Never has there been a better time to travel with your dog.

Once relegated to campgrounds and relatively few motels, dogs are the new darlings of the travel industry, with accommodations from the very simplest to the most elegant now open to traveling pooches and their people.

Nor are dogs an afterthought, a grudgingly accepted part of the clientele. A growing number of innkeepers go out of their way to attract dog-lovers, and the dog camp -- a resort built around canine-friendly activities -- is a great idea that's spreading across the country.

No matter where you go, though, you'll need some travel basics for your pet's comfort and protection.

Your dog should be wearing a sturdy collar with a license and an up-to-date ID tag that has at least one phone number, area code included, that's not yours -- someone who'll be able to answer the phone should you lose your dog miles from home. Ideally, your pet should also be carrying an imbedded microchip for unshakable, permanent ID, and temporary ID such as a paper key tag with the phone number of your travel lodgings.

With your dog's ID needs covered, it's time to pack the gear. Start with a leash, at least six feet. A longer leash is handy, too, especially a reel-type such as the Flexi, which is great for giving your dog room to stretch his legs in areas such as rest stops.

Two bowls, one for water, one for food, come next. Look for water bowls designed for travel; they either don't spill or collapse for easy storage. I travel with a couple gallons of bottled water, because it seems I'm always stopping to walk my dogs in areas where no potable water is available.

Pack dry food servings individually in plastic bags with airtight locks, enough for the trip and a day or two more. If your pet eats canned food, you'll need an opener and a spoon. Don't forget to pack treats and a couple of your pet's toys!

A comb and brush, and tweezers or a ready-made device for pulling ticks are a must, especially on back-country trips. Some basic first-aid supplies -- scissors, gauze, tape, antibiotic cream and Pepto-Bismol, for canine diarrhea (check with your veterinarian for dosages) -- are likewise important to pack. Check with your pet-supply store for first-aid kits that come prepacked in a plastic container and ready to throw in your trunk.

Remember, too, to pack any regular medication your pet takes, and don't forget your pet's proof of rabies vaccination. A rabies certificate is necessary to get into some parks and is absolutely imperative to have should the unthinkable happen: Your dog bites someone or tangles with a rabid creature in the wild.

Bring cloth towels, for drying off wet, dirty dogs, and paper towels, for cleaning up more things than you can imagine you'll have to. A multipurpose cleaner in a spray bottle is a great item to pack. If you've room, bring an old sheet or blanket, for covering bedspreads, furniture or carpets in motel rooms. I always try to express my appreciation for dog-friendly lodgings by keeping the room as de-furred as possible.

Plastic bags for pet mess clean-ups are essential. Use them! Leaving pet messes of any kind behind is the fastest way to prompt the "no dogs allowed" sign at a formerly welcoming place.

My favorite planning guides are the "Dog-Lover's Companion" series from Foghorn Press, with books covering dog-friendly travel in Atlanta, Boston, California, Florida and Seattle. Mobile and AAA travel guides also note hotels and motels where pets are accepted. There's even a bimonthly newsletter for people who love to travel with their pets: "DogGone" ($24 a year; phone (561) 569-8434).

CYBERLINKS: Camp Gone to the Dogs, of Putney, Vt., is the original resort for dogs and their owners, and while its new Web page (http://camp-gone-tothe-dogs.com/) is very simple, it does tell you what you and your pet are in for should you choose to visit this slice of canine paradise. The TravelDog site (www.traveldog.com) lists more dog camps, along with dog-friendly lodgings, pet-sitters and kennels, and offers a link to "The Dog Run/Dog Park Reporter," an extensive review of places where dogs can be legally let off leash.

Gina Spadafori, the award-winning author of "Dogs for Dummies," is affiliated with the Veterinary Information Network Inc., an international on-line service for veterinary professionals. Write to her in care of this newspaper, or e-mail to Giori(at)aol.com.

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

In every neighborhood there's at least one chronic barker, carrying on night and day, rain or shine, weekday afternoons and Sunday mornings, too.

Is this dog yours? The owners of problem barkers seem to develop an ability to ignore the noise that has their neighbors thinking of legal action -- or maybe murder. But a dog who's barking constantly isn't having any more fun than the neighbors are, and you owe it to both your pet and those who can hear him to fix this problem.

The first step is to figure out why your dog's sounding off so much. Dogs bark to express a variety of emotions: anxiety, boredom, territoriality, aggression, playfulness and hunger. Certain conditions in a dog's environment can trigger these emotions -- and barking fits -- more frequently.

The typical neighborhood nuisance is an outdoor dog who isn't getting the exercise and attention he needs. Dogs are social animals: They need to be part of a family. If your dog's outside because of poor manners or because he isn't house-trained, give him another chance. Ask your veterinarian for a referral to a trainer or behaviorist and arrange for an in-home consultation to fix the underlying problems.

Once you've brought him into your life, keep him busy with regular outings. Exercise, both of the body and of the mind, works wonders for all dogs, especially those who bark from boredom or to release excess energy. You'll be a amazed at how much calmer, happier -- and quieter -- your dog will be!

For the barking that remains -- some dogs are just naturally yappy -- your task is to train your dog to be quiet on command when you're home and to reduce the barking triggers when you're not.

Teach your dog to be quiet by distracting him from barking, saying the word "Quiet" or "Enough," and then praising him for "minding" -- he'll make the connection soon enough, with repetition and lots of praise. Rattling a can filled with pennies is a commonly recommended distraction, and it works well. Shouting at your dog does nothing except make you feel temporarily better.

Work to minimize barking cues to keep your dog quiet when you're not home. If your dog barks while looking through a window that faces the street, keep him out of that room while you're gone. Many dogs fire up when they hear car doors slam; other dogs bark at the mail carrier's steps on the walk. Muffle these sounds by leaving a radio playing while you're not home, and your pet is more likely to sleep than bark. Giving your dog something special to chew on, such as a Kong toy or hollow bone stuffed with a little peanut butter, will help to keep him occupied and quiet while he's awake.

For the most persistent barkers, there is a new product on the market that's well worth investigating. The ABS Anti-Bark System is a battery-operated collar that releases a spray of citronella mist each time a dog barks. The mist is harmless to the dog -- the citrus tang smells good to humans, but dogs hate it. The hiss of the mist releasing from the canister and the smell itself are annoying enough to distract the dog and correct him for barking. The product has been in short supply since being mentioned on an "Oprah" show last year, but is now showing up in pet-supply catalogs and stores.

The ABS collar is an effective alternative to electric shock collars or to surgical debarking.

Chances are if you bring your dog into your home and train him, you'll not even need to consider an anti-bark collar or surgery of any kind. In any case, working on this problem is well worth the effort: You, your dog and you neighbors will all be happier.

CYBERLINKS: If you're tired of thinking about barking dogs, why not take a break and learn more about the barkless breed, the basenji. The Basenji Club of America notes on its home page (http://www.basenji.org) that while basenjis do not bark and are generally quiet, they can and do yodel, chortle, howl and growl. The site even has sound files so you can listen to these interesting noises yourself.

Gina Spadafori, the award-winning author of "Dogs for Dummies," is affiliated with the Veterinary Information Network Inc., an international on-line service for veterinary professionals. Write to her in care of this newspaper, or e-mail to Giori(at)aol.com.

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

In California and Hawaii, and in a hodgepodge of municipalities around the nation, ferret fanciers live in fear.

They worry about finding veterinary care in areas where their pets are illegal. They fret that their pets will be confiscated if discovered -- and possibly destroyed. And they wonder why with so many more pressing problems, law-enforcement resources are used to persecute a personable little pet.

In California, where the fight for ferret legalization has become as much a part of spring as allergies, advocacy groups such as the California Domestic Ferret Association say there are more than 100,000 ferret owners and a half million of the playful beasties. It's likely not one of those owners -- or the veterinarians who treat the animals in a gray zone of legality -- understands why a five-pound pet is the focus of so much fuss.

"Ferrets are not really exotic pets, except in the sense of being relatively uncommon," said veterinarian Stuart Turner, head of the Pet Care Forum of America Online and one of a number of California veterinarians listed as "ferret friendly" by Ferrets Anonymous, a group working to legalize ferrets in the state and support ferret owners by providing them with the resources they need to care for their pets until that happens. "Look at other pets we call 'exotic,' such as parrots and reptiles. These are one or two generations removed from the wild, while ferrets have been domesticated for thousands of years."

In California, fish and game officials argue against legalization primarily out of concern that pet ferrets will escape and become wild predators of native birds. There is also concern that ferrets have a propensity to bite, especially around young children.

Ferret advocates disagree, saying no evidence exists that any domesticated ferrets have been able to survive in the wild. As for biting, they argue that ferrets are less dangerous than dogs or cats, pets responsible for hundreds of thousands of injuries to children every year. Common sense dictates that no pet be left unsupervised with a small child, they say, and this is just as true in the case of ferrets.

But common sense doesn't seem that common when it comes to the ferret debate, even though support for the continued banning of the animals has been eroding. Most animal-welfare groups are no longer against legalization, nor are veterinary organizations such as the California Veterinary Medical Association.

It's time to accept that ferrets can be as good a pet as dogs or cats, and let the last of the regulations against them fall, starting with the biggest -- the ban in California. For veterinarians like Turner, legalization won't come a moment too soon.

"Our oath as veterinarians is that we're here to treat animals,' he said. "And we want to do our best to treat them, whether they're legal or not. But when people are worried about seeking out care for their pets because of the law, we can't do this."

"For us not to be able to treat ferrets is crazy."

For responsible pet lovers not to be able to keep one legally is doubly so.

FERRET FACT: Fanciers have specific terms for their pets, starting with "hob," for an unneutered male ferret, and "jill" for an unspayed female. Babies are called "kits," and the correct terms for altered adults are gibs (males) and sprites (females). Most charming of all, a group of these playful pets is called a "business" of ferrets (although some use "busyness" instead).

CYBERLINKS: The most comprehensive site for ferret fanciers is Ferret World (http://ferret-world.clayton.edu, soon moving to http://ferretworld.com), which bills itself as "The Coolest Place on Earth." The site has information on ferret care and legal issues, as well as links to other ferret sites and pictures. The music is a little annoying after the first few seconds, but the "ferret cam" animation loop is cute. Serious ferret fans will want to join the Ferret Mailing List by sending e-mail to ferret-request(at)cunyvm.cuny.edu with the words SUBSCRIBE (your first name) (your last name) in the text field. For more information on the ferret fight in California, visit the sites of the California Domestic Ferret Association (http://www.cdfa.com) and Ferrets Anonymous (www.efn.org/(tilde)csmith/).

Gina Spadafori, the award-winning author of "Dogs for Dummies," is affiliated with the Veterinary Information Network Inc., an international on-line service for veterinary professionals. Write to her in care of this newspaper, or e-mail to Giori(at)aol.com.

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600