the door and left to Disney World for the Day....but the whole entire time I was there I could not enjoy myself. I was worried the whole time about Daisy. Afterall you really never know what could happen. Anything is possible ,That's why personally I would never do that again...

Thanks all!!!
We have a dog sitter dvd, so I might leave that on. Or, if you have any channel suggestions, I would be willing to try them out.
I am not worried about Mia being stolen, because, well, it just doesn't seem like a hotel where people can (or would) steal things out of rooms. Besides, the wedding reception is downstairs, so I can go upstairs and check on Mia as frequently as I like.
They may have a pet sitting service. If so, we will explore that option.

yorkieskater-- best of luck, I wish I could provide an easy answer to your problem. To keep your dog silent in the bag, keep giving him small bits of treats every 5-10 minutes till he falls asleep. Mia stays quiet when I do that.

There are definatly places I wouldn't leave him in a hotel: New York City, Disney, Las Vegas, etc. The place I am going is rural and you can walk down the street naked and nothing will happen to you.
I took Sparks in his bag shopping yesterday and he did pretty well. 30min zipped up. I think I would like a bigger bag but I don't want it to look like "I've got a dog in here". I can't tell what is big enough for them to be comfortable in for long hours...like on a plane ride. At the rink, I can get away with a "big bag" type carrier because people expect oversize bags at the rink. Shopping, (because I am 5'1") I have to go with a smaller bag because it would be too obvious. I've bought two bags from Celltei already because Sparks grew. Ugh. Don't want to invest more money there right now.
suz