"Pet friendly" facilities for your holidays in the mountains: "pet friendly" hotels, farmhouses, B&B, apartments, refuges and campsites

Your dog or cat will feel at ease in our "pet friendly" hotels, B&Bs and farm houses. Val di Fassa facilities have special offers for wide rooms, exclusively without wall-to-wall carpeting, common spaces, gardens, and dining rooms where also well-educated animals are welcome (please verify directly with the structure). If you are looking for a holiday in total freedom and with less chaotic rhythms, staying in an apartment or in a campsite is maybe the best solution, which will also be most appreciated by your four-legged friends.

Four-legged friends are welcome also round the table in Val di Fassa!

The D.P.R. 320/54 Regolamento della Polizia Veterinaria (Veterinary Police Regulations) decrees that dogs can enter restaurants, bars, ice-cream parlours, pastry shops, bakeries, food shops and supermarkets, as long as accompanied by their owner, conducted by the lead and wearing a muzzle. By the way, the owner of a private structure is free to welcome animals in his place or not (guide dogs are always admitted). The manager, eventually, must expose the prohibition of entrance to dogs outside the place, in a visible position.

See also: restaurants/pizzerias, refuges/refreshment places, bars and pastry stores, fastfood in Val di Fassa

If you are planning to do something without your pet, do not leave him alone in your room. Take advantage of:

• Dog-sitters who will take attentive care of your pet. They will walk him and perhaps also take him to one of the two fenced areas located in the valley, one at the locality "Pucia" in Pozza di Fassa (nearby the campsite Rosengarten) and one in Soraga nearby the playground). Both are always open and the entrance is free. There are other areas, "agility" tracks, dog school (open from June 13th to September 30th on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.) and pet boarding facilities in Val di Fiemme. For further information, please get in touch with our Tourist Board;
• Dog Hostel. Dog daycare in Campitello (open in summer only), where you can leave your pets for some hours or for a whole day. It is located in the green area of the ranch "Charlotte Horse Riding" and it is run by Carlotta Buonomini, Erika Planchensteiner, qualified dog trainer and two colleagues (ASD Fassa Dog). The "hostel" is open from 8.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. to dogs of any size (up to 12; 6 roofed and 6 fenced open-air spaces). Fee: 2 hours € 15, whole day € 50, five days € 200. The owners will be asked to fill in a dedicated file to collect information about the habits, the attitudes, any allergies and needs of the dog. The dogs will be taken care with affection, walked and feed with the food of a specialized company.

For a safe and calm holiday with your pet in Val di Fassa. Some handy suggestions:

• before leaving or at your arrival in the valley, verify where to find the veterinary ambulatories in the area, available 24/7. Find the up-to-date list online in the section Tourist services > Health services or by the Tourist Boards of the valley;
• make your pet get used to the temperature change gradually, from the urban wet heat to the dry and fresh climate of the Dolomites, planning regular breaks during your trip;
• along the cycling-pedestrian routes of the Dolomites (from Canazei to Molina di Fiemme), dogs must be leaded on their leash;
• both in winter and in summer, be respectful of the environment around you and of other people who also love walking along the valley: always bring sacks for manures with you. Along the main walks you will find dedicated dispenser and waste baskets;
• while in winter the possible activities for you and your dog are not many, limited to valley walks and some snow-shoes excursions halfway up the mountain or along the nearest valleys (Val San Nicolò, Val Monzoni, Val Duron, Val Contrin), in summer you only have to choose, with the possibility to reach the wonderful peaks of the Dolomites, regaining breath from the terraces of the several mountain huts. Dogs can catch the lifts if equipped with leash and muzzle;
• at the return from an excursion, always check the hair of your pet and brush him carefully. Pay attention to baths in the river: icy water can cause a congestion to your dog. It is always better to bring with you a towel and a blanket to dry and cover him, paying particular attention to the ears;
• should you lose your dog, we recommend to: give immediate notice to the police (Phone +39 0462 574450) or to the veterinary service in Predazzo (Ufficio Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria - Phone +39 0462 508825); cover the area of the loss and its surroundings with posters of your dog, with his description (size, colour, gender, name, possibly the breed, distinctive features, microchip, collar’s type and colour, features of his personality - shy, fearsome, sociable), completed by a picture, the owner’s phone number and/or of the tourist facility where you arestaying; put the posters in places that are usually crowded, such as bars, news-stands, shops and transit points, bus stops, dumpsters, veterinary clinics; do not limit the research to the area where your dog got lost, as he could have covered quite a lot of kilometres since he disappeared; send your plea to local journals and radios; contact the nearest animal-rights activist and zoophile associations; contact the veterinaries operating in the area;
• should you lose your cat, as well as for the dog, it is necessary to cover the area and its surroundings with posters, to visit animal shelters and ask radios and journals to broadcast your plea.

All dogs on holiday in Italy: must NOT be vaccinated against rabies. Please kindly notice that on the buses and lifts dogs must wear muzzle and leash.

Pet shops in Val di Fassa
Fassa Pet Shop (Pozza di Fassa)
Strada di Bagnes, 6 - Phone +39 380 1007989
Services: foods, accessories, grooming.

Dogs and cats love their daily routine. Even if they are pleased to follow their owner everywhere, leaving their house and daily rhythms is like a small "trauma" for them. Help your four-legged adventure mate live the mountain holiday in quiet by following the suggestions of the Lega Nazionale per la difesa del cane and of Veterinaria Tridentina, collected in a dedicated brochure, available by the Tourist offices set along the valley and all the ambulatories in Trentino.

Before leaving for Val di Fassa it is important to:

• subject your pet to a visit, to check his health conditions ad verify that he has all the vaccination requested;
• remember that dogs must always be identified, by a tattoo (valid until 2011) or a microchip;
• microchip your cat, even if it is not mandatory; should the cat escape or get lost whenever being out of your national territory, this could be useful;
• equip your four-legged friend with a name tag, better if with a telephone number of the owner too;
• bring a recent picture of your pet, to be used in case of loss.

Fido and Kitty’s suitcase:

• Health book / European passport (for guests coming from countries members of the European Union) / Certificate of good health (for guests coming from countries not members of the EU);
• shovel and sacks for manures;
• unbreakable and easy to wash bowl for water and food;
• a proper amount of animal feed (dry or wet), bearing in mind that it is not always easy to find the brand your dog/cat prefers anywhere. Animal feed are available at supermarkets, shop for pets and veterinary ambulatories;
• sand pit and cat litter;
• possible medicine that your pet usually takes; pesticides and a first aid mini-kit, composed according to you vet’s recommendations;
• collar, harness, spare lead and muzzle;
• a cot and a blanket;
• overcoat and/or raincoat;
• requirement for his hygiene (brush, wet napkins, towels);
• some of his favourite toys to recall a familiar environment, even on holiday.

Source: "Linee guida per viaggiare con il proprio animale", edited by Veterinaria Tridentina and Lega Nazionale per la difesa del cane.

Golden rules for a peaceful holiday in the mountains with your dog:

1. never leave your four-legged friend unattended inside the car; the temperature in a car can rise quickly to lethal levels for your dog, even if the air is mild outside and the window is left half-closed: as it often happens, it is the dog that, due to his fast gasping, saturates the air with humidity, hindering the thermostatic temperature control process;
2. if you see a lonely animal closed in a car under the sun, pay attention to any symptoms of a possible heatstroke. In this case, without a prompt intervention, the poor one risks to be in serious life danger: call the police or a retraceable vet immediately; meanwhile, try to bring some shadow, put some newspapers on the windscreen and, if possible, throw some water into the car over the dog, using any possible open split by the window;
3. how to detect a heatstroke? At the beginning, the pet appears uncomfortable, gasping too much, he’s nervous and his breath and heartbeat frequencies increase. The worsening of the symptoms brings to a loss of coordination and lucidity; the dog can stumble and feel a strong anxiety, or stay on his back, not willing (or not able) to stand up. Strong salivation and vomit are also possible. The mucous membranes in the mouth change from an intense red to bluish because of the scarce oxygenation;
4. should the dog be at the beginning of the heatstroke, you can give a first aid before running to a vet. Move the dog immediately to a fresh and shadowed place; start cooling him down, covering him with rags after having plunged them in room temperature water (this must be gradually changed with fresh water) over the neck, on the armpits and in the groin area. Sponge baths with fresh water on ears and paws can also help. Offer the dog some water to drink but avoid forcing it in his mouth. Bring the animal to the nearest vet immediately, as the simple act of cooling him down is not enough to prevent any complications due to the heatstroke;
5. be sure that your dog has free access to fresh water, especially with the approaching of the warmer time of the year. Avoid going out for walks in the hottest hours of the day, prefer morning or sunset and bring always a bottle of water and a bowl with you. Avoid practicing any sport during the hottest days;
6. sunburns can also affect our four-legged friends. In case of a particularly hot day, put a highly protective sun screen on the white extremities of the animal, such as the edge of the ears, before letting them out under the sun. Moreover, it can be dangerous to shear your dog in summer: hair protects your dog from UV-rays, especially for dogs with white hair and pink skin: dermatitis caused by sun and sunburns can arise;
7. pre-emptively, apply a parasiticide adapt to the species and to the size of the animal: be careful, some products for dog can be lethal to cats. With dogs it is fundamental to prevent stings of phlebotomus flies (similar to mosquitos), which can transmit the leishmaniasis. You can find also preparations based on Neem oil, a powerful disinfectant and parasiticide, that do not have any contraindication, not event for most sensitive subjects;
8. pay attention to insects’ stings and to allergic reactions: at the return from your walk, it can happen to detect an unusual swelling around the snout or on the eyelids. The dog can feel itch and vomit, and the skin can appear reddish. In the most serious cases he can also have breathing difficulties. It is important to get straight in contact with a vet;
9. for your holidays on the snow, remember to protect from chaps and wounds the paw pads of your four-legged friends. If your dog is not willing to wear the appropriate boots, you can apply any protective wax or zinc oxide cream;
10. in case of a viper’s bite, avoid any incision or dangerous operation. Call the vet and bring your pet straight to the nearest clinic.

Source: "Linee guida per viaggiare con il proprio animale", edited by Veterinaria Tridentina and Lega Nazionale per la difesa del cane.