If you travel often and love to take your dog along, you must have encountered the infamous “pet unfriendly” hotel. So how to sneak a dog into a hotel if they are charging a bomb for your furball? We present some useful and whacky tricks that seem to have worked!
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Most hotels charge an extra fee for pet stay, and many dog owners do not appreciate this idea! So, they often come up with a solution of their own – sneak their dog into a hotel with them and hope that things go smoothly.
While some get away with it, others get caught; because sooner or later, their dog ends up yelping or barking or running out of the room. Thus, they end up having to pay double, sometimes, triple the original price of their stay!
If you are looking for a way to sneak your dog into a hotel as well, go ahead and read this article, and who knows, next time, you would be telling your friends about the time when you fooled the hotel staff into believing that you checked in without a pet!
How To Sneak a Dog Into a Hotel?
Let’s face it, every dog owner, at some point, has considered sneaking their puppy into a hotel or an apartment., even flipped a coin for it. However, they also know that the chances of being caught are higher than the other side of the coin.
For the non-pet owners, many hotels are pet-friendly, but several of them across America do not allow the entry of pets in their premises; if they do, they cost high fees for the accommodation.
Thus, many people want to sneak their pets into the hotel rooms to avoid the extra charges. The hotel charges depend on their rules, policies, and ratings. We have some suggestions to sneak your furry friend into your hotel and spend your vacation or stay with them by your side.
The fake baby stroller technique
Many dog owners reluctantly use baby strollers to get a free entry for their pet into a hotel. They pretend that their dogs are human babies since they put them inside a baby stroller before entering the hotel premises.
Many people carry their puppy’s stroller and use it to make a smooth entry into their hotel rooms, with their dogs, without paying an extra fee.
Use the suitcase trick
Dog owners use another common trick to help their pets sneak into the hotel. They sometimes put their pup inside an empty suitcase, with the rest of their belongings.
However, we must caution you this is quite a risky trick for someone who claims to be a pet parent. Even if it is for a few minutes, your dog can develop anxiety and claustrophobia due to tight space. It might also make it difficult for them to breathe.
So, if you are considering putting your pup in your suitcase, we suggest you reconsider it because it can get quite uncomfortable in there.
Use alternate hotel entrance
The minute you enter a hotel, there will be several closed-circuit cameras watching your every move. A little squeal from your pup, and you will be busted!
So, once you can check into your hotel room, it is best to use an alternate hotel entrance for you and your pup so that you can avoid the chance of getting caught and paying the penalty for keeping your dog with you.
Do not allow the staff to enter your room
You can ask the hotel staff not to disturb you since you will be in an urgent meeting throughout the day. You can even ask them to hang the label reading ‘Do not disturb’ outside your room to avoid any interference during your stay.
However, it can also lead the staff to believe that you are being overly sneaky, so this trick is liable to backfire. Therefore, you have to be quite well with your moves and words, so they do not catch the idea of something ‘fishy’ going on in your room.
Pretend your dog is a service animal
Throw the service animal vest around your furball to serve your purpose of fooling staff and getting into the hotel. However, you must know that it is illegal to do this in most US states. If you get caught, it will call for severe repercussions and legal proceedings against you.
If not disciplined well, your dog will bark or jump, which is not how service animals are trained to behave. This makes it easy to spot a normal pet disguised as a service animal. So, it will be only a minute or two before the hotel staff finds out that you are not a good fit for a stay in their hotel.
What Happens if You Sneak a Dog Into a Hotel?
If you can somehow sneak a dog into a hotel, two things will happen – either you will be able to get away with it or be caught by one or more staff and pay the penalty. Now, the liability will entirely depend on the rules and policies of the hotel, and you will HAVE to abide by it since you are the wrong-doer in this situation with no alibi.
Mainly one of the following things will happen if you happen to get caught by the staff –
- Pay the penalty
- Leave the hotel
- Pay the extra pet fee
- Pay the pet fee + penalty
Secondly, hotel staff will also have the right to charge you with damage caused due to the activity of your dog. The injuries may also include the following:
Disturbance fee
A staff member may catch you because your dog was barking, yelping, scratching the doors, or running out of the room. All of this amounts to the damage done via disturbance, and thus, you can be charged for the same. The guests can even sue for disturbing their quality time for which they paid so handsomely!
Cleaning fee
Hotel staff usually take extra precaution and care when intimated that a pet would be staying in one of their rooms. If you have sneakily brought your dog into the hotel and they figure it out, they hold the right to charge you conveniently for a cleaning fee.
Please remember that it doesn’t matter if your dog has caused a mess or not; the cost can be rightfully applied to your penalty.
Extra cleaning fee
This cleaning fee is applied to all the places where your dog has caused a mess or nuisance. It can be anything from pooping to peeing as long as it has been done within the property’s premises. God forbid if your dog bit someone, the person can even take legal action against you.
Thus, there is nothing you can do but face the consequences of your decision. There is a high probability that you and your dog will be caught during your stay in the hotel sooner or later.
It might happen sooner or later, but know what you are risking when you decide to sneak your furry pal in to a hotel for fun or adventure or even to avoid paying an extra fee.
What Do You Mean Not All Hotels Are Dog-Friendly?
Now, are you wondering why some hotels do not allow dog stay when many big chains are already pet-friendly? You should know that there are pet-friendly, pet tolerating, and zero pet tolerating hotels across the US.
While pet-friendly hotels offer excellent services for your dog’s stay, such as serving top brand foods, freshwater bowls with refills, spa activities, dog pools, and more, they also charge heavily in case of damage done by your dog within premises.
On the other hand, Pet-tolerant hotels allow the dogs to stay with their owners but cater to minimal pet needs. Most pet-tolerant hotels do not offer feeding bowls, water refills, dog beds or blankets, play areas for the dogs, dog pools, staff to take care of the animals, etc.
However, Pet-intolerant hotels have a zero pet-tolerant policy and do not allow dogs to enter the property. These hotels completely disallow pets to enter their premises.
There are no dog-centric services available in the building, and it can be anyway tricky for your dog to stay in your room, even for a day, albeit you carry their food, water, bed, kennel, etc. with you, which can be pretty hectic for you during the travel.
What Can a Hotel Do About a Barking Dog?
A barking dog is considered a nuisance, even in pet-friendly hotels, so, yes, it can be a problem for the staff in a pet intolerant hotel.
To add to it, one of their guests checked in their room with a dog in their suitcase or stroller without letting them know – so you can expect them to create a ruckus, even in the middle of the night.
Even pet-friendly hotels can ask the guests to leave if it becomes a nuisance for other people and complies with their policy. Many hotels across America mention it in their guidelines to not leave the pet unattended or alone in the hotel room because it increases their chances of yelping or barking.
Instead, the guests are asked to kennel them or leave them in the vehicles. So, either you need to train your dog well or face the consequences this applies to pet-friendly or tolerant hotels as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sneak a pet into a hotel?
Yes, you can, but you are likely to get caught and face severe repercussions.
You can sneak a pet into a hotel, but, in all probabilities, you will get a financial or, in some cases, legal hit out of it. No matter how much you try, the chances are that you will be caught because it is not tough to figure out for the staff that a dog is barking from one of the hotel rooms.
If and when they figure out that you have sneaked your dog in your room, they will either charge you with an extra fee, take legal action against you, or ask you to leave the hotel after paying the penalty. If your dog has caused damage to the property, get ready to pay a hefty sum of money!
How do you hide a pet in a hotel?
Use a baby stroller or backpack to sneak your pet inside.
Several props can help you hide your pet in a hotel – baby stroller, backpack, luggage bag, pillowcase, handbag, etc. If a staff knocks to enter your room, make sure that you leave your pet in the bathroom and close the door from outside. In most cases, hiding your pet in your luggage bag works well, and you avoid the pet fee.
How do you keep a dog quiet in a hotel?
Training, training, training.
Perhaps, training your dog well is the first step to keeping them quiet in a hotel. To be clear, we aren’t suggesting you teach your dog to not bark at all – train it enough to stop barking when asked.
Secondly, do not leave your dog unattended or alone during your stay in the hotel, and it will prompt them to bark at the top of their lungs to find you. If you have to sneak out of the room, do it when deeply asleep or take them with you.
Thirdly, make sure that your dog has had plenty of walks for the day so that when you enter the room, he gets tired and falls asleep. Even if he isn’t sleeping, a tired dog usually doesn’t like the idea of barking.
Finally, bring lots of treats or something special, like a puzzle, to keep your dog happy and engaged. A dog with a busy mouth will have less or no time to bark.
How strict are hotels on dog weight limits?
It varies, but most five stars let your pooch in only if it weighs less than 15 lbs.
When it comes to the weight limit of dogs in hotels, the policies vary. According to many dog owners, weight limits are often enforced and exclude many dogs from checking in the hotel.
Many five-star hotels only allow small pets (about 15lbs) to enter the hotel, while others have no weight limit on the pets. If you want to learn about hotels’ rules regarding dog weight limits, check it here.
Final Words
We understand that leaving our dogs alone at home is not easy. However, as responsible citizens of the country, we must respect and follow the policies of individual hotels instead of sneaking our dogs into our rooms.
Many people get away with it, but it is not suggested to sneak your furry friend into a hotel room with you to save money. Instead, check into a pet-friendly hotel and quadruple your stay with your beloved furball.
Thank you for reading the article, and we once again suggest that you choose not to carry your dog along if you know the hotel you are going to is not friendly to pets. You might like to read these articles too: How To Remove Dog Scratches From Car? And How To Weigh A Large Dog At Home?