Had a magical time at Disney World for Spring Break, which I swore I would never ever do a Spring Break at Disney….the lines, the price, the chaos. After finding a good deal and relenting to the reality that traveling on Spring Break with your kids is the best for their school life (no absences, make-up homework and gives them the pre-and post spring break stories to tell) the next big question was, what do we do with our dog? We would be gone for close to 2 weeks; not only do kennel fees add up but it seemed too lonely. I looked online and saw that Disney has a kennel…$$$$$$$ and a “program”$$$$$$$$. Has anyone used Disney’s kennels? I am lucky that Grandpa volunteered to take him. On our way to Disney (Michigan to Florida) I did see more people with small dogs in different hotels. I saw more hotels have clear policies on pets and pet fees. Has anyone taken their dog on a long trip with them? I did sometimes feel a little guilty that I didn’t take him, but as I said, I also felt lucky that he could spend some time with Grandpa and Chris up North. I did remind Grandpa not to let Cocoa get eaten by a coyote or run with scissors ☺.

I had a really dog friendly experience on Mackinac Island, MI. My family was able to take Cocoa on the Arnold Ferry Line from St. Ignace to Mackinaw Island for free. After disembarking the ferry our family went on a carriage ride around the island. Cocoa was again free to ride along the operators did say if it was a large dog that we would have to buy a ticket for the dog, but at 11 pounds Cocoa weighed less than the packages (ok fudge) I was carrying. Getting off at one of the carriage stops, one of the carriage employees said that my dog was WELCOMED in the museum. Wow! I wasn’t planning on that. The Carriage museum had concrete floors and was mostly an indoor shopping mall but it did have some historical artifacts. It was such a pleasure being able to enjoy that part of the tour as well. I walked into stores with my dog on the main street and not one clerk said a word to me about bringing the dog inside. They were very accepting and I saw other dogs enjoying this as well. So take your dogs to Mackinac Island, Michigan and you both will enjoy the trip.

Due to a treacherous blizzard, we had to take our dog Cocoa, with us, to the Holiday Inn in Midland, Michigan for a hockey tournament. We knew in advance that this hotel was ok with pets, but how was this going to work, a room packed with kids, hockey equipment and now dog and dog equipment? Well it did! Cocoa is a small, submissive d 11 pound dog that is very quiet. Some dogs that I’ve had in the past, would not have worked out at all. It was hard to shake the feeling that I was going to get “busted” for having a dog in the room. So I thought I would challenge this feeling by leashing up Cocoa and walking him around. Would the staff jump on me? Would other guests give me dirty looks and report me? No. Everyone was friendly. Little ones wanted to pet Cocoa and the staff just smiled. I wanted to be a good guest so I would take a doggie pick up baggie, even outside in the snow! The only other dog I saw was a seeing-eye dog that was better mannered than me.

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