Chances of pet loop??

[Villains_Rock]

My hubby and I have just returned from WDW and are planning our next trip. We have a rescue dog that is VERY needy of our attention. He has been a wreck since we've gotten home. He's 100 lbs and has been in our laps since we've returned. We cannot leave him at a boarding center because he doesn't get along with other dogs and has fear aggresion towards strangers from being abused be previous owners (that is calmed if we are present). We have decided to rent an RV for our next trip so that we can bring him with us, but I am worried that we will not get a pet site, as it is only a request and not confirmed. I have no idea what we would do if we do not get one. We are thinking of going from Dec 5th-11th 2010...what are the chances that we would not get a pet site??

 

[becky1960]

You will not have any problem, if the pet loops were full they just put you in an overflow pet loop. There was info posted lately that said they are putting pets in just about all loops...

 

[BradyBz12]

All of our dogs are rescues, and I volunteer with a rescue group as well. Your dog is very lucky to have found you!

It's only the specific loop that is a request, not whether or not you have a pet. When you make your reservation they will note that you have a pet and assign you to an appropriate loop accordingly. There is a $5 per night for your pet. I've never heard of anyone with a pet reservation showing up and being told there were no spots for pets.

One thing I'd highly recommend is to try and do some practice camping runs before you head to FW with him for the first time - especially if your dog has any issues being left alone and/or has not camped before.

If you're renting a camper, you may want to crate him when you're not there, just to be on the safe side - both so that he doesn't damage anything in the rental unit, and also to be sure he isn't able to get into trouble and hurt himself. If he's not used to being crated, definitely start working on that now. You want him to be as comfortable as possible in the camper - for his own sake and that of your neighbors.

Our dogs go camping with us all the time now, and we've worked out a good routine that works for us (and them) whereby they can be happy and quiet in the camper when we're not there. I've seen folks show up at FW with dogs who've never been camping before, and very often it's not a good situation for them, the dog or their neighbors.

Biggest thing is knowing your dog well, and what does/doesn't work for him. One of our dogs has issues with other dogs, so we don't take him to the FW dog park. Instead he gets his exercise along the canal dog walk. On the other hand, our 2 girls are very social and will go to the dog park to get the zoomies out.

We also know that if our dogs can't see/hear what's going on outside the TT, they won't bark, so we make sure to draw the blinds, run the air/fan and put the TV or radio on.

Our gang is fine with being left alone and we plan out our days to make sure they get the walks/exercise/attention they need. It's some extra work, but in the end it's all worth it for us all to be happy and have a great vacation!

Good luck!

 

[Born 2 Fish]

You will be okay,,just be sure to tell them that you have a four legged sweety. We have been taking our puppy for the past 6 years, we make our ressies bout a year out and have always gottn a pet loop.
If the pet loops are full when you arrive, Disney will not turn you away if youhave pet/ressies,,don't worry.

 

[freshlybarked]

I would copy everything said previously. Both our dogs are rescues and we have never gone on vacation without them. They are used to the RV and don't mind being alone. We come back every day mid day for several hours take them for long walks and to the dog park (might be fine for you also if there are no dogs there at the time). We have found we have the dog park to ourselves about 1/2 the time. If you are there alone and someone wants to use it, just ask them to wait a minute and collect your dog. Someone did that on our last trip and we just waited outside for a minute while they left. We had no problem with that and would rather have been asked than have a problem coming in. Anyway, pet loops are always available as said. You may also want to leave something fun and interesting for your little one when you go. We usually freeze some peanut butter inside a kong. By the time they are done with that it's usually nap time for them anyway. We always crank the air up high and turn on the TV.

From one rescue parent to another....Thanks. They all need love. Have a great time.

 

[BradyBz12]

We usually freeze some peanut butter inside a kong. By the time they are done with that it's usually nap time for them anyway.

Great tip! We always freeze up some stuffed kongs ahead for our gang too. Just about every time we've snuck back to the TT they were fast asleep.

 

[BradyBz12]

oops - double post

 

[Villains_Rock]

Wow...thank you all for the suggestions and support! Our guy is fine being alone during the day since my hubby and I both work full time. Same thing...if he doesn't know that there are other dogs out there then he doesn't care to bark. Blinds closed and white noise works wonders with him!

All in all...he is a very good dog. Some issues as stated, but his behavior has been great. No chewing, accidents, trash picking...none of that stuff. Just a little needy, scared and jumpy (which can turn into aggression). He is my baby though and we will do what we can to get him prepared.

Thanks back to all of the others that rescue...these dogs might not be alive if it wasn't for our love!!!

 

[BradyBz12]

What a great face!!

Our guy is fine being alone during the day since my hubby and I both work full time. Same thing...if he doesn't know that there are other dogs out there then he doesn't care to bark. Blinds closed and white noise works wonders with him!

If he's also good being with you in strange places (i.e., not home) you should be good to go!

Just a little needy, scared and jumpy (which can turn into aggression). He is my baby though and we will do what we can to get him prepared.

Been there! Our first rescue border collie was an unsocialized puppy with all sorts of issues. He's now 7.5 and I wouldn't trade the big knucklehead for the world.

As for our most recent little one - if you looked up "jumpy" in the dictionary you'd see her picture. She's already come around a ton in just a few months.

Your baby is lucky to be in such good hands!

Agree with you 100% when it comes to thanking the folks out there that have rescued their dogs. The group I volunteer with just took in 7 border collies from the seizure of a puppy mill in TN that was masquerading as a "rescue" for many years. 100 dogs were seized and so far half of them have been turned over to the authorities (the other 50+ are still in limbo pending the outcome of the case). The dogs that arrived today were in the worst condition of any dogs I have ever seen. They were covered in filth, all have lice and fleas and one could barely stand and had to be rushed to the vet. It took our volunteers the better part of the afternoon just to bathe them all and cut out the mats, and the stench was overwhelming.

Don't mean to tear off on a tangent, but rescue hits close to home here, and I'm always grateful when I hear about a dog that really needed help landing in a good home.

 

[freshlybarked]

Cheyenne, the black one in the picture, was our needy rescue. Aussie/Border Collie mix. She was 3 yrs. when we got her and had only lived in shelters in GA. She was supposed to be a foster for us, but since she was so completely unsocialized and I spent so much time on her I knew she would be a forever dog for us. She is still afraid of strange things like bouncing balls and kids, but she is 13 now and doesn’t have to worry about much in her life. Rescues are probably the most rewarding dogs to have because you can cause such wonderful changes in their lives. She and her Golden mix sister live lives of luxury traveling to Disney often

 

[Villains_Rock]

Chopstick is afraid of storms, feet and VERY afraid of smoke (mainly from cooking). The storm thing is common I think, but the feet and smoke is strange. He has a sister who was practically given to us because she was the last left of a litter of basset hounds. My hubby had a basset as a kid and always wanted another one, so Savannah joined our family. We took the needed steps to ensure she was introduced to Chop in the right way and he took to her nicely. Now if we could only get him to be ok around stranger dogs!!

 

[Judy in Texas]

We took in a young, active male cat from my friend's son. He fit in well with the other rescue animals. It didn't take him long to figure out the doggie door. He bit me twice when I was trying to catch him and get him back inside. Cat bites can be nasty. It came to the point we had to calm him down someway, find a farm for him, or...

I searched the internet and found several homeopathic remedies to help calm pets down. Belladonna was a common ingredient in some. I already had a bottle of the Hyland brand of Belladonna and I like it because it dissolves quickly. I put 2-3 tiny pills in the bottom of his food bowl with a bit of water and then put his wet food on top of it. I only gave it to him for a few weeks and it has calmed him down a lot. If he starts getting rowdy again, I'll give it to him for a day or two. I can't tell you that this is what you should do; but, it might be worth a bit of research. I just put " homeopathic animal anxiety" in Google and a number of options come up.

 

[BradyBz12]

She was supposed to be a foster for us, but since she was so completely unsocialized and I spent so much time on her I knew she would be a forever dog for us.

That's how Li'l Lyn came to live with us, even though were absolutely NOT in the market for a 3rd dog.

Now if we could only get him to be ok around stranger dogs!!

Got one of those too! ("normal" dogs are boring )
Brady is much better with strange dogs than he used to be (thanks to a TON of work) but he's still not perfect. Well... WE think he's perfect.

I just put " homeopathic animal anxiety" in Google and a number of options come up.

A lot of Brady's issues stemmed from the fact that he had general anxiety about the world as a whole. We joke that he's convinced the sky IS falling 24/7. A few years ago we started him on Ark Natural's Happy Traveler - it's an herbal concoction and he's done very well on it. It's often used for dogs with incident-specific anxiety (like thunder phobia) but we find if we keep him on a low dose daily it really helps just take the edge off in general.

Since we've taken a right turn into "rescue land".... for anyone interested, I just posted the story of the "alleged" puppy mill and the dogs our group took in to our website - www.nebcr.org

Day 2 and some of them are already showing signs of "life" but they still have a long way to go.....

 

[WDWCatMom]

Thanks for posting! I had wondered the exact same thing. We have a 13 year old mixed who always drops weight and stresses while being kennelled. In fact that's one of the reason's we purchased our 5th wheel for vacation. I wasn't enjoying time away knowing it'd be difficult on "Mutt".

In fact, stressing over being told I'd have to find a place to board her was hampering any enjoyment for our upcoming trip. I'm glad to hear Disney is accommodating on this.

 

[doxxie]

One thing I'd highly recommend is to try and do some practice camping runs before you head to FW with him for the first time - especially if your dog has any issues being left alone and/or has not camped before.

I second this. We also recently rescued a dog that has "issues". We're unsure as of yet what to do with her because she has a hard time being away from us and we don't want to put her in a kennel that feels like the pound to her. We're thinking about a cabin and then boarding her there at Ft. Wilderness where we can go check in and spend time with her. Again, we're unsure if this will help or hurt the situation.

However, we did recently borrow a camper and take her with us camping. We took her crate with us as well as a carrier bag. We only left her alone at the camper when we went to go swim. She whined the entire time and turned her soft-sided carrier over (upside down and off the bench she was on). She wasn't hurt or anything but it wasn't enough for her that she was there with us, she was still unhappy to be left for even an hour.

We also took her to Ohio with us and put her in her crate. She proceeded to show us that she could 1) make a terrible racket while we were gone and 2) lift up the plastic tray and then proceed to somehow lift up the entire crate and slide out the hole in the bottom between the bars!

She has since proven that she does better when we lock her in a larger area at home when we leave and she can go in and out of her crate as she chooses. However, we still sometimes find her with a shoe that she shouldn't have or something like that.

So it's very hard for us to consider wanting to take her on a trip because it would be much better to just enjoy ourselves and know that she isn't destroying anything and then I guess we may have to deal with some separation issues when we get back. Again, though, we are considering bringing her there and boarding her at Ft. Wilderness. I'm just not sure yet if we'll have time/energy to go tend to her and give her attention.

Good luck with your situation!

 

[doxxie]

One of our dogs has issues with other dogs, so we don't take him to the FW dog park. Instead he gets his exercise along the canal dog walk.

So Ft Wilderness has a dog park? Do you know where it is (close to what on the resort map)? I printed a map but don't see it or the kennels labeled. We were looking at boarding and getting a cabin and that would help if we knew we could let her loose to run before going back. She does fine with other dogs she just doesn't like being away from us!

 

[medic9016]

The dog park is next to the 300 Loop.

 

[BradyBz12]

The kennels are right out by the Outpost area where you enter/check in - pretty much directly across from the main parking lot. There is an unfenced field there, but your dog needs to be on leash.

The dog park quite a ways away - adjacent to 300 and across from 500, pretty much right next to the playground you see on the map there. It is fenced, but getting there would be difficult from the kennels- dogs aren't allowed on Disney transport, and there is nowhere to park a car near the dog park. Not sure if they'll allow you to walk you dog all the way there from the kennels. IIRC the Outpost area is marked for "no pets" except specifically by the kennels (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Even if you could, it's a major hike - I'm guessing close to a mile??

 

[doxxie]

That is quite a hike but I think we'd have to take her there, she just has to run at some point. She's a young, active girl! I guess I'd either have to suck it up and walk her, get a golf cart (sounds more attractive) or we'd work together to drive one of us up there and drop off and then come back (yk, driving ms daisy - except I guess it would be driving little maggie).

Thanks for the info. We're looking at all of our options as well as all of our options regarding the dog!

 

[BradyBz12]

we'd work together to drive one of us up there and drop off and then come back (yk, driving ms daisy - except I guess it would be driving little maggie).

Maggie is a lucky pup!

I'd opt for the golf cart - you'll find loads of other reasons to use it too!

If it helps, check out THIS THREAD for some off-site rental companies that are loads cheaper than renting from Disney, and come highly recommended by the folks here.