On the packing list this year: masks, sanitizer andavery goodboy
In mid-March, three days aftercancelingtheirAprilwedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, because of the pandemic, Dana Bakich and Daniel Snyder consoled themselves by bringinghomeanewpuppy: a curly-haired, black-and-white Labradoodle chosen for his sweet disposition and littleto-no likelihood of shedding. Three months later, with the pandemic raging on and hoping to live closer to their families, the couple packed up their home in Los Angeles and drove eastward toward theAtlanta suburbswithMalo — named for the French port city of Saint-Malo, where his “parents” gotengaged— intow.
Dogloversarequicktopoint out that dogs make any situation better, but Bakich learned that even with a canine copilot, noroad-tripisfullydisaster-proof — especiallywhen it begins in a 2006Honda Civic stick shift with 200,000miles on it.
“On day two, we were driving through Death Valley and the air-conditioner stopped working,” said Bakich, 31, the founder of Positive Equation, a socialmediaconsultancy for nonprofits, and HerDesk, a soon-to-launch line of desks. “Itwas 108 degrees and Malo hadn't been groomed yet.”
Thecouplepurchased trash bags from a local drugstore and filled them with ice, then cushioned them aroundMalo in the front seat.
“He slept; he was totally fine,” Bakich said. “But the second we got to Scottsdale we bought a new car.”
Beyondtheparadeofsnouts onsocialmedia, thereisplenty to suggest that the “coronapuppy” surge — for many, fueled by the quest to find joy or purpose while stuck at home — is real. Breeders' wait-lists stretch into 2022. Animal nonprofits report dramatic increases in adoptions andfostersthisyear. Butwhen their humans want to jet off on vacation for theweekend, pets are not staying at home with house sitters: For most people, neither jetting off for theweekend, nor even house sitters, are possibilities right now. Instead, these pups are curling up in the back seat — or, likeMalo, snuggling up in the front seat — and enjoying the ride.
WhenLantoGriffin, 32, and Maya Brown, 28, of JacksonvilleBeach, Florida, suddenly found their careers on pause this spring, Troy, their new shar-pei-lab rescue, helped themweatherthedownswing. (Research suggests that dogs can affect one's physical and emotional well-being, from cardiovascular health to happiness.) Brown lost her job as an attorney and Griffin, a professional golfer, was idlewhen thePGATour temporarily suspended its season.
“Whenyou'reusedtobeing ontheroadalmosteveryweek and all of a sudden you're home for three months, Troy helped getmy mind off everything thatwas going on,” Griffin said.
Golf has resumed and, althoughdogs are not allowed at tournaments, Troy has drivenwith the couple around theEasternUnitedStates, with stops in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; and elsewhere. From his perch in back, he has routinely “upgraded” himself, worming between the front seats and resting his head on the air vents.
‘Fear of missing out’
“Troy has a pretty bad case ofFOMO”— fearofmissingout —“andhehastoberightbeside ussohecanknowwhat'sgoing on,” Brown said.
At one hotel in Detroit, as someguestssmokedmarijuana (which is legal in Michigan) in their cars to celebrate July 4, Troy, wholovescars, patrolled the parking lot and sniffed around each set of wheels.
“I think people thought he was a police or narcotics dog, soTroy and I got a lot ofweird looks,” Brown said. “I had to tell people that he just wanted to get in the car.”
Troy andMalowere hardly the only pups relishing life on the road this summer; the travel industry abounds with data showing that dogs are on themove. BringFido, awebsite and app that lists dog-friendly hotels, restaurants and activities around the world, has seen 27% more user sign-ups over lastsummer. The“Allows Pets” filter was the secondmost searched for amenity (after “Pool”) on Airbnb.
InAugust, theproportionof pet-to-human passengers flying on JSX, a low-cost hop-on jetservice, wasmorethandouble January's figure. VistaJet, a private aviation company, is seeing a 68% increase in year-over-yeardogs onboard. FromMemorialDayweekend throughAugust, the100,0000 campsites listedonCampspot had more than 80,000 reservations with pets— about40% more than last year.
At LoveThyBeast, a New York City-based pet-accessories company, travel-carrier sales were 32% higher from March to July than they were last year.
The Cottages at the Boat Basin, a dockside resort in Nantucket, Massachusetts, has had a 20% increase in travelerswithpetsthissummer. One family even booked a 12-day stay in one of the aptlynamed “WoofCottages”— pet-friendly, humanaccommodations that start at $160 a night andcome with their own “concierge” in the form of Bailey, the residentblackLab-Brittany spaniel mix — solely for their 200pound Newfoundland to rest and cool down. The family stayed on their boat, docked just offshore.
Althoughmany travel companies, including The Cottages, have been pet friendly for a while, the coronavirus has nudged others to learn new tricks.
“In previous years, it was common to get a flurry of requestsforpet-policyupdates in the first quarter,” said Melissa Halliburton, BringFido's founder and chief executive. “But this summer we have seen an uptick in those requests much earlier than usual, plus requests to be added to the website from hotels that just recently began allowing pets.”
Travel stricter about pets
In July, as part of its COVID reopening, Ireland's Dromoland Castle beganwelcoming dogs for the first time in its 58-year history: AnInstagram post featuring Callie, the managing director's new springer spaniel, heralded the news.
Although Amtrak's overall ridership dropped in March, the proportion of animal-tohumanpassengers was about threetimeshigherinJunethan it was in June 2019. This fall, the rail company will expand itspetprogram— whichallows dogs and cats of a certain size to ride in carriers under seats — to all weekday Acela trains (pets have historically only been allowed on Acela on weekends).
Some airlines, meanwhile, have become temporarily stricter about pets. American
Airlines suspended checked pets (versus pets that fit in the cabin) in late March during the flurry of pandemicrelated flight cancellations andlate-breaking government restrictions. DeltaAirLinesand United Airlines have enacted similar restrictions around cargo pets.
But because somany flights aren't at capacity these days, carry-on pets are living large. When Angie Camus, 37, flew on Southwest Airlines from New York City to Atlanta for a vacation in July, there was plenty of room in the cabin for Marvel, her new Pomeranian-mix puppy, to stretch her little legs.
Camus, wholives inQueens andworks inthe legal services industry, had a difficultFebruary andMarch, even by 2020 standards, losing herfather-inlaw and her 16-year-old Border collie.
“We got married inOctober and as newlyweds that's not exactly how we expected to start off,” she said. “In April andMay, wewere like, ‘What do we do now?'”
Camus and her husband quickly realized that, like everything, adopting a dog is harder during a pandemic. Most of their 20 applications were rejected orunanswered. Whentheyfoundashelterwith puppies,theirhomeinspection wasconductedoverZoomand the adoption went through.
Two months later, after resolving to take somemuch needed time off with close friends — and deciding that a road tripwould involve too many bathroom breaks for Marvel — Camus and her husband foundthemselves sitting in a nearly empty LaGuardia Airport, tossing around a squeaky ball.
Marvel, for her part, was a travel pro, basking in a chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs” on the flight (at $95 eachway, the Southwest Airlines pet fare cost about the same as the human fares). On the weeklong vacation in Jasper, Georgia, she walked and swam in themountains, learnedtoplay withotherdogsandbefriended goats at a local vineyard.
“It was beneficial to both of us mentally — it was a time to have some fun and be outdoors and let loose a little,” Camus said. “She just loves being around her people and living life, no matter where we are.”