This past weekend was Pooja and Rishi’s wedding and reception. I have known Pooja since she was born. There was no way we weren’t going to the reception. The timing was going to be difficult, though. With the reception starting at 6:30PM near LAX, we had to leave around 4:00PM (Neela wanted my mom’s help putting on her sari). And we were thinking we wouldn’t be home till around 2AM. For Toby that meant 10 hours in the crate. We didn’t feel good about that idea.
So around 2PM I started looking for pet friendly hotels in the area. The Westin, where the reception was being held, was on the list. So I called, they said they have a 40lb limit, and Toby is 57lbs. I called a few other places, only to find 40-50 lb restrictions everywhere. But one place said the manager can give an exception to the rule. So I called back the Westin, asked for the manager, got the front desk, told them the situation, and they said no problem. The issue was more about aggressive or barky dogs.
Bottom line, Toby went with us to the reception hotel. He stayed in his travel crate during the reception. He was anxious at first but we spent some time with him beforhand, and gave him a few peanut butter kongs (and a sedative) before we left him alone. After that he was really good.
So now, at least, we know we can travel with Toby if we want to. Pretty awesome.
