Visiting Shipshewana With Your Four-Legged Friends
If you’re a dog lover, you know how the furry little family members can make traveling a nightmare. If you leave them home, then you need a responsible pet-sitter, or a trustworthy dog boarder near, both of which may cost a pretty penny. But to travel with them, you need to know ahead of time what hotels and businesses are pet-friendly, which is not always easy to figure out on your own.
If you’re planning a visit to Shipshewana, however, we can help! We’ve done the research and can tell you happily, that there are a good number of pro-dog options!
Accommodations
There are a LOT of options when it comes to where to stay during your visit! There are multiple RV Parks and Campgrounds available that welcome your tiny travelers, as well as both the Van Buren Hotel and the Shipshewana Super 8. You can also check available B&B and Airbnb listings, because the listing will tell you if dogs are allowed or not.
Shipshewana Flea Market
The Flea Market welcomes leashed dogs! Not only is the Flea Market dog-friendly, it’s also huge, so there’s plenty of room for Waldo’s walkies! You’re liable to make new dog friends as well, as many people take their dogs with them to the outdoor shopping mecca. And there are multiple pet-item specialty vendors among the hundreds of booths at the Flea Market, so Spot could find the chew toys, dog treats, or embarrassing outfit of their (your) dreams!
The Downtown District
The downtown shopping district in Shipshewana isn’t large, only a few blocks over two short streets, but that means it’s very walkable, and it’s chock-full of shops. Some stores downtown that are fine with your fuzzy pal sniffing around include: Cherry Pickers, Country Yard Outlet, Lasting Impressions, and Cornucopia. There’s also an open-air Farmer’s Market on Morton Street every Saturday morning during the summer, and into the fall. If you decide that you’d like an Amish Buggy Ride, you’ll find that the fine folks at Buggy Lane Tours are ok with you bringing your (smallish) dog with you in the buggy.
More Shopping
If you venture out to the countryside, you’ll find that most Amish shop owners are fine with your canine companion. Make sure you stop at the Visitor’s Center and get the Off the Beaten Path map to help you find them all. (The Visitor’s Center is also dog-friendly!) And don’t forget to stop at Happy Paws, the pet store in Shipshewana, for some yummy treats (they make dog cookies) and supplies for your pampered pets.
The Great Outdoors
Not only is the small town of Shipshewana very walkable, but you can also get out into nature with your pup on the Pumpkinvine Trail. The Shipshewana Trailhead is located right next to the downtown district, and winds its way through the countryside for 17 miles. It’s a smooth, paved service perfect for walking and biking, with a lot of shade along the way. Your dog is going to love all the amazing new SMELLS, because you’ll be passing small towns, farms, fields, woods, and lots of people, horses, and cows.
Other outdoor adventure options include any of the LaGrange County parks and lakes. Shipshewana Lake is near town and has a beautiful small park and picnic area right on the (shallow end of the) lake.
And now we will PAWS for some VERY IMPORTANT…
Travel Tips
- Before you leave home with your dog, it is super important that they have been microchipped! A tag on their collar with your up-to-date contact information is also important. If something happens in an unfamiliar place, you want to make it as easy as possible for your dog to make it safely back to you.
- Make sure you pack for your dog as well as yourself! Strong collar and leash, any necessary medications, favorite toys, bones, food, treats, blankies, hilarious but humiliating costumes… Basically anything that your dog may need at home, he could need on the road.
- If your dog’s bed is small enough to be portable, its a good idea to bring it with you. Familiar bedding and smells are always comforting to possibly nervous travelers. And dogs too.
- It used to be recommended that you bring all your pet’s medical and vaccine records with you, but nowadays it is probably sufficient that you have access to them via your phone. If any necessary info is stored safely in the phone and in the cloud, you should be able to get to it almost anywhere you happen to be.
- If you’re road-tripping, make sure to plan your drive around potty breaks! If it’s an especially long trip, plan for food and water breaks as well.
- Invest in a portable dog bowl! They expand to hold doggy’s drinking water, and then flatten again for easy transport! So neat.
- Figure out where you’ll be staying and book in advance so you know you’ll have a dog-ready room, and if there are extra charges for pets.
- If you’re staying somewhere with multiple floors, try to book a ground floor room for easy outdoor potty breaks.
- Always keep your dog on leash in unfamiliar and public places.
- ALWAYS carry bags with you for easy dog poo cleanup and dispose of them properly!
