Traveling with a dog to Moscow

A Voronezh journalist spoke about a week spent in the capital with her pet.

Moscow tourism is beautiful in its variety of services, offers, options and opportunities. Thousands of tourists come to the capital of great Russia for a variety of reasons. But not many of them are accompanied by four-legged friends. I will tell you about my recent experience of visiting the city with my pet named Barash.

So, our six-legged duet ended up in Moscow for a reason – Barash and I won the semi-finals of the “History with Beeline” contest, which was organized by the company of the same name in honor of its 30th anniversary. And since the main character of the story was my dog, I had to take her five hundred kilometers away from Voronezh as a full participant.

I will say right away – a week of staying in a foreign city with a pet is so-so pleasure. Whatever you understand, this can be compared to traveling with a baby, if not more. After all, if a child suddenly cries heart-rendingly, the reaction of people will be predictably tolerant, but people react a little worse to the barking of a dog.

Like any ballet begins with an overture, traveling with a dog begins with preparation. First I took her to the groomer, because I wanted to ride with a cute, and not with a chupacabra in dog form. Three hours of waiting, and Barash turned into a hand-written beauty, sparkling with washed and combed hair.

The next step is a comprehensive vaccination. And, although according to the current rules for transporting four-legged animals on trains, no vaccinations and documents are needed for Russian Railways, just in case, I did everything to protect the dog from possible infections, and myself from possible misunderstandings. Now guess how many times during our week-long trip, someone, somewhere, ever asked me for a veterinary passport and the availability of vaccinations? That’s right – zero.

A special item was the collection of tourist dowry. My rather roomy suitcase barely fit dog personal belongings – drinkers, feeders, waste bags, dog diapers, treats to relieve stress, dry shampoo in case of unplanned pollution, toys, napkins, diapers. Three more types of dog costumes for all occasions and a warm blanket that could save us from the cold of the capital. And of course, the crown of tourist uniforms is a special carrier in the form of a backpack with a transparent wall. In fact, this is a very convenient and pleasant development that satisfies the curiosity of the animal and 100 percent frees the hands of its owner.

The train ride was quite fast and comfortable: Barash behaved like a decent girl, the passengers responded to her in the same way.

We arrived in the capital at 15.00 and immediately went to the hotel. I must say that there were no problems or incidents along the way – on the contrary, everyone reacted very politely and kindly to the dog sitting peacefully in a transparent backpack. Starting from the security service at the station, when they checked the suitcases, and ending with the metro staff. It should be noted here that Barash is from the Maltese breed – 2.2 kg of live weight and 25 cm in jump, so there were no questions for him a priori. Indeed, according to Moscow rules, small animals and pet birds in cages, as well as decorative dogs (whose height does not exceed 40 cm) and cats in a special bag or container can be transported in public transport – and, moreover, free of charge. However, the sum of the length, width and height of the carrier for the animal should not exceed 120 cm. with a 180 cm carrier, they can then go down to the subway, where the requirements are 60 cm less.)

The hotel on Malaya Dmitrovka received us with restrained hospitality – it seemed like they let us in, but it seemed like they took a deposit of 5,000 rubles against the possible damage that a dog could cause – to gnaw, gnaw and gnaw something there. Bolonka, thank God, not from rodents, so the deposit was safely returned to us upon check-out.

On the very first evening, we went to a restaurant not far from the hotel – to the Hermitage Garden – with the hope of a delicious dinner and with some fear that we and our pet might be sent home. However, we were gladly accepted and, moreover, they even cooked a piece of meat like a dog – without salt, pepper and seasonings.

In general, I must say that all the cafes and restaurants where we ate were very friendly to the dog. Maybe because it is very small in size, maybe because it was originally in a carrier, or maybe because these catering establishments are dog-friendly. Very modern and humane.

However, not all dog owners can agree with me. I judge this by the comments on social networks that people wrote under my posts. The most popular request: “Please send me the location of a restaurant where you can take your dog.” It seems to me that an entire marketing strategy can be built on this, because, according to https://www.mos.ru/ every tenth Muscovite has a dog, and among them there are probably those who would like to eat food with their four-legged friend.

In general, traveling with a dog to Moscow is a very real and feasible idea. And it does not matter that with a dozen reservations and preparations. Most importantly, the city has created a space that is comfortable for both animals and their owners.

Marina Kalinina.

Author’s photo