Dog friendly cottages are growing in popularity. Owners have realised that they don't want to leave their four-legged friends in kennels and would rather pack up the dog food and toys and take the dogs with them.
Here's Georgie on one of our cottage holidays in Cornwall.
We’ve had some wonderful holidays with our dogs but the best ones have always benefitted from a little planning.
You may want to think about dog-friendly hotels
or if you’re considering a cottage, keep the following points in mind.
First think about how you’re going to get there and whether you want a 15 hour drive or a 3 hour drive. We’ve done both and I know which I’d prefer!
When you find a cottage that appeals, look for the doggy icon in the brochure which is often at the bottom of the description. There may be a number by it indicating how many dogs are allowed.
I always try to look for dog-friendly cottages with wooden or tiled floors. It's okay for dogs to ruin our carpets but it's not fair ruining someone else's! And don't forget the towels. You might be unlucky with the weather and need to wipe your dog down on a regular basis.
I pop a large cloth or bed cover in the car to take with us. It's useful to disguise the fact that your dog may have been on the settee which in most places is not allowed anyway! It can also be put over a posh carpet or rug in places where your dog may like to lay eg. near the fire.
Having a dog-friendly cottage with an enclosed garden is always useful. On one of our Scottish holidays we had sheep wandering into our front garden and a chase ensued. We got the dogs back and no sheep were hurt but it did start the holiday on rather a stressful note.
Here's Georgie and Jessie playing in the front garden of our holiday cottage. We stayed in Kintyre on the west coast of Scotland and our garden actually led straight down to the beach. The light's rather low in the video since it's evening so hope you'll excuse that. I think for the amazing location it's worth it.
Finally having a holiday on a farm is all very well if your dogs are used to livestock. If not, it could be a noisy, tense affair with the dogs constantly on leads and no-one, canine or human, able to relax.
Think carefully about what’s important on your holiday and consider canine as well as human needs. Your dogs deserve a relaxing break too!
This is a very useful database of establishments in the UK that welcome pets. The site contains details on more than 10,000 venues that will welcome you and your dog(s).
Would you like to share your experience of staying in a dog-friendly hotel with the 'Out and About' readers? We would love to hear from you. Please avoid naming individual cottages. I don't want to be sued!
