After years of going on vacation without our pet dog (a small shih tzu and terrier mix), my wife and I made the decision recently to try and include little Hercules in our future travel plans. It hadn't occurred to us have difficult and tedious that would be.
Every year we go to Myrtle Beach for a week in June. Finding a hotel that would take us and our dog wasn't too hard – although it did rule out a stay at some of our favorite places. But ultimately it came down to paying an extra fee per day to have Hercules in the room.
We had not anticipated the toll that South Carolina's heat would take on Hercules. We live in a fairly mild climate in Appalachia and our little dog wasn't used to temperatures in the 90's. Leaving him in the car for any period of time was out of the question. We also weren't prepared for the fact that Hercules was banned from some of the beaches in the area.
At least we were able to provide basic comfort on the road. We brought a couple of his favorite stuffed toys and the flea treatments we get from Pet Meds kept South Carolina's extensive bug population from bothering him too much.
I think we may go back to leaving Hercules with a dog sitter.