Dogs doing a Camino

[Innkeeper]

I have seen photos and videos of people taking there dog on a Camino.
When we do ours we will need to take our small dog. Even if it means one of us (me) sleeping out side with it.
But are there any hostels that allow dogs in side. Even if we pay extra for a private room if need be.
And yes the dogs well being will all ways be top priority

 

[Jean Ti]

I have never seen a dog in one albergue while walking the norte, primitivo and the VIa de la Plata.

While you are walking 20 km or more per day can your dog follow you?

Each farm that you will go thrue have a number of bigs dogs for protection that will want to meet yours.

I find difficult to imagine sleeping 20 peoples in an alberguy and been wake up in the middle of the night by a dog in the room! or the next room...

I do not think that is a good idea...

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I don't have an answer to your direct question.

We considered walking with our dog but didn't. I kept reconsidering along the way. I'm glad we left him home. I do not recommend taking a dog both for your sake and the dogs.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Everyone I have met with a dog on the camino have slept outside - almost every night. Including this lot:



And that is not all of them! I think they had 17. They were rescued dogs walking for awareness by a charity. They had a support van and had a huge teepee to sleep in. Picture taken in Granon, 2017.

A lot of the dogs (not the above - they could get in the van) I have seen had problems with their feet over long distance and needed a lot of rest days. If your dog is small maybe take a baby stroller? You could stick your tent on it too.

Be aware, it could be a logistical nightmare, but I have seen owners with dogs who were both doing fine, as well as a lot of poorly dogs!

Davey

 

[Ianinam]

I think you will not find any albergue that accepts dogs. This is not possible due to the fact that some people are allergic for dogs, so a dog in a dormitory isn't a good idea.

Furthermore: keep in mind that most people in the Mediterranean countries have a totally different relationship with dogs than people from Northern Europe. Dogs are most of the time not pets, often they are watch dogs, and in the towns you see many stray dogs that get kicked and nobody cares about them.

Apart from this all, I think your dog will not really enjoy his or her Camino as you do. You will wear shoes, he or she will walk on bare feet with all the risks of injury and blisters. You can decide the distance you are able to walk, he or she will just have to follow.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

I have seen photos and videos of people taking there dog on a Camino.
When we do ours we will need to take our small dog. Even if it means one of us (me) sleeping out side with it.
But are there any hostels that allow dogs in side. Even if we pay extra for a private room if need be.
And yes the dogs well being will all ways be top priority

I doubt many (if any) albergues/hostels/hotels allow dogs inside.
On that note, I would kindly suggest you reconsider bringing your dog (from outside the EU?) as it may not always fair for it (distance, terrain...) or indeed the other local animals.
Good luck and Buen Camino

 

[Innkeeper]

Ok thanks for all the replies. But a few things you may need to know to help me more.
Yes we would like to walk a Camino. But we our prepared to use ebike. We also have use of a Motorhome home. As for the dog (Pip) when where on bikes she has her own form of transport (see pic). Also if need be we would buy a baby stroller. It would just be nice to do the odd day like a true Pilgrim

 

[Davey Boyd]

Ok thanks for all the replies. But a few things you may need to know to help me more.
Yes we would like to walk a Camino. But we our prepared to use ebike. We also have use of a Motorhome home. As for the dog (Pip) when where on bikes she has her own form of transport (see pic). Also if need be we would buy a baby stroller. It would just be nice to do the odd day like a true Pilgrim
View attachment 63688

I can't see a problem, you seem to know what you are doing.

Buen Camino!
Davey

 

[Ianinam]

So if I understand it right: you are going to walk with a babystroller, you are going to bike on an ebike, and you are going to use a motorhome. That sounds indeed like the odd day of a true Pilgrim ......

Before you take off with your babystroller, your ebikes and your motorhome, please, read about the Camino, about the paths, the mountains, the ascents and the descents. Read about the weather that can be bloody hot and freezing cold, about the rains and the winds .....

 

[Innkeeper]

So if I understand it right: you are going to walk with a babystroller, you are going to bike on an ebike, and you are going to use a motorhome. That sounds indeed like the odd day of a true Pilgrim ......

Before you take off with your babystroller, your ebikes and your motorhome, please, read about the Camino, about the paths, the mountains, the ascents and the descents. Read about the weather that can be bloody hot and freezing cold, about the rains and the winds .....

That's why where on this forum. There is loads to plan. So days may be very short. Some days we may end up sleeping in a tent. A lot of days we will be retracing the previous days effort to pick bikes or Motorhome up. In all it going to take a while wont be setting any records.

 

[Michael-FL]

Your opening line says you “need” to take your doggie with you. I’m not judging. I really am not. I love dogs. I love my Black Lab. But I would never take her on Camino. It’s just too much stress for her and for me. If you’re flying to get to the Camino, I don’t put a whole lot faith in safety measures for dogs in transit. My greatest concern is the numbers of dogs you will encounter on Camino; some very sweet; others aggressive. I would also worry about unvaccinated dogs roaming the streets and the risk that poses for your doggie. Recommend you reconsider and find a nice pet sitter or boarding arrangement. Buen Camino

 

[Innkeeper]

Your opening line says you “need” to take your doggie with you. I’m not judging. I really am not. I love dogs. I love my Black Lab. But I would never take her on Camino. It’s just too much stress for her and for me. If you’re flying to get to the Camino, I don’t put a whole lot faith in safety measures for dogs in transit. My greatest concern is the numbers of dogs you will encounter on Camino; some very sweet; others aggressive. I would also worry about unvaccinated dogs roaming the streets and the risk that poses for your doggie. Recommend you reconsider and find a nice pet sitter or boarding arrangement. Buen Camino

The dog (Pip) is with us in Spain now. We come every year for 6 to 8 weeks. All her paper work and vaccinations are up to date. She is never let off her lead and comes with us every where.
This time we are here a lot longer our plan is to drive round Spain in a Motorhome home. We would like/love to do a Camino even if it takes months. And a lot more planning than most

 

[Karl Oz]

The dog (Pip) is with us in Spain now. We come every year for 6 to 8 weeks. All her paper work and vaccinations are up to date. She is never let off her lead and comes with us every where.
This time we are here a lot longer our plan is to drive round Spain in a Motorhome home. We would like/love to do a Camino even if it takes months. And a lot more planning than most

I think the point being made about aggressive dogs is that they are sometimes free-roaming, so your own efforts to control your own dog may be rendered alarmingly irrelevant by a hostile mastiff that wants a piece of your pet. However, its probably less of a problem on the CF in comparison to, say, the Sanabres.

 

[Felipe]

There is a webpage about "lodgments that admit dogs in the Camino Frances", here
It is in Spanish, but everything is quite obvious; and there is always the automatic Chrome translator.

 

[Innkeeper]

I think the point being made about aggressive dogs is that they are sometimes free-roaming, so your own efforts to control your own dog may be rendered alarmingly irrelevant by a hostile mastiff that wants a piece of your pet. However, its probably less of a problem on the CF in comparison to, say, the Sanabres.

Sorry if it sounds stupid but what do you mean "CF"
Sorry again just worked out what"CF" mean.
After reading the comments going to do load of short walks and see how we get on. Still want to do a Camino. Looking at All Terrain pushchair on the net.
Who know one day people may look out for a mad English guy pushing a pushchair with a dog in it.

 

[Karl Oz]

Sorry if it sounds stupid but what do you mean "CF"

Apologies, I broke my own rule about using unexplained acronyms. 'CF' means Camino Frances.

 

[Innkeeper]

There is a webpage about "lodgments that admit dogs in the Camino Frances", here
It is in Spanish, but everything is quite obvious; and there is always the automatic Chrome translator.

Thanks you so much for the link.

 

[t2andreo]

NO! Respectfully, but PLEASE don’t do it. For the sake of your canine best friend, PLEASE don’t bring your dog.

Cat’s may have “nine lives.” Dogs do not.

Bringing any pet on Camino is, IMHO and experience, a very bad idea. I worked at the Pilgrim Office for the past six years.

I saw the results each day. It’s not pretty for the dog usually
.
I beg you NOT to do it.

 

[MinaKamina]

The dog (Pip) is with us in Spain now. We come every year for 6 to 8 weeks. All her paper work and vaccinations are up to date. She is never let off her lead and comes with us every where.
This time we are here a lot longer our plan is to drive round Spain in a Motorhome home. We would like/love to do a Camino even if it takes months. And a lot more planning than most

Hi Innkeeper, welcome to the forum.

If I understand your situation well, all you need is someone to drive your campervan to the next place where you want to stop for the night and you and Pip have a cosy home to rest, cook and sleep.
This someone might even be one of you two, and he or she then takes a taxi back to where the other is waiting with the dog. I think it is very doable and Pip looks like(s)he enjoys a doggyride.

Spanish volunteers of APACA and the Xunta de Galicia are working hard to improve the circumstances for pets (perregrinos with double r) on the Camino.
A list of dog-friendly albergues and rooms on the various caminos can be found on their website:

https://apaca.paradoxahumana.com/onde-durmir-e-xantar-no-camino

Happy planning, and a Buen Camino!

 

[Thomas1962]

Yes, you can take a dog with you, every day people arrive with a dog.
We walked with our dog from Barcelona to Burgos a few years ago, it was great! It is not always easy, but hé, this is a pilgrimage! I was very tired every night mainly because I was watching more to my dog needs then to my own...
Others then people write, there are some albergues who do accept dogs. E.g. our albergue on the Primitivo does accept them. You often need to ask before if hostels or albergues do accept them and plan ahead, somtimes hospitaleros can do something special for you.
A site which can help you: http://www.caminoconmiperro.com/
Also look at https://apaca.paradoxahumana.com/

Buen camino!

 

[Hurry Krishna]

I have seen photos and videos of people taking there dog on a Camino.
When we do ours we will need to take our small dog. Even if it means one of us (me) sleeping out side with it.
But are there any hostels that allow dogs in side. Even if we pay extra for a private room if need be.
And yes the dogs well being will all ways be top priority

Never seen a dog inside any type of accommodation anywhere on the Spanish camino. Currently walking the South West COast Path in UK - and dogs are allowed inside in MOST places Choose another walk, may be???

 

[Innkeeper]

Thanks all pip would always come first. We would buy a baby stroller and when she did not want to walk she would ride. Most nights we would sleep in our campervan may be even use a tent.
While out today on a short walk we stopped at a Albergues for a cold drink and seen this sign

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Never seen a dog inside any type of accommodation anywhere on the Spanish camino. Currently walking the South West COast Path in UK - and dogs are allowed inside in MOST places Choose another walk, may be???

Let a couple with a dog stay at Rabanal back in 2002. HUGE mistake - the mutt barked all night long and set every other dog in the village barking! Only stopped when I got up at 1:30 to untie it - they'd tied it up in the huerta. Let it in to the bunkhouse and all was quiet. Never again!

 

[Nanc]

the blend of answers here hits potential concerns
a few more:
it appears veterinary care can be sparse across Spain
Many reported that their fit dog used to hiking miles couldn't do the daily grind
Should your dog be unable to continue for any reason (including break down of his buggy ;-0_ - others reported that public transport would not allow the dog on board ( or they needed a crate and one was not available to meet that criteria
It also seems that there are a lot of local Europeans who may be on the Camino as part of a Spain trek or doing section hiking and not striving to walk the whole Camino so the dog we see is not under the wear and tear of a "full " Camino
just more thoughts as you weigh your plan

 

[Clodagh Benning]

This year we walked from Sarria only and met a couple walking with their two little dogs. If it would be helpful I could find out the names of the places they stayed but it would only cover the last 5 days of the trip.

 

[Davey Boyd]

2015 I met a guy walking Le Puy to Santiago with his Border Collie. He said the dog set the distance and he took rest days for the dog if he looked tired. The dog had more energy than all of us combined. They were fine.

2015 I met four peregrinos with a dog on the Mesta, they had walked from Prague, when I met them they were walking back to Prague. They slept outside every night - because they were skint. From Praque they had 5 Euro's a day. The dog was fine. They averaged 10 - 15 km a day.

2017 when walking back to France on the Frances I met a young guy with two very friendly Staffies walking back home from where they had set off. They had walked Lille - Finisterre - Villafranca Montes de Oca when I met them. I met them again weeks later near San Sebastian on the Norte. I know they got back to Lille ok. Dogs were fine. The dogs came first.

These are just a few examples. I mentioned the group with 17 dogs on the camino above.

Ive seen a few dogs that were NOT fine too, but ive seen some humans that were even worse. Thing is, a human being an idiot harms themselves. An idiot with a dog harms the dog too. Same as on any housing estate. Dogs are not banned from housing estates because of a few idiots. By this thinking cars would be banned from roads.

Walking with a dog, a baby, blind person, prisoner (yes met a few) etc etc is do-able if done with thought and consideration.

I slept on the streets for 20 years. 13 of them with the same dog. I would happily take him on Camino if he was still alive and young. I would have to limit my experience/distance to suit him, but that is a joy, not a barrier.

My half shilling.

Now I'm gonna hide under the table!
Davey

 

[VNwalking]

Walking with a dog, a baby, blind person, prisoner (yes met a few) etc etc is do-able if done with thought and consideration.

Thing is, a human being an idiot harms themselves. An idiot with a dog harms the dog too.

We all tend to have a knee-jerk negative response to these posts, because we've all seen the consequences when the dog's actually being harmed by the human's desire to bring him or her along.

I've seen pilgrim-dog combos where both parties were fine...and then the not fine ones. I met a Border Collie in 2015 who had come from Italy with his person - and he was having a blast, all the way to Santiago. But the owner took great care to make sure that was the case. The same year, I saw another person wandering around in Burgos at night, looking for someplace where he and his dog could sleep, and the dog was subjected to being tied up alone on the street.

We decide to go on the camino, but when a dog is involved we then decide for our friends and they have no say in the matter. That's a huge responsibility. And all too frequently the dogs are the ones punished for our naivete. But @Innkeeper , if you're prepared to thoroughly do your homework and plan ahead for Pip's comfort - as it seems you are - it could work fine.

Buen camino peregrino and perrogrino!

 

[Micah26]

I understand why you would want Pip to join you. I walked the CF last year my Springer was 9 mos old. Could she have done it with me? Absolutely! She has energy to burn. Did I take her? No. I had a friend stay at the house for the six weeks I was gone. You sound like very responsible owners. Plan out your trip, I’m sure you all will be fine. Your experience will be different because dogs are not always “allowed” but it will still be a great experience! Enjoy the Way!

 

[Innkeeper]

Today we me and Les (the wife) walked about 6km of the Camino. We then turned round and walked back to the Motorhome home so about 12km in all.
We did the same sort of distance yesterday.
Pip came with us yesterday today she had the day off and stayed in the Motorhome. Yes all windows where open. She had loads of water and food. Also a big bed to sleep on.
If Pip walks with us the distance will be kept short. If this cant be done she will come in a trailer for the bike.
And always, always have the next day off.
Yes it may takes us years to do a Camino. So if it does it does where in no rush.
And Pip will always be number 1 priority.

 

[cbacino]

I have seen photos and videos of people taking there dog on a Camino.
When we do ours we will need to take our small dog. Even if it means one of us (me) sleeping out side with it.
But are there any hostels that allow dogs in side. Even if we pay extra for a private room if need be.
And yes the dogs well being will all ways be top priority

Leave Fido home, for the sake of the dog and other walkers.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

@Davey Boyd mentioned above a few examples of where traveling with a dog worked out and went over quickly how sometimes it doesn't. But remember that when things go well one has a month to encounter the dog and pilgrim but if it doesn't, and the owner is kind, the trip ends early and one is not as likely to see any problems.

 

[Jim]

I served as a lone hospitalero at the albergue in Salamanca in the second half of October 2009. I allowed a man who was walking with a young Spanish Waterdog to enter. No problems with the dog whatsoever but we did not have a full house to begin with since it was off season. The breed is known for very little shedding. Later that evening, the man divulged that his young daughter had passed away, so it became clearly evident that the dog was his comfort animal. I shared my e-mail address with him, and about a week and some later, I learned that he had given up the walk because of rainy muddy conditions, through which the dog could not hack it. I remember that he shared a photo of his poor pooch, wringing wet, so I thought that he had done the best thing.
I later asked one of the leaders with the association that is responsible for albergues in that area what she thought about admitting dogs and she replied that she left it to the discretion of the hospitaleros.
I must say that if I were having anywhere near a full house or some other types of dogs my answer would have been “no” and please understand that I’m a huge dog lover and generally softer hearted than many others. So I would encourage that you make arrangements to leave the dog behind while you walk. And it has been pointed out that you will be going through ranch lands/farmland with many dogs guarding those properties and not taking kindly to other dog intruders. While I was never attacked myself, I did have an unpleasant encounter with dogs who surrounded me and bared their teeth— couldn’t proceed or back up to retreat and find another path either. So I yelled out and fortunately, a woman eventually walked out and called off the dogs. I don’t think it would have gone well at all if I had a dog of my own with me.

 

[MinaKamina]

Today we me and Les (the wife) walked about 6km of the Camino. We then turned round and walked back to the Motorhome home so about 12km in all.
We did the same sort of distance yesterday.
Pip came with us yesterday today she had the day off and stayed in the Motorhome. Yes all windows where open. She had loads of water and food. Also a big bed to sleep on.
If Pip walks with us the distance will be kept short. If this cant be done she will come in a trailer for the bike.
And always, always have the next day off.
Yes it may takes us years to do a Camino. So if it does it does where in no rush.
And Pip will always be number 1 priority.

It is lovely to hear that you are already walking part of your Camino. Pip sounds like quite the lady and an experienced traveller. I don't know what my bed would look like if I left my dogs on it, but knowing them, I won't even try.

 

[David61]

I think you will not find any albergue that accepts dogs. This is not possible due to the fact that some people are allergic for dogs, so a dog in a dormitory isn't a good idea.

Furthermore: keep in mind that most people in the Mediterranean countries have a totally different relationship with dogs than people from Northern Europe. Dogs are most of the time not pets, often they are watch dogs, and in the towns you see many stray dogs that get kicked and nobody cares about them.

Apart from this all, I think your dog will not really enjoy his or her Camino as you do. You will wear shoes, he or she will walk on bare feet with all the risks of injury and blisters. You can decide the distance you are able to walk, he or she will just have to follow.

Not all dogs walk barefoot. Met this guy on the Way and he was having a great time and really well cared for. Never thought to ask his humans where they stayed though.

 

[vagabondqueen]

Ok thanks for all the replies. But a few things you may need to know to help me more.
Yes we would like to walk a Camino. But we our prepared to use ebike. We also have use of a Motorhome home. As for the dog (Pip) when where on bikes she has her own form of transport (see pic). Also if need be we would buy a baby stroller. It would just be nice to do the odd day like a true Pilgrim
View attachment 63688

Although we didn’t do the Camino with our dog, we travel often in Europe with her. I’ve had good luck with AirBnB allowing pets.

 

[tomnorth]

If you do bring your dog with you, which it sounds as if you will, please consider that there are many of us out there that don't care to dine or lodge with the dogs of others. There are others who have had a traumatic experience with a dog, such as my wife, who are just plain afraid of dogs and don't care to be around them. Regardless of how friendly your dog is, a stranger knows nothing about their personality. All they know for sure is that it's a dog and is capable of biting them without warning.

 

[Karl Oz]

If you do bring your dog with you, which it sounds as if you will, please consider that there are many of us out there that don't care to dine or lodge with the dogs of others. There are others who have had a traumatic experience with a dog, such as my wife, who are just plain afraid of dogs and don't care to be around them. Regardless of how friendly your dog is, a stranger knows nothing about their personality. All they know for sure is that it's a dog and is capable of biting them without warning.

That is a very good point, and i am glad it has been made.