With BlogPaws right around the corner, I’m focused on helping Cooper succeed at the conference.
We’re going to road trip it out over the course of two days, then visit with friends and coworkers in the DC-area, then attend three days of conference. I tried to anticipate some of the challenges Cooper will face and think of some solutions:
- A long, long car ride. I decided to do the trip over two days. We’re going to use GoPetFriendly.com to map out the trip, and I’m going to select a stop-over location that has a dog park so he can play and, of course, a pet-friendly hotel.
- Being away from Emmett and Lucas. Cooper has been getting lots of individual walks. John took him on the group walk this past Saturday. We’re working on his confidence away from his herd. Here he is with his new friend, Freelove, on Saturday’s walk:
I think we need to work on him posing for photos, too. In this series of seven pics, Freelove was posing for the camera the whole time. Cooper was fidgeting and didn’t look toward the camera once! - Behaving in unfamiliar places. I’m working on a combo of reinforcing his basic skills in addition to hitting the town. We’re making plans to go out to eat at pet-friendly restaurants, walk through the busy part of downtown, visit new locations, etc. Cooper is actually a really shy guy, so this has been a big challenge for him!
- Going to daycare. BlogPaws offers amazing doggy daycare! It’s basically anytime there’s an event, the dogs can be playing with other dogs. I plan to take full advantage of that! Cooper loves playing with other dogs once he gets over his shyness at the initial greeting. I think going to daycare will help keep him tired and happy. We’re visiting the local dog park a bunch between now and then to keep building up his meet-and-greet confidence.
Am I missing anything? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s taken their dog to BlogPaws in the past or anyone who has travel tips! I’m excited about this, but also a little nervous. I think this will be a HUGE training opportunity for Cooper and an excellent chance to expose him to lots of new experiences. But I also worry it might be too much.
Tips? Suggestions? Advice?
Nothing to add-I think your plan looks good!
Hope y’all have a good time together.
If Cooper gets wiped out from the action (as I’m afraid I might!) there’s a residential neighborhood behind the Sheraton and behind that a small park—Ash Grove. Although that’s more walking than he might want to do, having a nap in a quiet park might be just the thing. I’ve noticed dogs are introverted or extroverted, like people, and are better off if treated accordingly. Good for you for preparing him!
Be sure to schedule some time just for the two of you. We had the boys at both of the previous BlogPaws events, and when when you only have a short time to see everyone, it’s easy to plan too much. I love Emmy’s suggestion of taking a quiet walk in the park. You and Cooper will do great!
Just an FYI, we had really good luck during our last trip (which included Moe and Romeo) staying at Red Roof Inns. No, they are not the picture of high class hotels, but they have NO extra charges for pets and we found each of them to be clean and quiet. Again, no frills for sure, but low cost and dog friendly. We stayed in 5 different cities during the trip and our average price for a king size bed (gotta have room for Romeo!) was around $70. No, I wasn’t paid by Red Roof, but after calling a Marriott tonight which wanted a $100 NON-REFUNDABLE fee for a dog, I’m back to Red Roof 🙂
Thanks, @Bella and Daisy!
@Emmy, GREAT idea. We’re going to get there pretty early, so I’ll have time to scope out that neighborhood. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks, @Amy! I started plotting our journey already. It helped that I got to write that article with you! 🙂
@Julie, Are you and Romeo up for some practice eating out??