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Are you planning a hotel stay with your dog? Tiki is a longtime traveler, and Barli made his first hotel visit just three weeks after his adoption. Much of our success with Barli’s first stays, we think, was due to some careful packing.
Along with other items we pack for each trip including food, water, and bowls, we packed some products specifically for the hotel room.
We count these among our must-have items when staying in a hotel room with your dog!
A bedsheet.
Our dogs sleep with us at home so, of course, we plan for them to sleep with us at the hotel. However, we don’t want to leave dog hair or paw prints on the linens so we bring a bedsheet from home to put over the bed.
If the hotel bed is covered by a comforter, remove it before allowing your dog on the bed.
If your dog doesn’t sleep with you, consider what you’ll bring for your dog’s bedding. (Some hotels have loaner beds.)
We love molly mutt, a dog duvet you can stuff with your dirty clothes on the road–or borrow the hotel towels–to create a bed for the night.
A benefit of stuffing the duvet cover with your clothing: the bed smells like you, an extra comfort to your dog at a new location.
Poop bags.
Bring them. Use them.
Be a good ambassador for dog travelers and make the hotel glad they are pet-friendly!
Our favorite poop bags: Earth Rated Poop Bags. They’re larger and thicker than most and have a 100 percent leak-proof guarantee.
If you don’t want everyone at the hotel to see you wagging poop bags, check out our machine washable YUCKY PUPPY™ wet bag for dogs. Snap it to your leash or belt then drop the used poop bag inside until you reach a trash can. The PUL lining of the bag helps hold odors INSIDE the bag.
Clean up products.
Along with a roll of paper towels in our car, we also carry stain and urine remover products, just in case.
We like Simple Solution Pet Stain and Odor Remover, an enzymatic cleaner.
Chews.
Stress in a new location is a lot easier to handle with a favorite chew!
We always purchase chews that our dogs have had before so we’re not worried about upset tummies.
Toys.
The comforting smell of home and the fun of a plush toy are soothing for dogs in a strange hotel room, too.
We carry a Hear Doggy toy from Quaker Pet Products; we love these toys because the squeaker is ultrasonic. Not only can WE not hear it, but we don’t have to worry that the next hotel room or people in the hallway can hear it. (And we don’t have to hear it squeaking in the car!)
A Lint Roller.
Just as with the bedsheet, you want to do everything you can to leave the hotel room fur-free.
A quick once-over with a good lint roller can remove any trace that your furry family member was in the room!
Another great option: dishwashing gloves or a squeegee. Dampen the silicone of the squeegee or the palm of the gloves before wiping over upholstery or carpet to roll up pet fur!
A White Noise Machine.
For years, we traveled with a separate white noise machine; it masks hall sounds and will help keep your dog from barking.
Today we have a free white noise app on our smartphones, and it works great to lull everyone to sleep and keep exterior noises in the hallway or from adjacent rooms from distracting our dogs.
If you’ll be leaving your dog unattended in your hotel room (permitted at some but not all hotels), you’ll also need to pack a crate. We don’t leave our dogs while we’re traveling so we don’t pack this.
A few minutes of pre-trip planning can help make your hotel stay a paws up experience for you and your dog!
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