Holidays have always meant a lot of fun. Now, as vacations approach, make them joyful for your pet too with a lot of fun-filled activities.Pooja Sathe, owner of Crazy K9 Campers, an organisation that arranges outdoor camps, trekking and swimming activities for both pet parents and their pets, says, “I have a Labrador, who I used to go trekking with. I decided why not do it for other people?” According to Pooja, while during the summer months the usual places for weekend camps and short holidays are beaches and resorts with swimming pools, the monsoon months see hiking, trekking and waterfall expeditions to several places on the Western Ghats.

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She says, “We have to make sure that the venues are not too out of the way, since dogs are not fond of very long drives. Currently, we have more than 10 destinations outside the city, especially around Lonavla and Karjat.”Interestingly, a lot of private owners of resorts, villas and hotels around the city are opening up to the idea of allowing guests to bring their pets. Dog lovers Anuradha and Uday Sinh Khijadia, who run a resort on Kelve Beach, say, “We have always encouraged guests to get their pets at the resort. Pets are like family and they also need an outing.”Anupama Vinayak, a pet travel consultant who runs a website that connects pet parents to more than 500 lodging destinations in India, feels that a lot more awareness is required about the fact that the hospitality industry catering to pets is growing in India. She says, “It is tough to convince resort and hotel owners at the first go to accommodate pets along with their guests. However, gradually, the scenario is changing and a lot of hotel and camp owners are willing to accommodate pets. We have villas and resorts from Kanyakumari to Kashmir that are now willing to take in pets.” Actor Bikram Saluja, who has a Bull Mastiff, says, “Me and my wife (Schauna Chauhan) have gone to dog camps a few times and have even indulged in overnight stays. Once we took him to a camp near a beach, and another time to a farm in Karjat.”