I've been away on holiday for the last few years with a friend - she has a dog who has come with us. This has been basic self catering in the UK, so pretty cheap. (I've known this friend for 30 years and she has had a dog for the last 6 years. We have been away for the last 3 years but I have regularly been to stay at her house for 10+ years)
I am not a dog person, but I tolerate her dog, because I know he is very important to her. I don't actively engage with her dog unless I have to.
She has asked me to go to the Scilly Isles. I would LOVE to go to the Scilly Isles and had assumed this would be without Fido. I asked her outright, as she has been sending me links to pet friendly holiday lets, and she would take the dog with her, travelling there by train and boat.
I don't like dogs. I find them a bit stinky and I hate the hairs everywhere.
They are SO restrictive on holiday as you can't leave them on their own in the accommodation to pop out for a coffee, a meal etc. At least when I visit her home she can put him in his crate for a few hours.
I don't like the current trend for dog-friendly shops and restaurants etc. I'd much rather go somewhere without dogs.
The thought of picking up warm dog poo makes me want to vomit. I hate that my friend has bags of poo in her hand for half of our walks.
I sometimes get left 'holding the dog' if we are out and she needs to pop into a shop that doesn't welcome dogs.
I don't agree with her dog 'parenting' and the dog is often off lead when for safety I think he should be on lead....and this means I can't relax, as if anything happened to him she would be beside herself. He was knocked down a couple of years ago and he was off lead and ran after a cat, straight in front of a car, and she was devastated. Luckily the dog wasn't too badly hurt, although the car driver was very distressed.
She lets him go out of her sightline when he is off lead, so how can she know what he is doing? She lets him go up to other people when they show no interest in dogs (I HATE it when other dogs / dog owners do this to me) His recall is good, but not good enough to be off lead so much (in my not-a-dog-owner opinion....I get that dog owners may have no truck with this opinion)
She trots out the "oh, he's very friendly" line when people seem affronted that her off-lead dog has wondered up to them.
I have tolerated this for cheap UK breaks as it means I get to spend time with my friend, and she gets a holiday. But The Isles of Scilly are much more expensive and I would resent spending that much money to not be able to truly relax, and to feel like I am compromising all week.
I know that I could ask her not to take Fido, and she may do this (she has left him with family to go to Europe on holiday - when she couldn't take Fido with her)....but she will be so miserable without him, and the Isles of Scilly keep saying on their web page how dog friendly they are* so she will resent it if she goes without Fido.
*Maybe this means I shouldn't visit at all!
There's no way this is going to work, is there? I'll resent it with the dog. She will resent it without the dog. I should just tell her I can't go....but how, without telling her I don't like her dog. And what happens when I book to go on my own at some point...how do I justify that???