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Every year I get a dozen emails from people who want to bring their dogs or cats along on vacation. Can I recommend a hotel or bed & breakfast where their Spot or Kitty will be welcome? One guy, who travels with a large iguana, told me he just can’t find any good motels in our region anymore. Duh!

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I list a couple hundred lodging spots along the coast on my web site, but I’ve never had the chutzpah to call them all to ask which ones allow pets. Someone should do that odious task, and probably it will be me. I usually hedge the question and refer people to the local chambers of commerce. Just to be sure I was doing the right thing, I called a few local chambers myself and posed as a tourist with a pet.

Generally I got quick responses from the chamber volunteers who staff the phones. Of the seven regional chambers that I called, only Exeter and Rochester chambers had no handy list of pet-friendly accommodations. Dover had only one, because there is only one motel in town. The Hampton Beach Chamber gets this kind of call a lot, but had only three recommendations for me. The York region chamber offered six. The Portsmouth chamber, which has the largest membership, offered seven, though most were not in Portsmouth.

The Laconia-Weirs Beach chamber won my phone test hands down. The operator had 15 places available and all were accessible on line. The updated lodging spreadsheet showed every available accommodation – from camping to condos – with every possible feature conveniently checked off. Unfortunately, the list did not click directly over to individual establishments.

Taking the pooch on the road, it becomes quickly clear, greatly limits the range of overnight spots available. Even lodging spots listed as pet-friendly by the chambers, don’t go out of their way to advertise the fact. . And remember, chambers only list the members who pay their dues. Of the dozen recommendations I was offered in the Seacoast, only one, Enchanted Nights Bed & Breakfast in Kittery, openly announced "pets welcome" on its web site homepage. A little paw print even highlights the fact. Apparently people who love seeing a cat or dog sprawled out in the motel owner’s office, prefer not to find animal hair in their own rooms.

Most lodging establishments seem to keep their pet-status under wraps. The hush-hush nature of the listings is strangely similar to the way gay-oriented accommodations used to operate in the straight listings. Those who knew the secrets or bought the guide-book knew what others did not.

THE WEB SITE MAKERS

But the Web thrives on special interest hard-to-find information. One quick search and the surfer is surrounded by pet travel options. There are even sites for people who travel with horses, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Ah, for the days when people traveled ON horses.

Of the sites I visited, TravelDog.com (www.traveldog.com) was the most visually impressive. The splash screen loads quickly and the categories are easy to navigate. While many animal sites are painfully home-made, somebody who truly knows design and programming put this one together. Even the specialty banner and tile ads are intriguing and useful.

TravelDog is a members-only web site, which the owner says is designed to provide paid subscribers with maximum info about "moving around with your dog". That includes not only accommodations that accept dogs, but resources like doggie daycare, travel destinations tips about training and good behavior. While there have been "millions" of visitors, according to the owner, an average of 2,000 members are signed on currently. The fees are modest -- $4.95 for 30 days and $14.95 for a year.

The owner, who signed her name only as Tess, kindly sent me a free member’s pass so that I could poke around the exclusive site. It includes a small section on travel etiquette for dog-owners, pet tips from an expert, a rarely-used threaded discussion section, a lengthy clickable list of accommodations and recommended doggie destination. The product section has a goodly array of canine life jackets, back packs, toys, stain removers, deodorizers, carriers, auto restraints, even a refrigerated dog bed and nutritious "power" bars for dogs on the go.

According to Tess, "Our company is a small group of dog lovers who pool their time and talents in order to keep the site going and updated. We are based in Sacramento, California."

That’s probably why there were no pet-friendly lodging sites listed in our seacoast region. But for yeoman effort, this site gets four paws.

There’s a great old Seinfeld episode where Jerry talks about people who own dogs in the city. "Imagine you came to Earth from outer space," he says, and I’m paraphrasing, "and you see two life forms linked together by a piece of rope. Suddenly the lead being poops on the ground and the other one scoops the results into a plastic bag and carries it home. Which would you think is the superior life form?"

That’s pretty much how I feel about the whole pet thing at the moment. In my book, any animal bigger than a squirrel that isn’t potty trained should be left at home. And that goes for children too. But I suppose, if I found just the right dog, that could change. Right now I’ve got a cat that seems content to stray no further than the back yard. Sometimes I walk the neighbor’s golden retriever Buddy and he visits my office, but he goes back to his own domicile at night.

There are no end to dog web sites, and we’re talking about an enormously wide-range of pets and owners. What the little old lady carrying a toy poodle in her purse has in common with the bruiser toting a pair of rottweillers eludes me. But a club is a club. For those seeking pet-friendly data, here’s a short list of resources in paper and digital form. You can order the books on Amazon.com. Bon voyage and remember to stock up on plastic bags.

Fido Friendly
These people put out a quarterly magazine of the same name dedicated entirely to traveling with dogs. In one issue, for example, the "Director of Barketing" takes you on a tour of the "Mardi Paws". I emailed for more info, but didn’t get a reply.

Companion Air
Deals with airline travel and shows a photo of a dog with the caption "Do I look like cargo to you?"

Pet Friendly Cyber Rentals
Reportedly over 775 pet friendly vacation rentals listed

Canine Auto
Lots of paraphernalia for sale. Click on "Travel Guide" in the menu for lodging sites.

Take Your Pet
These people put out a Pet Travel newsletter.

Pets Welcome
This site has a free clickable list and that actually includes a half dozen places in NH, but none in this region.

Dog Gone Fun
The Colorado publishers of DogGone Newsletter and Heidi, Back Seat Driver

Dog Parks
Dog parks in the USA
I tried selecting a state and searching, but nothing happened.

On the Road Again with Man’s Best Friend:
Dog-Friendly New England
by Robert Habgood and Dawn Habgood

Pets on the Go: The Definitive Pet Accommodation and Vacation Guide
by Robert Habgood and Dawn Habgood

Dog-Friendly New Englan: A Traveler’s Companion
By Trisha Blanchet

Vacationing With Your Pet: Eileen's Directory of Pet-Friendly Lodging in the United States & Canada: Over 25,000 Listings of Hotels, Inns, Ranches and B&Bs That Welcome Guests with Pets
By Eileen Barish