What to Prepare and Plan For When Travelling With Dogs in Australia

The listing said dog friendly. The booking confirmation said dog friendly. So, you are all excited,  put in leave at work, pack your things and sudden host's reply to our check-in message arrived: small dogs only, under 10kg, sorry.

Max, our German shepherd, weighs a good 45kg. Our golden retriever, Pepsi, is pushing 38kg on a good day. We found out the hard way that "dog friendly" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone, and that trip is the reason PawScapes exists.

We're far from the only ones packing a lead along with the sunscreen, treats and plenty of water in the boot. Animal Medicines Australia's latest Pets in Australia report puts pet ownership at 73% of households in this country, with dogs the most popular pet in nearly half of all homes.

The planning tools haven't caught up. All the Booking sites, maps and itineraries are still built for people, with the dog bolted on as a checkbox.

A checkbox on a form can't tell you what you actually need to know, and in building PawScapes we learned it is no easy task.

So here's what to prepare and plan for when the dogs want to come too. Not just the packing list you've seen a dozen times (that's at the end), but the things that catch first-timers and experienced owners alike everytime.

Dog Friendly Is Usually a "Yes, But"

Most booking platforms treat pets as a yes or a no.

The real policy is almost never that simple. "Dogs welcome" can mean one dog only. Under a weight limit. Outdoors only. Off the furniture. Never left alone in the room. Welcome, except during school holidays.

There's also a big difference between places that are set up for dogs and places that put up with them. The first kind has a fenced yard, a hose for sandy paws and a towel by the door. The second kind has a list of conditions and a cleaning fee, and you spend the stay worrying about hair on the couch.

Big dogs feel this gap most and it's a pain we know all too well. A 45kg shepherd and a 4kg terrier check exactly the same box on a search filter.

They don't get the same welcome at the door.

The fix is unglamorous but it works. Read the full pet policy, not the filter.

Then message the host with your dog's breed, weight and the number of dogs, and get the yes in writing. Worth asking directly:

• Are there weight, size or breed limits?
• How many dogs are allowed?
• Can the dog be left alone in the room, even briefly, and does it need to be crated?
• Which rooms and furniture are off limits?
• Is there a fenced yard or outdoor area?
• Are dogs excluded in peak periods or school holidays?

Often times, policies contradict another policy so bes tto hear from the host directly to clarify things.

We had one listing that was advertised for $50, but one of our users reported that it turned out to be $250 because they changed the price but listed it nowhere in the policies - just removed the pet fee details.

Price the Pet Fee Before You Fall for the Place

Pet fees are the other half of the "yes, but".

They range from nothing at all to a nightly surcharge with a cleaning fee on top, and they're often missing from the search result entirely.

When we went through the published pet policies of 1,800 dog-friendly stays for PawScapes, only 317 stated a fee, or stated that there wasn't one.

The rest said nothing.

Among stays that do publish a price, our pet-fee benchmark puts the median at $25 a night, with one-off fees at a median of $50 and quotes ranging from $5 to $200.

Almost a quarter of the stays with a stated policy charge no pet fee at all.

Over a week-long trip, a $25 nightly fee adds $175 to the bill, so build it into the budget early and check what the fee actually covers.

Is it a non-refundable surcharge or a bond you get back?

Are you still expected to vacuum up every hair before you leave?

The Rules Change at Every Boundary

One of the harshest lessons first-time travellers with pets experience is the variety of rules and regulations in different regions.

Where your dog can go is set by local councils, state park services and forestry bodies, and each draws its own lines.

You can walk a dog along a council beach, cross into a national park a few hundred metres later and be breaking the rules without a sign in sight.

National parks are the big one.

In NSW, dogs and other pets are generally not permitted in national parks and reserves, partly to protect wildlife and partly because poison baits laid for foxes can kill dogs.

Dogs are allowed in some NSW regional parks and in all NSW state forests.

Queensland keeps dogs out of national parks too, with on-the-spot fines, while welcoming leashed dogs in some conservation parks, state forests and recreation areas.

Only a handful of Queensland's park camping areas take dogs overnight.

Driving through is a separate question. Both states let you pass through a national park on public roads with the dog inside the car, but you can't stop at lookouts or day-use areas along the way.

We often see planning nature days around state forests and regional parks rather than the headline national parks when dogs are involved, and owners should check the council's own page for beach rules (many run off-leash hours or seasonal restrictions), and read the signs when you arrive.

We try our best to fill these gaps, but we have seen cases where all it takes in one council meeting and a dream dog-beach with great walkways is suddenly off-limits on the north end.

Without our users reporting these, we would be flying blind.

Plan the Route Around the Dog, Not the Sights

A human itinerary is a list of places to go, whilst a dog itinerary has to account for every place the dog can't go.

That sounds obvious until you hit the catch-22. Plenty of stays won't let you leave a dog alone in the room, and you should never leave one in the car.

So the winery tasting room, the museum or the indoor lunch suddenly needs a plan.

Take turns, book outdoor seating, or line up a local doggy day care ahead of time with vaccination records ready.

Multi-stop trips multiply the risk, because every stay has its own policy and one weak link can break the whole route.

Fewer, longer stays usually make for a calmer trip than a new bed every night. Shorter driving days help too.

The RSPCA recommends plenty of toilet breaks and on-leash exercise along the way, and a dog that's had a proper run settles better for the next leg.

Let the Weather Set the Itinerary

In Australia, heat decides more of a dog trip than any booking does.

The car is the biggest danger.

RSPCA NSW warns that a dog left in a parked carcould die in as little as six minutes, even on a mild day, and that open windows, shade and tinting do little to keep the temperature down.

Hot bitumen and concrete can burn paw pads, so walks belong in the early morning and evening. Flat-faced breeds like pugs and bulldogs, overweight dogs, puppies and older dogs are all at higher risk of heatstroke.

In practice that means beach time first thing, driving in the air-conditioned middle of the day, and knowing the warning signs: frantic panting, heavy drooling, weakness or wobbliness, gums turning bright red or pale, and vomiting. If you see them, get the dog into shade, wet its coat with cool (not ice-cold) water, and call a vet.

Ticks, Snakes and the Nearest Vet

If your trip takes in the east coast, paralysis ticks belong on the planning list.

They're found from Queensland down the NSW coast into Victoria, and RSPCA NSW describes tick paralysis asone of the most common preventable causes of death in dogs along that coast.

Paralysis ticks aren't found west of the Great Dividing Range, which is exactly why dogs from inland homes can arrive at the coast unprotected.

See your vet before you go about prevention suited to where you're heading, including heartworm where it's relevant, and check your dog's coat every day you're in tick country.

In the warmer months, keep the lead on in long grass and dunes, where snakes like to sun themselves.

Then do the step almost everyone skips.

The RSPCA suggests having the contact details of vet clinics along your route and at your destination before you set off.

In regional areas, find out which clinic takes after-hours calls while you're calm, not at 11pm with a sick dog in the back seat.

Get the Dog Ready for the Drive

A dog that only gets in the car to go to the vet won't love an eight-hour leg. The RSPCA recommends getting dogs used to car travel gradually, with reward-based training, starting well before the trip.

Restraint matters for everyone in the car. The RSPCA's options are a crash-tested harness clipped into the seatbelt, a crash-tested crate secured in the car, or a cargo barrier in a wagon or hatch, noting that a barrier protects the people more than the dog.

There's no formal Australian standard for crash-testing dog restraints, and restraint laws vary between states, so check the road rules wherever you'll be driving.

A good run before departure helps, and skipping food for a couple of hours beforehand reduces the chance of car sickness.

If your dog does get sick, talk to your vet well before the trip, not the day before.

Finally, make sure the microchip details are current and recorded on a nationally recognised registry, not just a state one, and that there's an ID tag on the collar.

What to Pack

The RSPCA's road trip checklist is a solid base. Ours, with the extras we've learned to add:

• Regular food and treats for the whole trip (sudden diet changes and travel stress don't mix)
• Bowls and enough fresh water for the drive
• Bedding or a travel crate
• Collar, harness, lead and the car restraint
• Towel and grooming gear
• Poo bags, and spares
• Medications, a copy of any prescriptions, and a first aid kit
• Vaccination records (day cares and some stays ask)
• A list of vets along the route
• A saved copy of each stay's pet policy and the host's written okay

Travelling with a dog takes more planning, but most of it is front-loaded. Once the stays are confirmed in writing, the route is built around the dog and the weather, and the vet list is saved, the trip itself gets a lot easier.

That's the gap PawScapes was built to fill: a guide to more than 10,000 dog-friendly stays, beaches, parks, cafes, pubs, trails and wineries across Australia, with the actual dog policy for each, tested by Pepsi, our golden retriever, and Max, the German shepherd who started it all.