We did some light hiking in Western Maryland, staying near the canal route, I think, with our pup. lots of hotels were dog friendly.

And we have found good petfriendly airbnbs lots of places. If you head to a beach, make sure you know what the rules are for dogs on the beach.

FWIW, though, we slowly came to the realization that the dog was happier at home. We have a couple of dog/housesitters that we have happily used for the most part. dog gets anxious on trips.

Anonymous wrote:We have a 10-month old puppy and want to take a vacation but don't want to board her just yet. Looking for suggestions for a good dog friendly place to go, hotels, rental homes (what works best?). Someplace in MD or VA to get away for a few days. First dog for us, so we are new to traveling with a pooch.

Is your dog housebroken? Either way, it's probably easier to find a house sitter than travel with a dog.

BTW, if a hotel says it is "dog friendly" you may want to double-check and see if there's a size limitation.

I remember once, years ago, we needed to go to NYC and the Trump hotel was close to where we needed to go. I was excited to see that it prominently advertised itself as dog friendly....until I saw a VERY VERY small print footnote that said that it would only accept dogs of less than either 20 or 15 pounds (can't remember which, but my dog was easily 5 times the limit).
So there's dog friendly, and there's dog friendly.

Stay at Westin in Annap all restaurants with outdoor seating and most stores downtown are dog friendly. Decent art festival on West St first Sunday of the month also.

VA b&b wineries are usually dog friendly!

For dog friendly hotels, hiking trails, beaches, and restaurants with patios, the website bringfido.com has been great for planning vacations.

I love going to KOA campgrounds with my dog and staying in a cabin.

Hyatt Chesapeake in Cambridge MD.

You can filter Airbnb by pet-friendly. Take a crate though so the dog doesn't get anxious while you're away and destroy things. New places can do that sometimes.

rent a house somewhere

Salamander resort is very dog friendly and so is Middleburg the surrounding town

I've heard Annapolis is fun, too, but we haven't tried it with our dog. I'll be following this for suggestions.

Have heard good things about Deep Creek from people with dogs.

We have a 10-month old puppy and want to take a vacation but don't want to board her just yet. Looking for suggestions for a good dog friendly place to go, hotels, rental homes (what works best?). Someplace in MD or VA to get away for a few days. First dog for us, so we are new to traveling with a pooch.