I love dogs but I feel like taking them on trips is like taking small children. They can't feed themselves, they require constant looking after to make sure they don't wind up somewhere they shouldn't be or lost, and it kind of sucks the fun out of traveling for me. However, if you bring a dog I will probably spend more time interacting with it than people, lol.
My friends dog from this past weekend in the Ouachitas. Every time we stopped for some reason, he would sit in the driver's seat and stare out the windshield.
You're not wrong. We go evvvvvvvvvvvvverywhere with our 11.5-yo Malinois, and 4.5-yo Dutch Shepherd. And, for the next 8-10 years, likely won't be traveling outside of North America...limited to driving. Our Dutchy (the all-to-aptly named Havoc) had a troubled youth that produced a neurotic jackwagon with severe separation anxiety. The mere thought of kenneling him makes ME break out in hives and a nervous sweat. So we're adjusting. Greenland, Iceland, and lands far away will just have to wait. While I love our dogs more than but a few beings on this planet (and even then it depends on the day), I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a tinge of resentment at times. Sure my wife or I can bounce and leave the dogs with the other, but I'd kinda like to experience things with my girl of 30 years. National Parks? Have fun driving through them (with rare exception you can't hike with dogs) or running to go take a quick look at Devil's Tower while the AC is blasting away. Difficult trails with a lot of climbing/difficult scrambling/exposure? Nope...not worth the risk. Being able to jump out and spend hours at a roadside museum/attraction? Not unless the weather is conducive. There's also the social issues. When meeting new folks, you'll be "welcome" into the circle in short order, but if there are other dogs involved? Nope. Hard nope.
I've ALWAYS had dogs since birth. Always said I'd never be without one. But...yeah...once Alexa leaves us (hopefully not for a few years), Havoc will be a loaner. After he's gone? We're taking a break for a year or two. Maybe we'll be that cliche in our mid-50s and vanlife it for a year to see all the parks. But New Zealand, Oz, Greenland (hopefully it's not, literally, green by then), Iceland, Ireland, and African safaris await.
Yet at the same time there's the comic relief and "excuse" to stop at lakes and rivers to let Havoc swim...and swim...and swim...puke up some water...and swim... Sure would be nice if THEY made ME breakfast once and a while, though. Ungrateful punks.
Routt NF south of Steamboat. Havoc prefers squishing up against a tire (if he doesn't burrow under the truck). It's all well and good...until the tires are covered in mud.
Amazing spot on the Flathead River north of Polebridge, MT looking into Glacier NP.
"Ball iz lyf!" Lunch stop....uhhhhhhhhh...somewhere on our way to Devil's Tower (too lazy to break out GAIA and look).
"Scooz me. I likez pancakez wif bacon."
Pre-warming my wife's sleeping bag in the RTT on a chilly night in Vermont on the way home from Maine two years ago.