Holidays with your dog

Your guide to a happy vacation with your dog in a hotel – the following tips will help you make your holidays a more relaxing affair for you and your dog!

Tips from dog lovers & hotel professionals to traveling dog lovers with their dogs!

Are you passing through, visiting friends or relatives? Is your next longed-for vacation just around the corner and you neither want to miss out on the comfort and amenities of a hotel, nor leave your tail-wagging four-legged friend behind? Dog-friendly hotels are proving to be the perfect choice for dog owners who simply wouldn’t be able to completely enjoy their vacation without their favorite animal companions.

In order to ensure that the holiday guest on four paws has an equal pleasant stay in the unfamiliar hotel environment, you can take some elementary precautions. ‘We’ the Hotel Böhlerstern in Kapfenberg (in the heart of Austria) provide you below with a few tips on how to make your vacation in the hotel an unforgettable, but above all a relaxing experience for you and your furry friend.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START YOUR TRIP WITH YOUR DOG GOING TO A HOTEL

When making a reservation request or booking, let the hotel know that you would like to spend your vacation with your dog at the hotel in question. Familiarize yourself in advance with the respective rules of your preferred dog-friendly hotel regarding bringing pets.

TIRED DOGS EQUALS PLEASANT DOGS: GET THEM WALKING BEFORE YOUR JOURNEY & HOTEL CHECK-IN

If possible, take your four-legged friend for a long walk before you start your journey or check-in at the hotel. Challenge them physically and mentally. A tired dog or in need of rest will then face the unfamiliar new space of a hotel with much more calmness.

Even after check-in, it is an excellent idea to take the dog for a walk. This gives you a greater relaxation factor for your vacation stay. Also, the tired four-legged friend will less likely get too interested in the new accommodations furniture and will not behave likely in an undesirable manner.

IN THE HOTEL AREAS & HOTEL ROOM: LET THE DOG CALMLY GET TO KNOW THE SURROUNDINGS

The unfamiliar situation goes hand in hand with all sorts of new impressions for your animal companion. If you are on holiday with your dog in the hotel, give them enough time to discover and sniff out the unknown surroundings of the new and interesting hotel room, the corridors and public areas of the hotel.

In the room, why not open the closet door to show him what’s inside. Let him into the bathroom so he can see what’s behind the door. Once your four-legged friend has taken a closer look at the space and smells of the room, he will then feel more secure and will be able to settle into his temporary home just as you do.

MANDATORY LEASH RULE IN HOTEL AREAS

In hotel complexes, a leash is mandatory in order to prevent unwanted incidents and to ensure the well-being of all guests. Therefore, during your vacation with your dog, you must keep your dog on a leash in the public hotel areas! This applies even if your four-legged friend is well-trained and listens to your word.

DETERMINE THE DOG’S PLACE IN THE ROOM

Create your own dog place for your animal companion in the hotel room. If possible, bring him a dog bed and one of his blankets. (At Hotel Böhlerstern, we are happy to provide a dog bed and a water bowl as a ‘dog amenity’). A water and a food bowl should be set up in a fixed place. A great tip would be to always bring an unwashed blanket that is still intensely smells of “Home.” With this trick, your furry friend will feel more at home in the hotel. Such blankets can be placed on provided dog beds.

HOLIDAYS WITH A DOG: TAKE FAMILIAR TOYS WITH YOU

Every bit of habit gives your dog more serenity in the new place of stay. Therefore, bring along some of his favorite toys with you when you are on holidays in the hotel. You can place the toys in his dog bed or use them to play/throw around during extensive walks. In that way, during your vacation with your dog, you prevent the risk that your pawed friend could devote himself to the hotel furniture when he is bored and even damage something in this way.

SPEND TIME WITH YOUR DOG! DO NOT LEAVE THE DOG ALONE IN THE HOTEL ROOM RIGHT AWAY!

Of course, it’s not appropriate to leave your four-legged friend alone in the room for hours! In particular, staying behind in the hotel room for the first time can unsettle and scare your dog. Your dog could get loud or even bark when left alone. This could lead to problems for other guests, which should be avoided at all costs. Therefore, train your dog to stay alone the first few times using short intervals where you return to the hotel room after a few minutes and reward your four-legged friend. Then keep the time intervals longer and longer….

If you intend to do some activities without your pet during your holiday, it is advisable to gradually extend the periods of leaving him along already at home prior to your planned vacation.

If you want to train your dog to stay alone before your holiday together, it is advisable to practice leaving him alone for an hour or two in an environment that is not his home. This could also be done with a trusted neighbor or friends.

WHEN THE DOG STAYS IN THE ROOM ALONE

It is best to check the hotel room for potential hazards before leaving your dog alone. Is food well stowed? Are small items that the dog could swallow out of reach? Does your dog have sufficient water when you are away? Is the air conditioning set correctly and isn’t it too hot in the room? Make sure that windows and balcony doors are closed! IMPORTANT: The “do not disturb” sign on the door handle prevents unexpected confrontations between your four-legged friend and the cleaning staff or other hotel staff.

HOUSE RULES: GENERAL RULES OF A HOTEL

As a dog owner, you too can make a valuable contribution to a harmonious hotel stay during your holiday with your dog by observing the following rules of conduct.

ON VACATION WITH THE DOG: DOGS DON’T BELONG IN HOTEL BEDS!

Even if your dog may be allowed into bed at home. Unfortunately, this is not permitted when vacationing with your in a hotel. The reason for this is that hotel bed linen from rooms with dogs are not always washed separately and, more often than not, could end up in the washing drum together with other laundry. This could be a cause for allergies to other guests. Moreover, Allergy-promoting dog hairs could be distributed to other bed linen and so cause subsequent hotel guests allergy reactions and an unpleasant stay. SO! Dogs stay in their provided designated places on the floor or dog beds!

FOLLOW MANDATORY CLEANLINESS RULES

Your dog should have already made it to the house-training stage if he wants to become a hotel guest with you. But even house-trained four-legged friends sometimes feel tempted to mark some places.

Therefore, in the hotel environment that is unfamiliar to your dog, make sure that you avoid particularly tempting corners with him on a leash.

When you are on holiday with your dog in a hotel, you should also keep to their usual walking rhythm so that your four-legged friend can relieve himself at regular intervals. These times should correspond to the times at home, if possible!

Of course, every four-legged friend can get sick and leave a mess in the process. In this case, please take care as much as possible of the disposal of your dog yourself and clean up and disinfect the relevant location. If you are not able to do this or if you cannot completely remove the dirt left behind, please report this to the reception.

If dirt that is difficult to remove or other damage occurs during your vacation with your dog in the hotel room, as the dog owner, you must of course take the responsibility and pay for the necessary extra cleaning.

Please do the cleaning team a favor and do not use any of the white or other hotel towels to clean your dog. Just bring some dog towels or wet wipes, which you can use for dirty paws and wet fur.

MAKE SURE THAT THE NOISE LEVELS ARE ACCEPTABLE (AT A MINIMUM)

Of course, it is sometimes unavoidable that the four-legged friend utters a sound from time to time. But frequent yelping, howling, barking or raging behavior should not be on the agenda when you are on holidays with your dog in a hotel. After all, other holidaymakers want to be able to enjoy their stay just as much as you do!

Out of consideration for other hotel guests, please move the romping around and playing with higher volume times to a walk in the open air away from the hotel. As a result, your furry friend will be pleasantly tired and much more relaxed in the hotel room, so that frequent barking should be avoided!

TOP TIP: LEAVE YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER ON THE DOOR!

A note attached to your room door (preferably created and laminated in advance) with your telephone number can be of great advantage, should the hotel staff or another guest in special cases want to inform you about an inappropriate volume or a problem with your dog.

HOLIDAYS WITH A DOG IN THE HOTEL: BE UNDERSTANDING & CONSIDERATIVE

React courteously and be always ready to help in the event of an incident.

Also, understand that not every other guest or fellow holidaymaker might find the presence of a dog in the hotel area to be a pleasant affair. Therefore, make sure that your dog does not sniff every hotel guest without being asked or invited to play. If the other person seems interested, a brief inquiry can be made to clarify whether your dog is allowed to sniff the other guest or engage in play.

We at the Hotel Böhlerstern wish you and your furry kids a pleasant stay.