Six weeks into our Sunshine State adventure, traveling with our new dog has actually gone pretty well. Riley is 14 months old now and has really matured over the last few months. Gone are the 'Devil Dog' days of his puppyhood. He's actually been a pleasure to have along in the trip … and I never thought I'd say that!

He flew down with us on the airplane - under the seat. He didn't like the travel carrier he was in too much, but the vet gave us a sleeping pill for him that worked for the whole flight. After we got here, it took the first couple weeks for him to adjust. He needed to bark at all of the strange sounds he heard in Florida, which he still does a bit.

On the bright side, we've been able to leave him alone in our vacation cottage for hours at a time now. That's not something we ever did at home, but what he has now gotten used to. We brought a little internet camera with us to spy on him and generally see him peacefully snoozing on the couch or chair when we are gone.

For activities that keep us away longer than 3-4 hours, we've found some local doggy daycare / daycamps. Those places work well on a day like today, when we are heading over to EPCOT Center. We can put him the day camp from 8a-3p, bring him home for a walk & some play, and then head back to the parks in the evening, leaving him in the cottage. He's a tired pupper by that point of the day and happy to rest.

The Margaritaville resort we are staying at is very dog friendly. There are a huge number of walking paths and courtyards between all of the cottages and along the lake. They have doggy poop bag / trash stations organized every couple hundred yards and even a 'Barkaritaville' off-leash dog park where the dogs can go wild.

There is also a large shopping / restaurant / entertainment district adjacent to the resort where we can take him for a stroll and eat outside. He is so cute he attracts quite a few folks that want to ask about him and kids that want to pet him. They have a little cottage there that broadcasts the programming on Sirius XM's 'Margaritaville' channel and the other night, Riley was like a celebrity drawing his own crowd in front of the studio. Good fun!

Have you travel with your pet? What was that like? Any tips?

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