Pet Friendly Hotels?

It has been a while since I have traveled with my pets, since my adult dog, Lexi, hates the car. She shakes and trembles, lies on the floor of the back seat and then throws up. It may be anxiety, since her only car trips now are to the vet or to the groomer - both not high on her list of places to go.

"Herman" / Photo: Rod Moser

Two of my Shelties loved the car. One would actually chase cars while IN the car. We had a van at that time, so she would sit on the front seat until she saw a car, and would then run all the way to back barking at it as it passed. This was annoying. Herman, my late buddy, would try and come with me all of the time; even when I was going to work. As soon as I would open the door, he would jump in. He would lie on the front seat and lick my right hand which rested on the center console. His fearlessness around cars lead to his injury a few years later when his big, bushy tail got caught under my rear tire. He was not able to recover from his injuries after extensive surgery and had to be humanly euthanized. This was one of my saddest days.

About a week ago, I had to take a few days off to put, Cali, one of Lexi's six puppies on the plane to Maryland on Pet Airways. Since the flight left from Los Angeles, about a 7-8 hour drive, my brother and I had to leave the night before. Finding a pet-friendly hotel was a bit more challenging than we anticipated.

There are dozens of hotels near the Los Angeles airport, as you might imagine, but the surrounding communities are not the safest places to stay. We did find a hotel that allows pets near the airport but the reviews were not good; scary in fact. One reviewer referred to this hotel as worse than the Bates Motel. Another advised us to lock our car and doors at all times. We figured that this pet-friendly hotel may have also been crack-friendly and prostitute-friendly, so we canceled our reservation.

There are lots of Internet sites that list pet-friendly hotels, but pet-friendly does not necessarily imply that they are wallet-friendly. Some were terribly expensive, including one pet-friendly hotel that has a one hundred dollar, non-refundable pet deposit! That is $700 in dog money! The lowest pet fee was fifty dollars. Since we were only staying there for about nine hours, we felt those fees were ridiculous.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

We finally found hotel (one of the chains) located two hours from the airport that allowed pets and did not charge an extra fee. What would this one be like? It turned out that this hotel was one of the cleanest, nicest, reasonably-priced, safest places that I have every stayed - The Hampton Inn Santa Clarita. I think they deserve a plug for being pet (and human) friendly. There were many dogs there, including some scary-looking, but well-behaved pit pulls, but not one was barking or running amok. We did sign an agreement to pay for any pet damage, which of course, there wasn't any. I would stay at this place again, even if I didn't have a pet. They even had a hot breakfast in the mornings that was darn good. I blogged about The Dozen Dirty Places in the past, listing hotels high on this list. I can truly say that this hotel is an exception. If I did the list, I would put my living room or my home office on the list instead.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Cali made it safely to Maryland after her thirty hour journey; a longer flight than we originally anticipated. My latest report from Maryland is that she is excelling in house-training and has already been fitted with her life preserver for the boat. It is good that she is house (boat) trained quickly or you could have a whole new meaning for the area on the boat called the Poop Deck.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Unlike most of my other dogs, Cali is the one that does not seem to mind car trips. She has already visited my elderly mother (she will be 88 next month) in the nursing home and has made many local car outings without the least bit of car-sickness or anxiety. Out of the six puppies, it seems that my brother got the "good one", although I think all of them are wonderful.

When we go out of town, we hire a house/pet-sitter. In a few years, we would love to buy a tent camper and tour our own country, hitting the best of our National Parks. I would love to take the dogs; not that they would enjoy the trip, but so we wouldn't have to leave them. My brother and sister-in-law do many car (and boat trips) so having a travel-friendly pet is essential. I am glad they got one. Since we have accumulated a menagerie of sorts - three dogs, two cats, tropical fish, and 14 non-egg laying (so far) chickens, we will need that pet/house-sitter for a long time, I am sure. We fantasize with the idea of retiring pet-free, but neither one of us can imagine a life without having a dog (or three) to love and pet.

Photo: Larry & Jeanette Moser

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Are You Right-Eared or Left-Eared?

Dean Shareski / CC BY-SA 2.0

What happened to in-flight entertainment? On my recent flights, there were no movies, no headphones for music, and no magazines. I long for the day when flight attendants would cruise the cabin, handing out a variety of magazines. Now, we have to buy our own magazines (at airport prices) and books, bring our own food/snacks, and supply our own entertainment.

The guy across the row from me was happily watching a video and wearing those noise-canceling headphones, periodically chuckling. As soon as the movie was over, he had one of those new electronic books, and started to read a novel. This man was prepared. I bought a TIME magazine at the news stand, but read it all waiting for my flight to leave. This is equivalent to eating all of your popcorn before the movie starts. I started leafing through those in-flight magazines (Spirit) and found an interesting article that I would like to share.

Did you know that 72% of people prefer to listen with their right ear? It is not really due to the fact that you are right-handed either. The left side of the brain specializes in language processing and is neurologically wired to the right ear. Consequently, the right side of the brain that deals with emotional cues is wired to the left ear. Two Italian researchers found that requests spoken into the right ear generates more positive responses than those uttered into left ears.

I find this very interesting, since I am one of those right-eared people. If I hear something subtle outside, I will turn my right ear to the noise. I tend to keep my wife on the right side when she is talking, too. She sits to the right of me when I am driving, and on the right when we are at the movies. When she nags me, she is usually on my right, but now that I have this information, I may turn my left ear in her direction. Of course, I do have tinnitus which is primarily in my left ear, so I suspect my right ear has more acute hearing.

We don’t have any young children in the house anymore, just dogs and puppies. We do have grandchildren, however, so I am going to try and voice those requests to pick up their stuff, or take a shower, etc. in their right ears, hoping of course, for those positive responses. I am going out on a limb here because I don’t think teenagers really respond to either ear, but I am going to try it on our 16-year-old granddaughter.

Related Topics:

• Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board with Rod Moser, PA, PhD
• Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!

Halloween - The Good, Bad, and the Scary

Kevin Dooley / CC BY 2.0

Children love Halloween; or most likely, they love to dress up and pretend they are super heroes, rock stars, cheerleaders, or monsters. Too bad that Halloween is only once a year, and too bad that Halloween has such an evil reputation as being a day that opens the gateway to Hell. Seeing happy little children dressed as fairies or Darth Vader is not the same Halloween it was two thousand years ago.

Ancient people (and even modern people today) believe in spirits - good ones, and bad ones. When I am seeing a traditional Hmong family in the clinic, they are unusually quiet. They do not want to draw attention to themselves by the evil spirits that lurk around medical offices. Actually, I have seen them myself, cleverly disguised as inspectors renewing one of our many accreditations. The Hmong and many other people in third-world nations do not believe in germs as a cause of disease; they believe that evil spirits are responsible. Since it is becoming more and more difficult treating certain drug-resistant diseases now, I am inclined to start believing it myself.

Two thousand years ago, the Celts, a much admired group by the tattooed crowd, believed that October 31st - the last day of their year - was a day when ghosts came back for a visit, and the dead comingled with the living. The Celts would dress in masks and costumes to scare them away, and leave offerings of food (the "treats") to appease them. However, if you are already dead and just making an annual visit, I don't really understand the point. Come on...they're already dead. What can happen? I wonder if adult Celts ate the primitive Baby Ruths and Milky Ways out of their kid's stash, as is our tradition now? I heard that archeologist have found some wrappers, including one intact 2000 year old Snicker that was missed. It is still edible.

After the Romans invaded Ireland and England, Halloween begin to change. The Romans didn't really like Celts dancing around in goat pants and stuff. Then came the Christians, who put the damper on this annual holiday by making November 1st All Saints Day; thus making October 31st All Hallow's Eve, or as we know and mispronounce it, Halloween. Hallow means "Saint". All Hallow's Eve became a religious holiday. The Celts were not pleased, so they invented Irish dancing and whiskey. I made that last part up, but I love to start Internet rumors.

The good part of Halloween is the fun that children have dressing up. They love going door-to-door getting candy (for their parents). Competing neck and neck with Christmas and their birthday, Halloween is often their favorite. Why do some people hate it?

The bad part of Halloween has got to be those poor choices for costumes. Being in the medical profession and having done my time in the emergency rooms, I don't really care too much for eyeball hanging out, knives stuck in ears (worse than Q-tips!), or blood dripping down from severed limbs. I keep trying to bandage them, or at least put on some gloves to keep from getting fake blood-borne pathogens. That is the scary part for us. For the younger crowd, these costume choices are equally as terrifying. Let the teenagers wear them at parties that only have teenagers, but let's not go door to door scaring the crap out of the little ones (and their parents).

Halloween can bring out the ultimate essence of poor taste, like a transvestite Obama or a Nazi cheerleader. No one, and I repeat, no one, should be wearing costumes that are offensive or in poor taste. The medical assistant who works with my wife is from Moldova, and is offended by anything related to Halloween, even pumpkins. Since my wife loves to decorate her office for Halloween, she is slowly (very slowly) learning to tolerate this American tradition.

Spiderman, Superman, and the Transformers tend to be popular in my office for the boys. The girls still love being ballerinas, divas, or one of the Disney heroines, like Ariel or Pocahontas, although Native Americans or mermaids may be insulted. Witches and ghosts are okay; I am not particularly fond of vampires, although I did like Twilight. I can vividly remember as a child, sleeping in my hot, humid attic room with the window closed, so that Dracula would not come in. I would avoid walking through the woods at night, too. The Wolfman, if you are curious.

A local mega-church goes half-way and has a Harvest Festival. For the safety of the children, they organize an annual "Trunk and Treat." Cars are parked all around the periphery of their large lot; the children go from car to car in their costumes, getting candy and treats from the trunks of their cars. I think this is a great idea and a wonderful compromise. They are prohibited from being witches, vampires, or axe-murderers, as they should.

It is time to re-invent Halloween, not abandon it because a few inflexible people may be offended because of some issues and associations 2000 years ago. Halloween is fun if you set some reasonable perimeters and join in.

Danielle Closs / CC BY-ND 2.0

Related Topics:

• Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board with Rod Moser, PA, PhD
• Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!

Sad Endings. New Beginnings.

Sad Endings: Yesterday, our 15 year old Sheltie, Maggie, died. She is buried in our backyard under a beautiful flowering plant. She was a wonderful and gentle dog; a loyal friend, companion, and mother, and she will be greatly missed. These are always sad endings. The love a dog is something we should never take for granted, but like all life...it has an ending. The good memories will continue to live.

"Maggie" / Photo: Rod Moser

She was aided in her transition by the veterinarian who "put her to sleep." I really don't like that expression. She isn't asleep, although she was comfortably sedated and asleep before the euthanasia procedure. We have done these three times now, to three different dogs: two very elderly and terminally-ill, and one, Herman, who was tragically injured. This NEVER gets any easier. I sure wish there was a way to do this easier and more compassionately by the dog-owners. Having it done by the vet seems so cold and clinical, but at least it was painless for her. Some euthanasia experiences are not as easy and uncomplicated, so I am grateful for that.

The pain of Maggie's transition has been eased by some new lives - new healthy, active, happy puppies. We decided to keep two from a recent litter of six. As they jumped up and licked our faces, they helped wash some of the tears away.

New Beginnings: We were not sure how the puppy would handle a long car trip. Some dogs vomit due to the motion sickness or anxiety, so my brother and I were prepared. Towels were on the seats. She was in a pet carrier (open, so she could come out), and we had a ready supply of paper towels, wet-ones, and even a can of air freshener. We were prepared. What we weren't prepared for was her adaptability. Not only did she tolerate a seven-hour car trip, leaving her puppy siblings/mother, and a night in a pet-friendly motel, she thrived! Most of the time, she just slept in the back seat with her head periodically on the outside to watch us, but she would come up front to sit on our laps, kiss us, and then voluntarily go back in her carrier to sleep.

The puppy did not particularly like rest stops. They were too noisy from the trucks and I am sure, smelled scary to her. She loved the quiet grass of the pet-friendly motel where she quickly and appropriately relieved herself. She played in the room, didn't whine or pee/poop on the floor, and seemed to enjoy sleeping with us. At first, I put the puppy on the bed with me. She quickly curled up and went to sleep. When my brother woke up in the middle of the night, so did the puppy, so he put her in bed with him. At 5 AM, when I woke up, they were spooning! I took her out for her morning constitutional, fed her some breakfast, and it was off to the airport - another two- hour drive.

Photo: Rod Moser

Cali (Her name; short for California) had reservations on the 11 AM flight to Baltimore, with stopovers in Denver and Chicago. She was flying first-class on Pet Airways, a specially-configured executive plane just for pets; complete with their own pet-flight attendant. My brother paid an extra $50 for a larger pet container; equivalent to being upgraded to first-class. We briefly met some of her traveling companions: two loudly-meowing cats and their worried owners moving to Virginia (traveling coach, I am sure), a pampered poodle, and a big, goofy-looking, lab-like dog not fully-comprehending what was about to happen. I hope they don't put her next to those whinny cats. I always get the human equivalent of that when I fly.

Photo: Rod Moser

We said our goodbyes to Cali; got our face-licks, and saw her leave with the flight attendant, along with her carry-on - a one gallon plastic bag with her stuff. Her "stuff" was food for three meals (Pet Airways does not serve meals), toys, a sock full of her mother's hair, and one of my brother's t-shirts (stinky) to sleep on. She was trembling a bit, so we would feel even more-guilty than we already were. This cross-country ordeal is not cheap; about $300 for the flight alone, not including the cost of the health certificate, hotel, and airport transportation (800 miles!). When we discussed all of the options, like driving her across the country, or jamming her under a seat for eight hours on his flight, we felt that this was the least-stressful for her, even though it was going to take 30 hours! My brother had a very early AM flight the next day to meet her on the other end.

The duration of this flight - with the puppy being penned up most of the time in a pet carrier - listening to those bitchy cats that were probably pushing the call button all of the time, troubled us. We were informed that Cali "seemed nervous" during the overnight layover in Chicago. My brother said that he gets nervous when he is in Chicago, too.

Cali arrived safely in Baltimore and was very glad to see my brother. The cats weren't there; either picked up earlier by their owners; or jettisoned somewhere over the Midwest (Cats land on their feet, even from 30, 000 feet. Just kidding! I love cats, too. I have two of them, and I am sure they are happy to be off of that plane as well). After some highly-appreciated face-licking (the puppy to my brother, of course), they made the two-hour drive to Eastern Shore Maryland where she will happily live. I miss her already.

It has been a long time since my brother and sister-in-law had a dog. They have a garage cat. Don't' get me wrong, it is a nice, heated garage. It used to be a house cat until he decided that my brother's briefcase or suitcase made a convenient litter box. This decision on the cat's part resulted in his eviction a few years ago. His unfitting name is Lucky. Compared to the responsibilities of owning a dog, cats are easy. They are independent, come and go as they please, and are quite adaptable. I think Lucky likes having his own place.

Cali will be trained to be a boat-dog. My retired brother loves to sail his boat on the Chesapeake, and will no longer be jealous of all of those other boat-owners that have dogs. She will have a life-preserver and be tethered, once the sailing season begins next year. I am taking a little perverted pleasure in knowing that my brother's once-neat home will soon be converted to the puppy day-care center that we have here. I am envisioning dog toys all over the place. There is nothing like the heart-stopping thrill of stepping on a rubbery squeak toy in the middle of the night, or the even bigger thrill of having puppy poop ooze up through your toes. Still, this is a small price to pay for the love of a new puppy. It will truly be a new beginning.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter

Raising Puppies - The Dark Side

Anyone that has home-raised a litter of puppies knows the tremendous amount of work involved. They are just like children - they sleep during the day, but want to play at night. They get up early in the morning and want to eat. As soon as the mother dog weans them, it becomes a non-stop Poop Fest. As gross as this sounds, the mother dog does all of the clean-up for the puppies, including licking up pee and eating their droppings when they are nursing; but as soon as they start on puppy food, that all abruptly stops.

Six puppies can pee about a hundred times a day and poop about half that much. Their droppings turn from odorless, cute-little, easy-to-pick up ones to huge cow patties. They hit the papers on the floor only half the time; the rest ending up on the carpet...somewhere...like Claymore landmines waiting for innocent, human bare feet to find them. And, they stink! Malodorous puppy-poop is not necessarily a bad thing, since the odor is a good location device.

Mike McCune / CC BY 2.0

Sheltie puppies love to run. They run from one end of the house to the other. They were only a month or so old when they mastered the steps, something that I personally, have problems climbing. We have a big deck outside that has become a day-care facility, complete with hundred of toys, cardboard boxes to play in, soft beds (that they pee on), and several pairs of my socks that they have commandeered.

If two of us are home, we can take them outside to play. Think of having six pet bees. You let the bees go and then try and keep track of them, hoping they will stay in one area. It doesn't happen. Lexi, the mother dog, does her best to round them up, but they take off, either alone or in little packs to all ends of our unfenced property. We are constantly counting them, making sure we can locate them if we spot turkey vultures circling above or a crafty coyote lurking about. They like to head for the chicken enclosure and bark at them. They run in and out of our thick landscaping; happy and literally smiling, as they carry off sticks or leaves in their mouths. After about a half-hour, we round them up; one or two at a time, and carry them back to the deck enclosure. We try and exercise them at least twice a day like this. Today it is raining, and the puppies are driving me crazy.

Perhaps the most difficult part of raising puppies is sending them off to new homes. Three of them were born under the desk where I am typing this post. We can't keep 'em all, of course. Two have been adopted by a single man who lives about two miles from us. Tomorrow, Emmy goes to her new family about a half mile away. On Thursday morning, Cali will fly on Pet Airways to her new home with my brother and sister-in-law. This is going to be a stressful trip for this little puppy who is used to having the run of the house. She has never been confined to a pet carrier or really been with strangers. We will send her with some familiar toys, one of my stolen socks filled with the mother dog's hair, and some snacks. Unlike people airlines, the puppies get snacks. No booze. I plan on taping a monetary "tip" on her travel bag for the pet flight attendant for some extra loving on this 30 hour trip. I will post on this trip next week after she safely arrives in Maryland.

As soon as we are down to our two, Ellie and Zac, it will be Puppy Boot Camp. They are house trained now - they pee and poop in the house. We just have to get them yard trained. We also need to work on behaviors - coming when we call them, no biting toes, no digging in the plants, and the importance of not chewing stuff that isn't theirs.

"Maggie" / Rod Moser

Sadly, our oldest dog, Maggie, born in Michigan fifteen years ago, and the mother of my late best friend, Herman, is dying. She was diagnosed as having cancer, and is now in transition. She sleeps all of the time, isn't eating, and has started to pant. She does not seem to be in pain, but dogs do not exhibit pain like humans. Perhaps the panting is her way of coping with discomfort. She goes to the veterinarian next week and I am sure the vet will recommend euthanasia. Euthanasia for a dying pet is very humane, but a sad event nonetheless. We will pay the extra fee for the vet to come to our home - her home - so that she can be as relaxed as possible. In the hands of an experienced vet, this procedure is fast and painless. For the grieving dog owners, this experience is unbelievably painful. I am sure there is a Dog Heaven. Who would want to spend eternity without the love of a dog?

This is really a cross-section of life. There are births and there are deaths. We live and we die. It is really up to us to make the best of the precious time in between.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Dogs on WebMD!
• Pet Health: The Veterinarian Is In
• Healthy Pets Newsletter