Planning a Dog-Friendly Trip
For those of you who found us initially through Instagram, and have been following us for awhile, you have probably noticed that Koda and I have been on our fair share of trips, both upstate and around the East Coast, as well as the PNW (where the rest of my family is based). We’ve been lucky enough to explore places from the Oregon Coast all the way to Acadia National Park in Maine. However, a huge dream of mine has always been to go for a long West Coast road trip, from San Diego all the way up to Banff, AB, and after many conversations around timing and bucket list hikes and the fact that both of our families are in LA and Seattle, a good friend and I finally decided to make this happen the summer of 2020.
That was maybe almost a year ago. Oh, how things have changed.
At first we were hopefully that Covid-19 would have died out by the time of our trip, but as time went on, and California saw a resurgence in cases, and the border to Canada remained closed, we knew we had to be realistic, and more importantly, safe. Though our trip will be much shorter than we had originally planned, we still plan to hit up quite a few stops around Washington and Oregon, and I’m super excited to be documenting our journey on this platform!
Picking where to go and stay
When first deciding where to go, I think it’s important to consider whether this is the best trip to bring your dog on - similarly to deciding who you would want to take a trip with (someone who wants to have the same types of experiences that you do, who has a similar budget and taste in restaurants / bars, etc.), dogs don’t exactly have the option to offer their opinion so you need to be their advocate and ensure that you can accommodate their level of enrichment and comfort as well as your own! For example, a dog-friendly city with lots of outdoor seating and parks (like Portland, OR in early summer) would probably be a better choice than a super busy city with little space to run around (ie Vegas on the Strip during the middle of summer). Obviously both are doable, one’s just going to be easier to plan :)
We already knew there were a few places we definitely wanted to make a stop at (although most of them were in CA, oh well) - Bend, 1-2 beaches along the OR Coast, Portland, and Seattle. From there, we planned out a route that made sense and would only take 2-3 hours of driving time in between each stop. I am still working remotely (and on Eastern Time) for the first half of our trip, so it took a little more thought to plan check-in and check-out days on either weekends or days I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of meetings. As for where to stay, we decided on a mix of both Airbnb’s and hotels, depending on the city and its accessibility to the things we wanted to do - half of them will be sponsored stays, and I can address how to go about negotiating those at a later time if there is any interest! All of our accommodations are pet-friendly, and we were easily able to confirm that either on the hotel website or by filtering for ‘Pets Allowed’ when we searched for vacation rentals on Airbnb, VRBO, Vacasa, etc. However, I’ll be sharing all of the spots we stay at as we go along for some ideas!
Planning what to do
Knowing we’d be bringing our very active Australian Shepherd dogs, Koda and Kobe, my friend and I decided we wanted to prioritize hiking and outdoor activities throughout our trip. Each of our stops will be close to either a National Forest with lots of dog-friendly hiking trails, or along the oceanfront and next to dog-friendly beaches. While looking for nearby trails, I mainly searched on AllTrails for hikes nearby and also filtered for specific difficulty, length, and level of foot traffic depending on the day and time we would be planning to go (also make sure to check in on the official park or national forest sites to confirm trail regulations and on-leash rules)! For restaurants and breweries / wineries, I made sure to search through photos for sufficient outdoor seating and would comb through reviews to ensure dogs were allowed in case the website itself didn’t explicitly call it out. When in doubt, you can also call the restaurant before stopping by or making a reservation just to ensure they’ll be able to accommodate you! Especially now with stricter regulations around dining out at restaurants (depending on where you are currently and its re-opening status), some places may no longer be open or might not be able to allow pets at this time.
What to Pack
These are a few things I always bring on trips with Koda:
Food - usually freeze-dried raw nuggets (Primal Pet Foods is our go-to), it’s easy to feed on the go and also super lightweight
Portable dog bowl - I have a few of these, but my favorite would be the Kurgo Zippy bowl since it’s compact and easy to clip onto my backpack or stuff into a small bag. MuttRuk has a similar one that is made of slightly thicker and higher quality material, but is also twice the price
Poop bags - Please remember to pick up your dog’s poop whether you’re walking around a city area or hiking out on the trails!! No matter where you go (even at dog parks or at vacation rentals), it is expected that you clean up after your pets :)
Paw balm - Helpful if you’re walking around on sidewalks in the summer or hiking a trail with rougher terrain (I use this Paw Soother)
Hands-Free Leash - I love this one that I got from Amazon because the springy nature of the leash is more shock absorbent and I can also clip my treat bag to the waist loop!
First Aid Kit - You never know what might happen, so it’s better to be safe than sorry
Treats / Chews - to keep the pup entertained when you’re busy or reward them for being good while you’re out
Waterproof Car Seat Cover - If you plan to rent a car on your trip, this will help keep the seats clean from dirt and fur, so you don’t have to spend ages cleaning it or get charged a fee at the end of your rental period. I use this one by Kurgo but you could easily find a cheaper one on Amazon.
