Published Papers
Canine Hospitality Research
Roch Dog produces the most rigorous research in canine hospitality: the data, the strategy and the academic work the category has never had. Every paper is published in full, with no paywall and no sign up form, because the industry only rises when the evidence is shared openly. Our work exists to elevate the field and to equip hotels with the best thinking around dogs and the people who travel with them. And when a hotel, group or brand needs something specific, we produce custom research on request.
Published research from Roch Dog on dog friendly hospitality: the economics of welcoming dogs, hotel pet fees and pet policies, liability and insurance, the language hotels use, and case studies of how hotel brands perform against the Roch Dog Friendly Standard.
The Fine Print: An Anatomy of the Hotel Pet Policy
The pet policy is the first thing a dog owner reads about a hotel, and often the reason they book somewhere else. We read 236 published hotel pet policies from 29 countries and had the law behind them reviewed in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Nine in ten policies forbid more than they offer, and the waivers, indemnities and fines that make them so unwelcoming give the hotel little real protection. The paper closes with the Friendly Dog Policy, a one page policy any hotel is free to use.
The Economics of Dog Friendly Hospitality
The flagship paper of the research programme sets out the revenue case for canine hospitality. A representative 250 room luxury hotel can expect around $1.9 million a year in conservative incremental revenue from a structured dog friendly programme, roughly 9 to 19 times the investment in first year operating profit. The second edition adds original Google Trends research across 14 markets, the economics of the canine menu and of dog walking, a 2026 brand league in which not one major group averages an A grade, and the regulatory squeeze on hotel pet fees.
The Highest Margin Plate in the Hotel
A dedicated dog food menu now appears at Four Seasons, Cheval Blanc Paris and Virgin Hotels, served at human style prices. Modelled against real menu prices, a hotel dog main runs an 84 to 94 percent food cost margin, against 28 to 35 percent for the human room service beside it. Covers the unit economics, the supply and sponsorship models, and a veterinary grounded guide to building a dog menu safely.
The Coverage Gap in Dog Friendly Hospitality
Most hotels that welcome dogs carry a liability they do not know they have. Standard commercial general liability policies routinely exclude animal related incidents, and a review of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada finds no insurance product built for a dog friendly hotel. US insurers paid approximately $1.57 billion in dog related injury claims in 2024 at an average of $69,272 per claim. Sets out how the exclusion works, the four exposures it leaves open, what a hotel can assemble through its broker today, and the operational controls that make a property insurable.
The Million Dollar Mile
The dog walk is the most underpriced service in hospitality. One five star Boston hotel sells in house dog walks for ten dollars, while a walk arranged by a Manhattan concierge costs forty five. This paper makes the case for building dog walking in house, sets out a luxury pricing model, and shows how a 250 room urban hotel can earn a net annual contribution above $591,000 from a service that did not exist a year earlier. It closes with a 90 day build plan.
A Fair Deal for Pet Owners: Rebuilding Trust in Hotel Pet Fees
Hosting a dog costs a hotel $6 to $25 a stay, and the typical pet fee is $75 to $150. This paper explains how hotel pet fees work in 2026, why the current model is failing guests, regulators and hotels at the same time, and what fair reform looks like. It covers the new federal rule on deceptive fees, the Texas settlements with Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton, and the wave of state transparency laws, and it closes with an invitation to a voluntary Pet Fee Transparency Framework.
How "Pet Friendly" Hotel Awards Mislead Millions of Pet Owners
Millions of dog owners rely on pet friendly hotel awards, and none of the major schemes verifies what it ranks. We assessed the winners of the TripAdvisor and USA Today awards against the Roch Dog Friendly Standard. TripAdvisor's number one pet friendly hotel in the world for 2025 enforces a 5kg weight limit, and more than half of its top 20 winners publish no pet policy at all. The paper makes the case for verified dog friendly certification.
Nobody Trusts Pet Friendly
US search interest in "pet friendly hotel" fell 19% between 2022 and 2025 while "dog friendly hotel" rose. This paper documents the trust collapse behind the migration: a decade of linked guest complaints across four continents, survey data from Wag and Mars, the Hong Kong government's admission that no definition of pet-friendly exists, and Roch Dog's assessment of 3,000+ hotels, of which 49% score D or F. Concludes with the case for a defined, independently verified standard.
Dog Friendly Performance in Luxury Hotel Portfolios
We assessed 30 InterContinental Hotels and Resorts properties against the Roch Dog Friendly Standard and found a 57 point gap between the best and the worst, inside a single luxury brand. Of the 23 properties that qualified for ranking, 14 scored D or F. The case study explains why performance varies so widely within one portfolio and estimates the unrealised revenue at $2.3 million per property per year.
"Pet Friendly" Doesn't Translate
Dog friendly is one of the most widely used promises in hospitality, and nobody had studied what it means from one language to the next. This paper analyses how hotels write and translate their dog policies in 20 languages across 56 countries. The same three tiers appear in every language: grudging legal acceptance, borrowed "pet friendly" marketing, and specific commitments about dogs. The gap between the marketing and the reality is where trust and bookings are lost.
The Hidden Cost of Travelling With Your Dog
Hotels charge dog owners fees that have no definition, no standard and no consistent link to what the guest receives. Across more than 3,000 hotels in 56 countries, 87% charge a pet fee, and the hotels that charge the most often deliver the least. A survey of 120 housekeepers found that fewer than 5% see dog stays as a routine source of extra cleaning, which undermines the usual justification for the fee.