Great notice from a pet-friendly hotel

Greetings,
You probably know how nuts I am about pets, particularly dogs. Tim is also quite the dog lover, something he probably inherited from his dad (just one of the many things I love about him!). Because of our affinity for dogs we often travel with our dogs when we can. After all, since we consider them part of our family, then of course our family trips often include them too.

I'm scheduled to attend a Red Cross training session for Disaster Action Team volunteers in Bangor, Maine in mid-October, and I was referred to the Best Inn as a great place to stay. When I visited their website I was glad to see the "Pets are welcome" entry in their list of hotel amenities. As we've traveled around the country & Canada I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that many of the nicer hotels actually allow pets (including many 4- and 5-star ones).

Perhaps because they've learned from experience that people who take their pets along when they stay in a nice hotel, are also responsible enough to ensure their pets don't come into that hotel unless they have kept them clean, pest-free, and taught them a few manners. Pets are remarkably able to learn many things if pet owners are willing to take the time and effort to work with them and guide them - much like children are remarkably able to learn many things--no matter how young--if the adults in their life are willing to do the same for them (not only their parents, but all adults in their life). If only we so-called "adults" were as open to learning as pets and children often are - what a great world that would be!

Apparently the Best Inn has also discovered this fact. I thought their page about why they allow pets was a hoot, so I've pasted part of it below for those that are interested (it's after the guidelines for pet owners). Enjoy.

We Are Pet Friendly

Bangor's Best Inn welcomes pets and we offer comfortable accommodations for their owners. To insure your pet's comfort, the comfort of other pets, and of all our guests, we have a few guidelines that we ask your pet to follow:

• Pets shouldn't be left alone in their room. Even well-behaved pets do act up when their master leaves them alone.
• Pets should be kept on a leash when not in their room (unless, of course, you have a goldfish).
• When you walk your pet, please do your part to help keep our grounds clean. There is a perfect dog walking area behind the hotel, toward the waterfront.

When asked if we allow dogs at our hotel, here's what we generally reply:
"Dogs are welcome in this hotel. We've never had a dog that smoked in bed and set fire to the blankets. We've never had a dog who stole the towels, played the TV too loud or had a fight with his traveling companion. We've never had a dog who got drunk and broke up the furniture. So, if your dog can vouch for you, you're welcome, too!"

AWS's Annual Strut your Mutt - pledges welcome

Hi all,
I was privileged to participate (along with Samantha, Kennedy, and Jasmine) in the Animal Welfare Society's annual "Strut you Mutt" at Mother's Beach near Kennebunk today (Sunday, September 9). Tim was on business travel at JDSU's annual sales meeting in Maryland and unfortunately wasn't able to join us, so the four of us strutted on without him!

This event is the society's biggest fundraising event and is held each year rain or shine. This year we had a pretty steady drizzle, but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the many human and canine participants. Unfortunately since I was flying solo I didn't take my camera since I already had my entire body full with three dogs which together outweigh me, but I'll try to steal some photos from AWS's website later. For now I've grabbed a couple of their photos from last year (the one above is a reunion of the AWS's "alumni" participants). Kennedy and Jasmine are also AWS alumni.

Speaking of having my hands full, my many thanks to the kind lady at the registration table who reached for Samantha just as she slipped out of her collar when my back was turned to register--helping me prevent an unsupervised run around the parking lot and nearby street. And my thanks to the other kind woman (I regret I didn't get names) who held Kennedy and Jasmine's leashes while I returned Sam's collar to her svelte but sneaky neck. :)

Even though I arrived late and missed some of the earlier events, I enjoyed a great day. And Samantha, Kennedy and Jasmine seemed to enjoy themselves also - especially sniffing all the great smells and meeting old and new friends (both canine and human). I'm pleased to report that both Kennedy and Jasmine (both 12), completed the 2-mile loop (apparently with ease judging by their body language at the end). Miss Samantha was her usual "gazelle like" self and had plenty of energy to spare.

I was so unprepared for this event that I didn't get around to asking for pledges in advance, so unfortunately my only financial contribution was the registration fee and a small personal donation. They are still accepting pledges now however, so if you'd like to sponsor us "after the fact" - I'd appreciate any donations that will go directly to the shelter. Any amount is welcome. The money is used to help offset the $90,000 AWS funds each year for the much-needed medical care for the aged, injured and sick homeless animals. For more information about AWS, this event, or where the money goes, please see: http://animalwelfaresociety.org/sym/index.php