Travelling with Pets

Chewy's Amazing Adventure

 

Chewy, my daughter’s new pup, wasn’t supposed to go to New Brunswick at all. They did not have a car of their own, so in the middle of August Bronwyn, her boyfriend Mark and Chewy were traveling on the train to our cottage in Perth, Ontario. At the beginning of August, John and I were heading off to New Brunswick with our sheltie, Knave, to visit my older daughter and her dog, Eddie.

 

No ticket for a little dog!

 

Two hours before John and I were to leave on holiday, I decided to phone the train station to check on the fare for Chewy, because I suspected my daughter had not. The ticket agent informed me that Chewy would have to travel in a dog carrier in the baggage car. The dog couldn’t travel from the Kitchener station because there was no baggage car on the train to Toronto. The kids could take the train from Brantford. I informed him that they didn’t have a car to travel to Brantford and that is why they were taking the train.

 

You cannot take a dog on the bus, as a co-worker of my husband discovered. She is paying 600 dollars to board her dog for three weeks and she is visiting family within Ontario.

 

Now many airlines are refusing pets as well – not to mention that they must travel in the baggage area. Forget the environment, the only way to travel with a pet is by car.

 

Dognapped to Adventure

 

Our car was packed, we were ready to go, what would happen to Chewy in two weeks when the pup couldn’t come to the cottage, a favourite place for all our dogs? I scooped up Chewy and put him in the back of our car with our dog. Bronwyn was at work, so I had no way of saying that her dog was gone. I left a note but knew I would have to phone her. Chewy was off on his Amazing Adventure.

 

I drove the first leg of the trip from our home in Waterloo to just past Toronto. At first Chewy perched on top of the baggage that took up half the back seat, then crept up front and sat on John’s knee. The pup enjoyed staring out the window and sniffing the smells coming in the car from the air deflector. Our dog slept curled up in the empty half of the back seat.

 

Along the 401, there are service centres approximately every 60 kilometers. The picnic areas have picnic tables, a washroom and lots of space for the dogs to go for a walk. All dogs must be leashed. You can get a restaurant meal if you wish and bring it to the picnic area. There is nothing sadder than a dog going for a walk in a parking lot.

 

There are also great rest stops along Highway 20 in Quebec. They have washrooms and picnic tables and lots of dog walking space. Occasionally a small store or wagon that sells sandwiches will be located at the stop but most people bring a picnic. There are also information centers at the border of each province.

 

We stopped for the night in Riviere Du Loup. We obtained our Comfort Inn room by looking it up on a pet travel site.

 

Most chain hotels do accept dogs now but they often charge a fee of up to 25 dollars a dog in some cases. Make sure you check to see if the room is non-smoking if you need it. Many hotels will use the smoking rooms for pets and leave the non-smoking for people with allergies.

 

The dogs went for a nice walk in a vacant lot beside the hotel. I went to the restaurant next door and with my very poor French managed to order a meal we all like when we go to Quebec --- John considers it traditional Quebequois food --- St. Hubert chicken.

St Hubert chicken is BBQ chicken with a special dipping sauce and incredible fries. Not to forget the traditional Quebec creamy coleslaw. Chewy and Knave were delighted to have some bits of chicken.

 

It was time to phone my daughter, Chewy’s “mother.”

 

“We’ve kidnapped your dog and he’s dining on St. Hubert chicken,” I said.

 

She groaned, my daughter loves St. Hubert chicken.

 

“I didn’t know where he was,” she said. “I looked all over the house.”

 

“We told your boyfriend,” I said.

 

“No wonder I didn’t know,” she said. “He must of gone back to sleep.”

 

I explained the problem with the train and she said she would miss him for the two weeks. I tried to put the dog up to the phone, but really, it’s hopeless talking to a dog on the phone.

 

The hotel had a small area for a continental breakfast of toast, muffins, juice and coffee. I brought our meal back to the room, so as not to leave the dogs alone. Then on the road again.

 

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