AP-Petside.com poll: Pets make cut on family trips

LOS ANGELES — When the Eubank family plans a trip, airplanes are usually out of the question. That's because the family's oversized dogs — a Great Dane and a pointer — are coming, too.

"Our dogs are part of the family. That's why they go everywhere we go," said Mike Eubank, 51, of Overland Park, Kan., who piles the dogs, his wife and three kids into a motorhome for trips to a lake where Eubank keeps a boat.

Nearly a quarter of pet owners have taken a vacation with their animals in the last two years, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications.

Seventy-five percent found the trip more enjoyable than stressful.

Randall Balmer, 56, of Woodbury, Conn., considers the best part of his vacations playing with his 12-year-old yellow Lab, throwing rocks and watching Dakota chase them.

The worst part? Watching Dakota get wet, then get in the car.

"He's just kind of part of the family. We like to have him with us," Balmer said, even if Dakota is getting too old for the trips.

Although more hotel chains now allow pets, 70 percent of those who vacationed with their pets recently said they have stayed with relatives, 55 percent with friends and 52 percent in a hotel. Four in 10 said they have taken their pet to a campsite and 34 percent took an RV trip.

Dog owners (31 percent) were more apt than cat owners (19 percent) to bring their pets along, and among those who have only cats, only 7 percent included them in trips.

Karen Miles, 66, of Altoona, Wis., takes both.

Fletcher, a pug-dachshund mix, and Snuffleupagus, a Himalayan cat, make the trip when she and her family hook up their trailer and go camping or visiting, usually about twice a month. Both pets travel well and just need bowls, food, toys and a litter box for Snuffy, Miles said.

Most of those who have had a good experience traveling with their pet plan to do it again. But such dedicated pet-vacationers are a rare breed: Just 22 percent of all pet owners said they were extremely or very likely to include their pet in a future vacation. Seventy-four percent of cat owners said they were not at all likely to take their pet along.