After our family trips to New York City and California in the spring, we stayed local for the summer. Our most recent domestic trip to Prince Edward County allowed us to bring along our dog Gizmo, who has been left behind at grandma’s house on all our previous travels.
Preparing for doggy travel
While it took a substantial amount of preparation to travel with baby, I had less to do for Gizmo’s first trip. However, she hasn’t been on many long car rides so we wanted to make sure she wouldn’t get sick or anxious on the way.
We got her a dog car seat with seatbelt-harness tether from Kurgo which kept her more secure. We’ve since purchased a much larger one as the Kurgo seat seemed cramped for her, but it worked fine for our trip.
We packed enough kibble for the duration of the trip, some snacks, her favourite squeaky toy, and pee pads. We also brought along her prescription of trazodone in case of any anxiety attacks but luckily we didn’t have to use it.
For pee break we stopped at an ON Route which was dog-friendly with some outdoor space for Gizmo to do her business.
Visiting family in Belleville
Our first stop was a family visit in Mr. Chuckles’ hometown of Belleville, Ontario. We were here to spend time with family so I have only this one scenic view to share. 😂
This post is not endorsed by the Belleville tourism board.
Gizmo actually enjoyed this part of our trip the most, primarily because she got to mess with her dog cousin and steal all her toys.
Dog-cation at the Drake Motor Inn
We spent a night in Belleville and the following afternoon drove 30 minutes over to Prince Edward County. The region of PEC is situated along the eastern shores of Lake Ontario, roughly halfway between Toronto and Ottawa. It has become a very popular tourist destination, best known for its wineries and its sandy beaches at the Sandbanks Provincial Park.
We stayed with Gizmo at the Drake Motor Inn, an offshoot of the boutique Drake Hotel in Toronto. The Drake Motor Inn is located in the village of Wellington and sits adjacent to the more upscale Drake Devonshire which unfortunately is not pet friendly.
We had a nice ground level room that came equipped with a dog bed and bowls, although Gizmo was unimpressed. She seemed depressed and confused about why we weren’t at home where she could sleep in our (i.e. her) queen bed and eat sous vide chicken.
She did perk up once we told her to come out for a walkie. We had dinner at the Drake Devonshire restaurant which allowed dogs on the patio, and we ended up having all our meals here as they were quite good and it was most convenient.
Wellington is a small place so there wasn’t a ton to see but we enjoyed our stroll along the main street and the waterfront.
Beach day
The next day, we set out early to beat the heat at Sandbanks. We had pre-purchased our park day pass and parked our car at Outlet Beach lot 12 (by the amphitheatre). This section of the beach is designated dog friendly.
We crossed a shallow riverbed to get to a section with more shade. I took Gizmo out for a dip in the water and then brought Teddy out for a splash, which he loved.
This is the nicest beach I’ve been to in Ontario, with soft sand, warm water, and easily accessible washroom facilities. We had a wonderful time and hopefully we can make another trip out this season.
We returned to our hotel for the afternoon to cool down. After another dinner at the Drake restaurant we took an evening walk at Wellington Rotary Beach.
We spent one more night in the hotel and the next morning had our last breakfast at Drake Devonshire. We also wandered down to the park to check out the weekend outdoor market.
Gizmo was eager to return to the comforts of home so we packed up our car afterward and headed back for a short stop in Belleville before returning to the big city.
Despite Gizmo’s apprehension, I think this was a fun trip for us! I guess we won’t be taking her on any long haul travel but it was nice to bring her along on a trip for once. I’m sure she will be relieved to stay at grandma’s house again when we go to Portugal in a few weeks.
I've Bean Travelling 
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