Traveling with our dog

Leaving for a RTW trip without Lulu?  Out of the question!  Call us stupid if you want but it was a sine qua non condition:  traveling with our dog or stay.  Of course, it implies a lot of compromises because a dog isn't welcome everywhere.  OUR dog isn't welcome everywhere: she's a Rottweiler and as you may know, Rottweilers are considered fighting dogs...




So what does this decision means, really?  It means that we will have to build up our itinerary according to where Lulu can go or not.  It means that we will have to forget about traveling in Australia and New-Zeland and Scandinavia.  It means that we will have to choose a mean of transport to suit our needs and the dog's needs: a camping-car.  It means that sometimes, we will have to leave Lulu in the camping-car if we want to visit a museum or if we want to go to the restaurant.  It means that we will have to watch her carefully when we'll be in the wilderness.  It means that, in order to cross the ocean to go to Europe, Lulu will have to travel alone in a cage...  It means that the budget will be a little bit higher than expected at first.

But it also means that we will have our best friend with us.  And that alone is a pretty good reason to bring her with us.  In fact, we predict that she will become the mascot of this trip!  Everybody will want to meet her and play with her!  Having a dog is like traveling with kids: people are often more open when they see the dog and how cute it is...! 

A friend of mine told me that Lulu will be a good alarm-system and protection device during our trip.  Sure, she can be very protective and she has an impresive physic.  Good when you're in an unfriendly environment.  But Lulu isn't coming with us to play a protective role.  She's coming because she's part of the family.  Period.  I wouldn't even think of letting her here with a family member or a friend.  She would have a nervous breakdown!  We went to L.A. last year and had to let her with my brother.  What a mistake!  She did not eat for 3 days, did not want to go outside, ...  She was on the verge of having a big breakdown.  After that week, I promised myself that I would never leave her alone again.

We chose to have a dog, we agreed on having that responsability on our shoulders for as long as it would live.  Traveling with Lulu is just taking our responsability towards our best friend...

Coming up: more about traveling around the world with a dog!