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Walking with my dog

RossIreland

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino de Frances winter of 2015
Hi Does anyone have experience of walking the Frances with their dog? How difficult to find accommodation etc.? I would be aiming for an early start probably next April and would expect to stay in hostels/hotels rather then Albergues. Camping is not an option - too old!
Thanks Ross
 
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2024 edition: The Brierley Camino Frances Guide
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
It will be very difficult to find hotels and albergues that accept dogs. (I know that you said not albergues, but that's mostly what hostels are called on the Camino - there are albergues de peregrino and albergues turísticos)
 
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@davejsy walked with his dog recently. Perhaps he'll chime in. Buen Camino!
 
FourSeasons said:
@davejsy walked with his dog recently. Perhaps he'll chime in. Buen Camino!
Click to expand...
I did walk with my dog Flora, but only in spirit and heart.

The dog @FourSeasons mentions was Sepia and she belonged to a French girl who I met and walked the last few weeks of my Camino with, although I would quite happily have taken them both home! And tbf most people assumed Sepia was mine along the way too.

They had walked from Potiers in France, but they camped. We did stay two nights indoors, once in an Albergue which didn't accept dogs but the owner took pity on us and let us in as it was basically empty, and once in a private room.

I think if you are prepared to pay for hotels/Airbnb's and plan ahead then it would work, but you will face restrictions with where you stop and how far you walk etc. Some Albergues do take dogs and actually on the Buen Camino App it shows those that do, albeit that said even some that say they do then won't when you ask and sometimes they will charge quite a lot.

I met a couple of other people with dogs, but they were also camping.
 
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I didn't walk with a dog but with a cat. It's possible but not easy.

Most accommodations do not allow pets. Albergues, hotels, pensiones, doesn't matter. It's getting better though.

Some do allow them now, luckily. So, you'd need to plan carefully and make reservations beforehand.

I saw several people walking with their dogs. Mainly spaniards on the last 100kms. Met some on the campsites.

One american pilgrim I remember who brought his dog. Dog was extremely well trained and it all worked out, but the owner had to make many phonecalls every day to find accommodation.

I sometimes got accepted into places that usually don't allow pets, out of pity. But that's nothing one should plan for (I found the cat on the route, so had to improvise). I was lucky to have a tent. The campsites in Sarria, Portomarin, Arzua and Santiago were very pet friendly.

With a dog, I'd plan for very short stages (not more kms than you walk with them per day at home). If camping is not an option, book your accommodation before.

Travel to / from Spain can also be a problem. Dogs over a certain size are not allowed on trains (that might have changed recently with the new animal welfare laws, not sure). So you also need good planning for getting there / back home.
 
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good_old_shoes said:
Travel to / from Spain can also be a problem. Dogs over a certain size are not allowed on trains (that might have changed recently with the new animal welfare laws, not sure).
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Yes this is a very good point. Sepia was not allowed to travel on a train due to her size, and I think from memory to go on a bus she would have had to go in a cage/crate and in the luggage space below - which there was no way would happen. So they were effectively stuck in Santiago. Eventually they had to make their way back via BlaBla car after we had a failed car hire attempt!
 
And don't forget the following,

To introduce a dog in to Spain, the pet must: - Be identified with a microchip, or tattoo (if it was done before 03/July/2011 and provided that it remains legible). - Be vaccinated against rabies with a valid vaccine at the time of travel and included in the passport.
 

Yes, that really is (or was) a problem. With the new animal welfare laws that has started to change. Now at least a few train lines do accept even larger dogs, I think. But that's a very new change and doesn't apply to all trains as far as I know.

Travelling with your dog by train: The best destinations | Renfe

Are you looking to travel by train and take your dog or pet with you? At Renfe, we have prepared a list of the best destinations for you to enjoy your trip
www.renfe.com

Back then, since the cat was tiny and in a crate it wasn't too much of a problem for us, we took a taxi from Finisterre to Santiago, a train to Ribadeo, and then my family who were there for vacation with their camping car took us home that way, in the end (after getting a pet passport, microchip ect. for the cat).

But I had researched travel with a dog, because I always somewhat expected to find a stray at some point during my walks (I have always been a magnet for strays). I was lucky that it was only a small cat in the end, but I had made sure to know the rules in case I end up with a large dog

On my first Camino I saw a woman put her dog into the bus from San Sebastian to Pamplona, in a crate, down into the luggage compartment between all the suitcases... I was shocked.
 
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I am surprised to read here that Spain has few properties that allow pets. In the US the trend for allowing pets has been growing over the last 5+ years. My husband is allergic and we sometimes have had a difficult time finding mid-range chain hotels that are pet-free properties.
 
We met two pilgrims with dogs. One was camping outside an albergue where she was "helping" in return for a campsite. The dog got sick and required surgery and she was trying to figure out how to get back to her home country.

Another had a daschund whose owner had to carry it because the poor thing had sores on its paws from walking. We saw them turned away from an albergue.

We are hospitaleros and only service animals with the correct paperwork are allowed to stay in the albergues where we volunteer. We had the unpleasant job of turning a man with his puppy away. It must be a service animal and not a comfort animal. I know @woody66 has commented about whether he would bring his service animal on the Camino or not in the past.

I would think carefully about bringing a pet. I do understand that there are a network of places that accept pets. I don't know how extensive this is though. There was a woman who posted regularly here in the last year or so who walked with her dog, but I don't recall her name. Maybe someone else will remember.
 
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I think it's a bit mis-leading because Spain does have a lot of pet friendly accommodation, and they are even freely allowed in places that they wouldn't be in the UK (like airports for example).

I think the accommodation around the CF isn't geared up for pets though, probably due to the close quarters people are in and historical lack of demand maybe.
 
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Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
 
 
Hi Ross,

As you know its good to consider the kind of condition your dog is in as well as a plan for meeting stray and aggressive dogs on the path in the middle of nowhere.
 
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I have the same question and when we walk the Camino, we plan on walking with our dog. I’ll follow and save this conversation. If it’s permitted, there’s a Facebook group Camino de Santiago con Perro.

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loridovi said:
Hi Ross,

As you know its good to consider the kind of condition your dog is in as well as a plan for meeting stray and aggressive dogs on the path in the middle of nowhere.
Click to expand...
It's also good to consider that many people don't like dogs.....
 
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At our albergue, we did not allow dogs inside, but if it were raining, we could drape a tarp over our check-in table to make a tent and fasten the dog’s leash to the rather heavy umbrella post in the center of it. One pilgrim with two large dogs was allowed by the powers-that-be to sleep in the churchyard (but it wasn’t raining).

You will likely encounter loose dogs along the way. Every dog I ever met in Spain¹ was friendly, but I’ve seen lots of posts here about attacks. And I have noticed that my two dogs, who are always friendly to humans, nevertheless are sometimes aggressive toward other dogs. (And always aggressive toward cats and squirrels!)

¹But in Perú, it seemed that all would attack if you turn your back but flee if you face them or pretend to pick up a rock!
 
It is a good point that there are people that don't like dogs or have a fear of dogs. However, given the number of dogs that I've come across while on Caminos, if meeting a well-behaved dog walking with their owner would ruin their Camino, their Camino will likely have already been ruined.

On the other hand, there are also people like my daughter whose day would absolutely be made if she came across another pilgrim walking with a dog.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Just no.
I love dogs, but the Camino is no place for one. I've seen a few dogs in distress on the Camino due to injuries from some of the terrain and generally being over taxed by so many long days.
Most dogs thrive on routine. I would think a Camino would be extremely unsettling for most dogs.
Do your dog a favor and find a good caregiver while you are away. You will both enjoy things much better.
 
I would recommend no ( ex sheep farmer with 30 years of working dog experience ) but if you do choose to do it please invest in protective leather foot wear to prevent worn out pads !
 
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