Doggie Dilemma

[Mouse-n-Mini]

This past Christmas trip to WDW we took our 2 dogs, bichons named Mouse and Mini. We drove from Illinois. They did really well in the car and we snuck them into hotels all the way down and back (mainly Country Inn and Suites). We didn't have any problems with barking really, but mouse had explosive poo in warner-robbins GA (if any of you got that room...SORRY about the carpet stain ). Anyway, we stayed at the Sheraton Safari in Orlando...an ALLEGEDLY pet friendly hotel. When we checked in you could have knocked my mom over with a feather after she was told that someone has to stay in the room with the dogs at ALL times even if they're in their house (large portable kennel) because they might bark and disturb other guests. My dad ended up staying in the room almost the whole time, but then a trip advisor lady in the lobby told me, "hey don't worry about leaving the dogs to go to the parks because people do it all the time and no one ever gets in trouble". So we did, and no one said a word. It really was a hassle to get to and fro with the lousy off site buses and though the hotel was nice...there was no disney magic there. I would suggest leaving the pup at a trusted kennel. Maybe you could leave him at Disney's kennel site so you wouldn't be so far away from him and you'll know right where he's at so you can go and hold him or her. We know how you feel since we love our bichons more than our extended family members. Trust me, it will work out better if you board your baby. Our problem now is that anytime we tell the dogs "let's go" they know to get into the car but they expect to get to ride all the way to Florida again!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Dogs and other pets are not allowed at WDW resorts.
2) Many Hampton Inns are pet-friendly.
3) At WDW, you need to keep the dog at the kennel.
4) One of the REQUIREMENTS is walking the dog thrice per day.

5) One time I heard a dog yapping in an OKW room.
6) After reporting it, the Night Duty Manager came out to verfiy.
7) The people had to leave the resort IMMEDIATELY.
8) And this was at 2:30am!
9) Plus, they were DVC members and lost their points for the stay.


NOTE: I know how people can get attached to pets, but WDW is no place for pets in the room. Too many other families have to use that room, and allergies can go wild. Additionally, even "good" pets can destroy furnishings.

 

[DisneyFans4]

Hey Kandis, that sounds perfect to open your own doggie resort. I know how you feel. I have a dog and cat and they are my babies but I know travelling with them would be rough on them. I have a boarding facility where they are treated very well. They are only put in their crates at night to sleep and during the day they play and someone sleeps there so a person is there 24/7 just in case. I'm more concerned with my upcoming trip because my Shiba Inu just had knee reconstruction surgery and is recovering now but my vet assured me it was fine to leave her because the worst part is over, but I still worry and will worry. I call the facility at least every other day to check up on them.

Trust me, as much as I'd love to bring my pets are know they are better off at home with people who will take good care of them.

 

[spiceycat]

Hollie is going to see the Mouse Dec. 3 - 16.

Come by and visit, she's quite the social butterfly !!!!!

don't you know that some of us nuts might take you up on this....

she is a cute doggie....

 

[Haley Whippet]

Thank you so much everyone for the responses!! I will definitely not try sneaking him in, especially after all the reminders about allergies (I am allergic to cats but for some reason didn't even think about this). I guess we will just stay off site since it is cheaper and I can't imagine going anywhere without him. That would be absolutely horrible (and embarrassing) to be asked to leave the property. The Sheraton World sounds like a nice place so I'm thinking we will stay there since they allow pets. We live in a small town and don't have any doggie daycare type places in my area or else I would go with that option...I was actually hoping to open one here someday to fix that problem.

-Kandis

Kandis,
Dheck this link, It will help you find a kennel or daycare for your Pup. There are many in the Disney area too..
http://www.abka.com/abka/findAFacility/default.aspx
We brought our Haley with us and she was happy kenneled near by.
Deb

 

[YorkieMom]

Spiceycat, (and any and all Disers)

Please come by and say hello if you're at DW when we are. Look for my lime green mickey ears on the campsite post.

Dec. 3 - 16, 2006 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

We boarded my baby (A golden retreiver) at a place called Best Friends Pet Spa In New Jersey. It was cheaper than boarding at a vet and each dog has 2 rooms and sheepskin beds! She also got a 'report card' when she left. I totally trusted here there. We also got her play times each day. You should check out of they have the chain where you live.
http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com/ << Here's the website

 

[hmp2z]

This is just a word of advice for those boarding your pets at a kennel/doggie b&B at home while traveling:

Make sure you get everything in writing from the kennel, relating to your dog's care. This includes things like feeding the dog, providing prompt veterinary care, not giving them treats like rawhide (that they can choke on) and providing individual cages. It sounds so obvious that you'd think you wouldn't need to do it, but, sadly, we've learned from our own terrible experiences that you do indeed need to do so.

We boarded our dogs Molly & Moo at a local boarding facility on a recent 4 day trip. We were traveling for business, not pleasure, and we thought we could trust the kennel we chose. They were fully ABKA accredited, air conditioned, etc. We had toured the facilities and hadn't noticed a problem.

Unfortunately, both of our dogs were killed while we were on vacation, because the kennel was full and decided to put several dogs in each stall, instead of the individual kennels that we'd asked for and reserved. This was completely against our knowledge & wishes; we know how dangerous it is to leave dogs together, unattended. Poor Molly was killed the first day, and we don't even know when, because the kennel staff said they didn't even notice her screaming. They left her body on the floor of her kennel for 5 hours, after they did notice her, because they said that they thought she was past the point of medical attention at that point. ?!?

Moose was injured and suffered a heat stroke (I guess at some point they had put him outside & left him there?) They did eventually take him to the veterinarian, but it was so bad that we had to have him put to sleep when we did return. The kennel didn't even bother to call us to notify us until 3 days after Molly had died.

And then they tried to stick us with Moo's veterinary bill, because they didn't have anything in writing from us, signed by them, that requested individual kennels not group kenneling. This, despite the fact that we had requested individual kennels, and despite the fact that, as ABKA members, they are required to provide individual sleeping spaces for each boarded pet.

Their insurance company turned down the claim & found them not liable, because we didn't have anything in writing that was signed by them guaranteeing individual kennels, though we did have their Pet Owners' Bill of Rights that said they would provide such. Apparently this is worthless unless it's signed by a kennel worker? That's what Travelers insurance company said, anyway.

We had a friend who did have a signed agreement from the kennel she left her dog at to keep rawhide away from him. They gave him rawhide, he choked & died, but they stuck her with the veterinarian bill because, while she had left written instructions with them, she didn't keep a copy for herself. They just destroyed the written instructions they gave her.

For dogs, they're considered property. Our 2 were pound puppies, so worth about $70 each, not enough for us to even go to court about. We did speak to a lawyer, but he told us there was nothing he could do, without a signed agreement from the kennel.

Anyway, the point of this long & rambling e-mail is that, as a pet owner, it is in your best interest & in your pet's best interest to have a copy of signed care instructions when you board them, even with a veterinarian's office. If we had it to do over, we would print out the ABKA Bill of Rights, have the kennel sign, and then keep that signed copy. Something like this might have at least given us the leverage to get an apology, something the kennel owner refused to give us. To this day, she has been nothing but nasty about killing our 2 dogs, and she has shown no remorse whatsoever.

May all of your pups be safe,
Heather W

 

[DznyLvr2005]

you know I'm thinking...Disney should make a pets only resort. I think alot of people would stay there!

 

[LSUDis]

Does anyone know if we can drive to Orlando and then rent an RV to take to Fort Wilderness?

We don't want to drive an RV so far w/ gas being what it is, but we do not like leaving our little shih tzu either. So, if there is an RV rental in Orlando, then this might be a solution AND we could stay on-property.

By the way, how many of us have shih tzus??? We need to start a thread and see, but I don't know where??? Community???

 

[YorkieMom]

If Disney had a pet friendly resort, it would be booked solid for YEARS !!!!!!!!!!!!

They seem to be "missing the boat" on this one .

 

[MartDM]

Think about your dog. You will be gone and he is in a strange room with all sorts of noises coming from outside that he cannot see. I know how one of my dogs reacted to being left alone in a rented Summer house so I speak from experience (can we say "pay for damage").

Please leave him at home with a pet sitter.

Cyn

Ditto! He'll do best with the least amount of upheaval in his life. Bringing him with you, although it will make you feel better, will just stress him out. He'd be much more happy in his usual environment with a familiar face checking in on him a few times a day (or better yet staying at your house with him full time).

 

[MartDM]

hmp2z-

That's an absolutely awful story. As someone who owned a dog daycare center, I'm appalled at the way that kennel operated! It was a recipe for disaster and if those people had an ounce of intellect regarding canine behavior they would have known that!

I'm so sorry you lost your pups, it breaks my heart to think of them and you going through what you all did!

Thank you for posting such a painful experience for the benefit of others. I'm thanking my lucky stars that we have a wonderful friend who stays at our house with our boys so we have never had to kennel them (and she works at our vet's office & the emergency clinic so she'd better able to handle medical problems than we are!).

My condolences again regarding your furbabies...so very very sad!

 

[Lady SnowElla]

Last Christmas my DDs insisted that our cockerspaniel, Duchess, go to WDW with us. She stayed at the Bass Pet Hotel. One morning we picked her up from the Pet Hotel & drove her around WDW. We went to DTD early so we could take a family Christmas picture. We visited her a couple times while we were there & called almost daily to check on her. She had her own indoor/outdoor run. We were very pleased & plan to use them again this coming year.

 

[hmp2z]

hmp2z-

I'm so sorry you lost your pups, it breaks my heart to think of them and you going through what you all did!

Thank you - it just happened in April, so is still very painful to talk about it, but I would hate to have anyone else go through what happened to our dogs.
Thanks again,
Heather W

 

[NeverlandClub23]

hmp2z- your story absolutely broke my heart. That is so sad and I can't imagine how hard that was for you. Thank you for sharing your story, it makes me think twice before leaving my sweet puppy at a kennel.

 

[Lizzybee]

I know this is off topic but it IS a doggie travel disaster story. We used to have a German Shepherd/Husky mix who was the BIGGEST WIMPIEST scaredy cat EVER. We decided to fly home with him from NC to Chicago to see my family for a couple of weeks. I took him to the vet to get him something to help him relax for the trip. I've always wondered since then if the vet thought I said "laxative" instead of relax. When we got to O'hare the dog was very upset and so my (now) ex husband took him out of the crate in the baggage claim area. He squated to poop so my ex started walking with him to take him outside. Well, he thought the dog was following him and walking along but he was pooping a trail. My mom and I just watched in shock. Some woman was walking behind my ex screaming "Just stop...let him poop in one place...STOP!" After that, I think we'll skip flying with the dog unless there's no other way.

 

[Haley Whippet]

Heather,
I sm so sorry for your loss. I have never heard of a kennel putting unrelated (from the same family) dogs together, That is just totally wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would make sure everyone in the town knew what they did, I would protest outside their kennel.They do not deserve to be in business. That is just horrible..


On a happier note, We also used Bass on one of our WDW trips, Haley had a big indoor / outdoor run and can out happy and healthy..
Deb

 

[cinmell]

Do the Universal resorts allow pets in all of their rooms or is there only a specific group of rooms allotted for people with pets?

 

[kaysmommie]

HMP2Z, So sorry about your poor dogs. That is so terrible it makes me sick to think of leaving Daisy in a kennel for a whole week while we are in Disney. She is only 8 lbs. and has seperation anxiety as it is. I will definatley be getting my instructions signed by the kennel and will print out the ABKA bill of rights for them to sign and I will still be so nervous. It sounds like they don't even check on the dogs that often. I can't imagine how awfu this was for you.