Christmas Vacation, Animal Style
How to Hit the Road with Your Pooch in Tow
CHRISTMAS VACATION, ANIMAL STYLE: Dog people know the drill. You’re itching for the all-important getta’ outta’ Dodging, to cleanse the soul and try to remember how to relax again. But what about Fido? Do you ditch the beloved hound yet again, consign them to doggie day and night care, neglecting their own need to get outta’ Dodge and hang with their owner homies?
Faced with the dilemma, we decided to road test Harper with a couple of nights in a dog-friendly hotel in the township of Cambria, which seems perfectly suited to a quick escape route from Santa Barbara, close enough yet far enough to feel like another place and plane. The results? Mostly positive, with stress and logistical challenges attached, but also the satisfaction of knowing we showed her a grand little time away and assuaged our potential guilt over dog-ditching.
Some background is in order. Harper is a beautiful handful of a dog, the product of an unsanctioned late-night liaison involving the randy yellow lab named Thor, who hopped the fence to make doggie whoopee with the sweet golden retriever aptly named Gracie. Enter the litter which included Harper (so named after Harper Lee), who sometimes earns her nickname “Hyper.” Harper’s wily wild side we attribute to Thor, and the loving, gentle, human affection-addicted side is Gracie’s doing, so we surmise. (Yes, we know it’s a too-pat, sexist equation.)
