Vacations Blog

It’s an evironmentalist-eat-dog world where the treehuggers’ latest target is not the hummer or Texas oil men, but poor defenseless pets. That’s right – now they’re saying that you should eat your pets rather than take them on vacation.

Dog's day out

A book by Robert & Brenda Vale, called ‘Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living,’ suggests that dogs and cats have very big eco-paw prints. The book says that the amount of food a dog eats in one year takes up around 1.1 hectares of land.

Measure that against a 6,213 mile (10,000 km) road trip in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser, which only takes up .41 hectares of land. Basically, what they’re saying is that you can take 3 roadtrips of 6,213 miles each every year, if you stick a fork in your pet.

 The Vales suggest in the book that pets should be recycled for pet food. Imagine the horror, if your precious Persian finds that you have turned it into a cannibal. It’s like something out of a Stephen King book.

And that’s not all. The authors would also have you give up your own vacations, shopping trips and other leisure activities, in addition to cooking up your pets. Apparently the authors are exempt from all this, and they describe their own lifestyle – which includes a trip to Japan and ownership of a cat.

The Vales are eccentric enough to suggest that you shouldn’t go through with a divorce until you find someone else, so that you don’t need separate homes. But the authors apparently have no problems buying a new house.

Hopefully, there won’t be people screwy enough to listen to this pair of nutjobs and actually give up their pets, vacations, or vacations with your pets. These are not luxuries - once you get a pet, you’ll realize that they’re just as necessary as taking care of your grandma.

Photo by br1 ~ br1dotcom

The view of Flagstaff from the top of Mars Hill.

Last weekend my husband had to work up in Flagstaff, AZ, about two and a half hours north of our home in Chandler. I availed myself of the opportunity for a free hotel room, and drove up to join him on Friday night.

Saturday I set out to explore the lovely city of Flagstaff. I wanted to enjoy the wonderful fall weather to its fullest, so I decided a bit of hiking was in order. After perusing the area map provided to me by the hotel, I found one of the entrances to the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS, pronounced “foots”).

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Until a few years back, a vacation meant piling the kids into the back and hitting the road. But times change, and now you have a whole new bunch of requirements to fulfill before you can even think about the beach, a cold beer and some peace and quiet.

Beach Vacation

If you don’t want your neighbors and colleagues to look down on you, follow this list of ’friendly’ things that your vacation has to be.

1. Environment-friendly:- It’s bad enough that your vacation destroys your entire year’s savings. Don’t let your vacation be blamed for the destruction of the earth. Find a destination which cares about their surroundings, get a green hotel, try to avoid trips by air and don’t do stuff which will be harmful to the environment – like wasting water, and leaving trash and beer cans in the outdoors or on the road. Read More »

Feel free to bring your four-legged friends with you on your next vacation to Arizona! The state is very dog-friendly, with lots of hotels that permit animals, and even spas dedicated to pampering your puppy (that will be the subject of an upcoming entry)! Nearly every city in Arizona has one or several “bark parks” which allow your dog to stretch his or her legs, and some freedom from the leash so they can explore every olfactory nuance of their playground. Here is a small selection of those dog-friendly parks:

The PETsMART Dog Park at Washington Park in Phoenix offers a spacious 2.65 acres in which your dog can frolic. The six-foot high perimeter fencing keeps your dog safe, while the watering station and shady trees keep your dog comfortable. There’s even a separate fenced area especially for small dogs.

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Nadia Zonis, New York editor for Urban Hound, has written a book called City Walks With Dogs: New York. This book is a godsend if you’re planning on traveling to New York City with a dog.

City Walks with Dogs: New York, by Nadia Zonis

The book lists 50 walks or ‘adventures on foot and paw’ that you can set out on with your dog, including SoHo and the West Village, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Roosevelt Island and Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue.

A short excerpt from the book, about the Sirius Dog Run in Battery Park City: “At Kowsky Plaza, you’ll find the Sirius Dog Run, named for the rescue dog killed in the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. The run has a wading pool for dogs and views of the Hudson River for humans. Battery Park’s devoted dog people have formed a group called Battery Park Dogs, which organizes events in the run–they can be a great way to meet new dog-walking friends.”

Since we’re on the subject, it saddens me to inform you that Taz, a german shepherd in the City’s K-9 unit passed away on Oct 2 of a cardiac arrest. Taz was the last remaining dog in the force out of the ones which participated in 9/11 search and rescue.

Getting back to Nadia’s book and your pet-friendly New York vacation - you’ll find a ton of pet-friendly attractions and routes in the book that you’ll never find in the tourist brochures.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Nadia Zonis also participated in Q&A sessions with readers of the New York Times.

For example, let’s take transportation. The most convinient way to get around in New York with a dog is to use the subway or a bus. But the only way you can get a pet on-board is to carry it in a container and make sure it is well-behaved and does not turn into a nusiance for other passengers.

This isn’t a problem if you’re carrying cats, like say a handy Ragdoll, along for the ride. But if you have a strapping big dog, then we have a problem. To find the solution, read Nadia’s answers to this and other vexing issues for pet-owners visiting the Big Apple in the NYT’s 3-part series here, here and here.

A sad day for Gizmo – a tiny pomeranian, who has been banned from entering Aspen, CO. The grevious crime for this horrible punishment? Biting the ankle of a worker at the Aspen Club on Aug 28, who then called the cops and had the dog thrown into Aspen Animal Shelter for 10 days.

Pomeranian

But that wasn’t enough. Municipal Judge Brooke Peterson ordered Gizmo’s owner Melinda Goldrich to ensure that the vicious dog would never be seen again in Aspen, on pain of being ‘confiscated’ and put to death.

Gizmo can no longer sit under the Aspens in Aspen, bark at the falling leaves and bite any passing ankle that he fancies. He can no longer wait for you to get off the ski-lift at Snowmass. He cannot hide under your seat in the shuttle bus which takes you to the majesty of the Maroon Bells. And he’s going to miss his personal favorite – stuck with the nice, fat ankles of tasty tourists in a gondola at Glenwood Caverns – with no escape route.

I’m sure you’re thinking this is all hyperbole. I mean, it would be understandable if the dog was a ferocious American Pit Bull Terrier. But Gizmo is a tiny Pomeranian.

See, the thing is, Gizmo has a thing for tasty ankles. He’s a serial biter and has already done time for the same offence. He was hauled up before the same judge earlier this year after biting someone in February. At that time, the judge had ordered Melinda Goldrich to make sure that the dog was never left unattended and free to pursue his ‘hobby.’

Tourists visiting Aspen can now walk around safely again – thanks to the courageous actions of the bitten victims, the long leash of the Aspen Police Dept and the Solomon-like wisdom of the Judiciary, who have split the dog from it’s owner. The reign of ankle-biting terror unleashed by Gizmo the Pomeranian is now over.

Only one question remains – Where did they send him to?

Photo by kjurnstorm

How about a free trip for two to Miami? Includes airfare, four nights in a pet-friendly hotel, a spa/ relaxation package for you and your pet (optional), an air boat tour of the Everglades, and $500 spending money. Sound good? Great. Let’s go.

Petfinder.com Febreze Sweepstakes

Before you start packing, though, there’s a small catch –  Two, actually. First, you need a pet. Oh, so now you want a pet? And secondly, you need to win the Petfinder.com sweepstakes. The ‘Petfinder Sends You and Your Pet Packing’ Sweepstakes is sponsored by Febreze, a pet odor eliminator which sends pet odor packing.

Tell you what - Why don’t you go out and get yourself a nice German Shepherd Dog puppy? They have these pointy ears and they’re very loyal and strong. And did I mention intelligent and obedient?

If you win the sweepstakes, you+guest+afore-mentioned GDS pup will be enjoying the oceanview and the beaches, barking your way through Lincoln Road, trying to strangle the nutty parrots in Jungle Island, herding baby sea turtles towards the ocean, and enjoying the hedonistic pleasures of Mango’s Tropical Cafe. All for free! 

If you don’t win, no worries – Febreze is handing out free bottles of Pet Odor Eliminator to 40 runners-up. If it’s just not your day, and you lose out even on the free bottle, well… Look on the bright side – you have a very smart German Shepherd Dog to help you find the hustler who tricked you into getting a dog that eats more than your entire family put together.

Just when you think its time to play and create havoc while your master or mistress is off enjoying the Hawaiian beaches, along comes a party pooper – the Petcare Robot.

Petcare Robot

The Mint Robot #2: The Petcare Robot is the latest in bleeding edge technology for remote pet surveillance and interaction. Unfortunately, it looks like a wacky reject dumped by the special-effects team of a Steven Speilberg film.

But I suppose that’s what makes it so interesting to goofy cats and dogs who can smell conspiracy and alien intruders even in a chewy toy.

Not only can you monitor your pets remotely, you can also scare the living daylights out of them by bringing the Petcare Robot to life. Well, see, that’s why it’s called a robot.

The robot can be set to track your pet, and it will roll around behind your pet, following it everywhere and driving your pet batty. You can enjoy the show remotely as your pet goes nuts trying to shake off the persistent stalker.

It even has infra-red LEDs, so you can keep tabs even in the dark. And even worse, those weird-looking googly eyed camera lenses – they can detect if a pet tries to lick or scratch, and they’ll clam shut automatically.

That ball you see at the bottom can be moved around remotely, and you can send it rolling and talk to your pet through the Robot’s remote control  – play recorded sounds, music or your own voice commands.

If the Petcare Robot catches on, you’ll soon be sitting on the white sandy beaches of Hawaii playing with your pet back home, instead of enjoying the oceanview. Please don’t buy this thing and spoil your pet’s one and only chance to enjoy some downtime away from you.

Photo credit - Mintpass