Fantastic Dog-friendly KOA in Orlando

Crowe wrote:
He's REALLY blind

It's too bad there isn't some sort of sign/collar/whatever on him to alert people to his issue, kind of like a cane that a blind person would use. I suspect that there's a fair amount of times the reason a dog does bite is it just can't see what's happening.

I may go back to the boutique pet store where I laughed at a bandana that said "I have issues" - because that sort of sums it up. He's on a short leash and no contact for the rest of the trip.

He's REALLY blind

It's too bad there isn't some sort of sign/collar/whatever on him to alert people to his issue, kind of like a cane that a blind person would use. I suspect that there's a fair amount of times the reason a dog does bite is it just can't see what's happening.

Deb and Ed M wrote:

MetalGator wrote:


The wife and I will be at this KOA for a weekend in February. It does have a nice dog park and I will be bringing our 4 dogs.

My worry is that this sets a precedent, and my dogs will be expecting huge dog parks every time we camp....LOL!!!

The KOA in Albuquerque has a nice dog park in front - agility course and nice benches for the owners.

Crowe wrote:
I just looked at the handout we got; and it simply states "any dog exhibiting aggression towards people or other pets will be asked to leave"

I've seen this "policy" at numerous campgrounds. This is truly the definition of "ambiguous". My fear is when it's worded like this you'll either get some yahoo who pushes the dog's buttons and causes a problem or someone just gets irritated with you and uses the dog to get rid of you. Jake and Jesse are as friendly as you can get with dogs and people but any dog can react strongly when provoked.

Well, we haven't been booted yet after Jack (gently) bit the registration lady (OMG!) yesterday. He's REALLY blind (cataracts) when he's outside, and the nice lady had stopped to pet my dogs. Jimmy and Ben are schmoozes; but Jack must have assumed she was feeding him something because he grabbed at her hand as she reached to pet him. She laughed when I apologized profusely and told her that Jack was blind - she's clearly a dog lover. But my heart simply stopped when he did that; I will have to keep him away from everyone from now on.

I just looked at the handout we got; and it simply states "any dog exhibiting aggression towards people or other pets will be asked to leave"

I've seen this "policy" at numerous campgrounds. This is truly the definition of "ambiguous". My fear is when it's worded like this you'll either get some yahoo who pushes the dog's buttons and causes a problem or someone just gets irritated with you and uses the dog to get rid of you. Jake and Jesse are as friendly as you can get with dogs and people but any dog can react strongly when provoked.

MetalGator wrote:


The wife and I will be at this KOA for a weekend in February. It does have a nice dog park and I will be bringing our 4 dogs.

My worry is that this sets a precedent, and my dogs will be expecting huge dog parks every time we camp....LOL!!!

Deb and Ed M wrote:
We're staying at the SE Orlando KOA, which is incredibly beautiful anyway - but they have a "Kamp K-9" Dog Park that's 7500 sq ft and has some agility obstacles, plus benches and tables for the humans to relax while the pets play!! There's also nice hiking paths; and it's on Lake Whippoorwill.

I know folks are always on the lookout for fun places for our pets, too!

The wife and I will be at this KOA for a weekend in February. It does have a nice dog park and I will be bringing our 4 dogs.

brookside wrote:
Sounds good but I went to the website and could not find a pet policy.

I just looked at the handout we got; and it simply states "any dog exhibiting aggression towards people or other pets will be asked to leave"

Folks using the Dog Park have been very accommodating - one lady had a rescued greyhound that she said was aggressive towards little "bunny-looking dogs" (like my Ben!), but she said if I'd give her a minute to gather her dogs, she'd let me have the park for my dogs. And I have done the same for others.

Dr Doug - yes, it's beautiful here, but I've kinda got an urge to go snowmobiling ;-) I saw the pileup on I-94 on today's news.... hoping to NOT have that on our drive home.

Frankly, we are considering gearing up for boondocking as to avoid the hassle of checking each campground to see if they will allow us to spend our hard-earned money there. Some seem to present the pet policy in a very "hazy" manner like "maybe we would, maybe we wouldn't".

That's just a part of pet ownership that you either need to accept or do as you are thinking-boondocking. A simple phone call with a request for their policy in writing if it's not clear on the website seems like a very minor inconvenience in contrast to either leaving the furkids at home or doing without some amenities you might like. If there's ambiguity on the rules, tell them so, try to get clarification, and if that doesn't work tell them you are going elsewhere because of it.

Sounds good but I went to the website and could not find a pet policy. I know that some KOAs don't allow certain breeds, we have large dogs, one chow/shepherd and one yellow lab. The last KOA that we stayed at said if we came back, their was a policy coming into effect that would not allow the chow/shepherd. Well, we wouldn't go back and just spend our money where our business would be appreciated. Frankly, we are considering gearing up for boondocking as to avoid the hassle of checking each campground to see if they will allow us to spend our hard-earned money there. Some seem to present the pet policy in a very "hazy" manner like "maybe we would, maybe we wouldn't".