I have 2 dogs Laddie and Millie, earlier this year I had the bright idea to go on holiday with the woofalo’s. 
The break started off well with the dogs sleeping soundly in the car the majority of the way there (apart from a quick pit stop of course). Then we arrived at the hotel, right on the waterfront of a beautiful loch. Of course the dogs immediately decided they wanted a paddle, of course we refused and tried to drag them to the hotel instead, however the very accommodating owners gave us some doggie towels that they kept for just that purpose. So after the long drive we thought they could do with the stretch and we decided to let them wade at paws depth quickly.
We then returned to our hotel and got shown to our room. Now as I have said I have never visited a pet friendly hotel before, but climbing the staircase with its pretty mahogany banisters and prestige paintings on the walls with two dogs in tow is a very odd sensation indeed! Nevertheless we got to the room, put the dog beds in, had a quick cuppa and decided to have a little wander around the pretty village. Stopping for a cuppa and a sandwich in town.
That evening we left the dogs in the hotel room while we had our meal in the restaurant. Our hearts in our stomach as we crept back up the stairs, please don’t have destroyed anything, messed the room, or anything. They wouldn’t do that at home but you can’t help but worry in a strange place. When we opened the hotel room door our pooches came toddling over happy to see us and not a thing was out of place – phew! We took them down to the bar for a quick glass of wine or two before bed (for us not the pooches) and on the bar was a lovely jar of doggy treats. Honestly a tranquil bar with a roaring fire, a window seat overlooking the loch and two spoilt pooches, curled happily at our feet enjoying a quick nibble, it was lovely, if only I had known what was to come…
Now I know every dog owner and every dog has a different routine. Ours is this, at bedtime, the dogs go out for a last minute visit to the loo, and then get put in their beds in the utility room downstairs with a bowl of biscuits each. I sleep in the bedroom upstairs at the opposite end of the house. At home this works fairly well. In a hotel room, things are slightly different. We took them out for a quick scoot to which they had absolutely no interest in the loo just in getting back in the Loch. Eventually we gave up and headed back to the room, putting the dogs into bed and their biscuits down. All well and good until several hours later, pitch black in the middle of the night I was awoken with the persistant sound of “crunch, crunch, crunch.”
“Crunch, crunch, crunch”. Few seconds silence. “Crunch, crunch, crunch” – few seconds silence. After 5 minutes of feeling like I was taking part in the water torture experiment. I got up out the bed and removed the bowl of food to two very sad big brown eyes. I apologised and explained to Laddie that he would get them back in the morning. After a rather loud huffy sound he flounced down on his bed, clearly not overly pleased with the agreement. As I got back in bed my husband chuckled and said “I knew if I just laid here it would annoy you the most first”, the devious monkey!
Just drifting quietly back off to sleep the noise started back up again “crunch, crunch, crunch”.
“Laddie” I shouted, and shot up out the bed to take the biscuits off him. Only to find out Millie had joined in the game and was laid on her bed head rolled off the side in her dog bowl like lady-muck! Making the same apologies again I removed her bowl and crawled my way back into bed.
Once again I was awoken in my sleep, this time with the lapping of water. Now although cruel enough to take away the food (temporarily), I am not cruel enough to remove water. So instead I buried myself deep in the bed, pillows wrapped tightly round my ears and prayed for Laddie to get back into bed and go to sleep. Eventually this happened.
A few hours later, I was once again awoken, Laddie was laid on a rug next to my side of the bed trumping quite loudly. My god! I rolled over and shook my husband. “The dog needs out”.
“What?”
“The dog needs out, he is gassing me out!”
“Can’t you just go back to sleep, he is sleeping.”
“He might be but his backside isn’t!”
Eventually my dazed husband got up and slung his dressing gown on.
“You will need more than that.” I said pulling on my jeans, big woolly jumper and walking boots. We are talking about Scotland in the spring!
So at four o’clock in the morning in the pitch black we got ourselves composed and made the way down the hotel stairs to the front door with the two terrors. I kindly stayed inside ready to unlatch the hotel front door when he came back and sure enough I had been right, they needed a quick trip to the loo each.
So, why would I want to live this 24 hour period again?
I had my husband and my two dogs, basically my current little family altogether. We got to stay in a wonderful hotel, experience great food and enjoy the scenic views – together! The dogs were so wonderfully behaved, in the room, in the bar and on the walks. In fact we had people compliment them so often about how well behaved they were. Finally because in the morning we got up and did a long walk together. We truly felt like the only people on the earth. True peace and tranquillity together. This was our view:
Dog Tails: Three Humorous Short Stories for Dog Lovers by Tara Chevrestt
