Pet Policy: Traveling With Your Dog

Yes, we manage pet-friendly homes, and you will find them across the destinations we cover. What we do not have is one pet policy. Each owner decides if their home takes pets, how many, and on what terms, and those terms appear in that home's house rules on its listing.

So the short version: filter for pet-friendly homes in the destination you are visiting, read the house rules on the one you like, and confirm with the local team before you book. If a listing does not say pets are welcome, assume they are not.

How do I find a pet-friendly home?

Search the destination you are traveling to and filter for pet-friendly homes. The results are the properties whose owners have opted in. Open a listing, read the house rules, and the pet terms for that specific home are there. Anything the listing leaves open, ask the local team before you book.

That conversation is usually worth having. The team in that destination knows which homes suit a dog rather than merely permit one: which have a fenced yard, which open onto a busy street, which have a staircase a senior dog will not enjoy, and which sit a short walk from somewhere you can actually let the dog stretch.

What the listing tells you

The house rules on each listing are the authority on pets for that home. Read them for the number of pets allowed, any size or breed limits, the pet fee that applies, where in the home pets may go, and if the yard is fenced. Those details settle most trips.

Owners set these terms for real reasons. A home with a pool and a low gate may cap the number of dogs. A home with new floors may ask that pets stay off the upper level. A condo may be bound by an association rule or an insurance requirement the owner cannot waive.

You will not find a standard pet fee or a standard pet limit on this page, because there is not one. The amount and the conditions come from the home you choose, and the fee is shown in your quote before you pay.

What to expect when you book with a pet

Tell us about your pet when you book, not at check-in. The pet fee for that home is added to your quote so the total you approve is the total you pay, and the local team notes the pet on your reservation. That note is how the home gets prepared correctly and how you get the right arrival details.

Bringing a pet to a home that does not accept one, or bringing more pets than the house rules allow, puts the reservation at risk and can create a charge. If your plans change and a dog joins the trip after you have booked, message the team. We will either clear it with the owner or help you move to a home that takes pets.

Service animals are governed by law, not by our pet policy

Service animals are not pets, and a home's pet rules do not apply to them. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a service animal is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. We do not charge a pet fee for a service animal, and per-home limits on size, breed, or pet count do not apply to one.

Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy animals are not service animals under that definition. They are treated as pets, which means the home's own pet policy applies and the home has to be one that accepts pets.

Either way, tell the local team in advance. Not because anyone needs paperwork from you, but because the people preparing the home would rather know.

Being a good neighbor with a dog

Our homes sit in real neighborhoods, and in several of our cities they operate under a short-term rental permit the owner has to keep in good standing. A barking dog is one of the fastest routes from a happy street to a complaint at city hall, so the ordinary courtesies matter more here than they would at a hotel.

• Keep your dog leashed outside the home. Local leash rules apply, and in condo and HOA communities the association's rules apply on top of them.
• Do not leave a dog alone in the home unless the house rules allow it, and follow any crating requirement. Dogs bark in unfamiliar houses, and you will not hear it from the restaurant.
• Pick up after your dog in the yard and on the street, and put the bag in the outdoor trash rather than the kitchen bin.
• Keep pets off beds and furniture unless the listing says otherwise. A blanket or a travel bed from home makes that much easier on everyone, including the dog.

Where dogs can and cannot go around here

Rules outside the home are set by the city, county, or agency that manages the place, and they vary more than visitors expect. Check before you drive somewhere with the dog in the car, because turning around at a trailhead with a disappointed retriever is a bad start to a morning.

Dogs are not allowed on the trails in Joshua Tree National Park, though they are welcome in developed areas such as campgrounds and picnic areas. National forest land around Idyllwild and Lake Arrowhead is generally friendlier to leashed dogs, but individual trailheads post their own rules and some are closed to pets.

California beaches are a patchwork. Some allow leashed dogs, some allow them only during certain hours or on certain stretches, and some do not allow them at all. The rule is normally posted at the access point, and the city or state park website is the reliable source before you go.

Heat is the other thing to plan around. In Palm Springs and the high desert, pavement gets hot enough to burn a dog's paws long before it feels dangerous to you, so walks belong to early morning and evening. Never leave a dog in a parked car in the desert, even briefly.

Start with the destination you are traveling to on the destinations page, then read the house rules on the home you like. If you want a second opinion on which home suits your dog, contact the local team. Our what's included page covers the rest of what to expect from a stay.