help....driving cross country with dog.....

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:paw:good evening fellow travellers.......i am going to be travelling from Washington DC to Portland OR with my big ol' yellow lab. I have never driving cross country b4 and am looking for advice about routes, dog friendly hotels etc. Does anyone have any advice of places to stay? She is a great traveller in the car so that shouldnt be a problem, but havent got a clue how many days it will take or what hotels are dog friendly.....any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Adult & Peds psych, PICU, nsg mgmt.

i know super 8s allow large dogs, usually there's a little extra charge.

try:

www.petswelcome.com

http://www.dogfriendly.com

http://www.bringyourpet.com

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much appreciated!!!

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Check with the hotels in advance. In some states it is actually illegal to house a dog in a hotel room, so you may need to plan your travel to avoid having to stop overnight in such a state.

When we moved to NC, we spent several nights in a hotel awaiting our furniture. We learned that dogs could not legally be kept in hotel rooms, and although the hotel owner was sympathetic, the best he could offer was to refer us to a kennel. Fortunately we were in Charlotte, very near the SC border, where pets were allowed, so we just changed hotels.

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Specializes in Peds, ER/Trauma.

On most of the major travel sites (kayak, travelocity, expedia....) there is an option to check "allows pets" when searching for hotel rooms. Once you find a hotel that says it allows pets, call the hotel before you book to see what if any is the extra charge (usually $10-20 extra/night), and to make sure there are no size/breed restrictions. I have been traveling for over a year and a half, and have driven across the country several times with my dog, and have never had any problems finding pet-friendly hotels.

Also, the information about it being illegal to have a pet in a hotel room in NC is false.... click here to see a list of NC hotels that allow pets: http://www.1clickpethotels.com/northcarolina.htm

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I made the cross-country trip 6 years ago with two labs. Go to AAA. They'll map the best route, alerting you to construction detours, etc. They will also give you books for every state you're traveling through that will have hotels listed. I went through them beforehand and marked all the ones on my route that were pet friendly. If you're a member, it's all free. If you're not member, joining is well worth it (approximately $55) prior to setting out. There are long stretches of nothing while traveling and you never know when car problems can occur. The trip was so enjoyable. My only regret is that I didn't allow myself more time for sight-seeing along the way. Safe travels.:D

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I've always traveled with my (big) dogs. I don't know how fussy you are about accommodations & amentities, but the Motel 6 chain has a nation-wide corporate policy that pets are always welcome unless it's not permitted by state law (and I haven't actually been in a state yet where that was an issue), no big deal, no extra charge (lots of motels/hotels that advertise as "pet-friendly" define "friendly" as charging a hefty surcharge for having a pet with you). The motels are definitely not "upscale," but I've found them to be clean and comfortable (nicer than a lot of other "economy" motels).

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Thanx So Much..info Greatly Appreciated

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Happy Trails!!! :)

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Specializes in ED/Trauma.

I have also driven cross country several time and always try to stay in a Motel 6.Pet friendly,no pet fee,they don't seem to care about the dogs size either.[i have a 70lb lab mix].They are a no frills chain,but usually you just need somewhere to sleep and shower.

Although this won't affect you they also give a 10-15% discount for AARP members. :)

Happy travels.

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Also re: Motel 6, you can make reservations in advance on-line OR, if you're more of a "free spirit" than that, you can pick up the published directory of all the Motel 6 properties the first time you stay at one (they publish an updated version each year), and just look in the directory for where the closest Motel 6 is when you're getting ready to stop for the day.

For many years (decades, now that I think of it), I've always kept the current Motel 6 directory in the glovebox of the car at all times! :)

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thankyou, i feel way more comortible picking up and going now after your info.....motel 6 is about to become my new travel partner!! when you have travelled do you take the highway route I80 to I84? are they all along that route?

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