Holiday with friends and their dog

[MumSparkle24]

Hey, we are planning a UK holiday this year with some close friends, I have just found out they intend to bring their dog which in principal I don't have a problem with but am worried this will then limit what we can do whilst we are away? Will we have to get back to the cottage early, can you leave the dog in the cottage? can we only visit dog friendly places? etc. Should I speak to her, will I offend her, how do I say it in the right way?

Well, it will certainly limit where you can stay, as many places won’t allow dogs, but otherwise, a lot will depend on the actual dog, and what type of holiday this is going to be?

I'd be offended/irritated that this friend thinks it's ok to bring their dog along with my agreement, and of course the dog is going to limit what you can do.

I'd be having a chat with her, sharpish.

It will limit where you can stay, go, eat, how long you go out for without the dog. I've holidayed with my dog before and it takes careful planning to know where you're going to be able to go and what you're not going to be able to do.

Don’t do it or stay separately.

I’d cancel. We have a dog and out of necessity, our holidays revolve around her. That’s just how it is when you choose to have a dog.

I would not go unless they kennel the dog. It will be a blessed nuisance and is not what you signed up to.

you need to explore expectations if the holiday on both sides.

a holiday in a uk cottage with a dog is lovely - yes you need a dog friendly place which will probably be a bit more expensive. However walking / pubbing / beach walks ( depending on restrictions ) can easily fill a lovely week. Rural uk seems to be very dog friendly.

if you want museums , NT houses , posh restaurants , clubbing evenings etc then you are going to be going without your friends - which may well be good too.

its difficult to find cottages that allow dogs to be left in alone and usually price premium and limitations eg “ dog only to be left in kitchen “ is to be expected.

as a dog owner taking my dog to new places to explore etc is part of the joy of a holiday 😁. But I can see that doesn’t necessarily work for everyone

Lots of air bnb's and holiday lets will not allow leaving the dog alone. And wont allow them Upstairs or on furtinture. It's often only in the small print.

It is limiting having a dog along. But walks are fun!

In just about every cottage I have stayed in you are not allowed to leave dogs unattended. It will certainly restrict where you go and what you do. There's no option but to discuss with your friend. We always take ours and are happy with the limitations however I wouldn't expect anyone else to go along with it. The only other option would be to do your own thing most days.

Deal breaker for me.

Surely she should discuss this with you direct.

Her mere assumption / entitlement to bring dog says a lot about her likely behaviour with dog on the holiday

Back out now

Going away with a dog is always complicated.
you’ll be unlikely be allowed to leave to dog alone in the property, that’s if it is a dog freindly accommodation.
you need to find dog friendly places to visit, so lots of outdoor places.
cafes and restaurants will say their dog friendly but expect to be sat outside. You need to find really dog friendly places to eat indoors.
that’s all not too bad in summer but if it’s cold or wet it all turns into a chore

The answer depends on the dog and what you intend to do whilst on holiday. Some dogs are perfectly happy top be left alone for a few hours, others are not. Our dog will quite happily go to sleep in the car for a couple of hours whilst we go for a meal somewhere. Other dogs will not do that.

I never stay in dog friendly accommodation… because they always smell of dogs.

I’d reconsider whether you want to go away together, it’s really rude to assume that you’re fine for the dog to come without actually asking if you mind.

This would be a deal breaker for me. The accommodation will inevitably smell of dogs, and you’ll be limited to where you can go with a dog. I’d cancel and book something else.

We take our dog to cottages in the uk and all of them state in their T&C that dogs are not allowed to be left alone in the property. We mainly do walks and lunches in pubs that allow dogs, we also do NT places and as there is usually 4 of us, one stays with the dog outside whilst we go in the property. We usually spend evenings in the cottage, get a takeaway. We have had properties with hot tubs, so that’s a good thing to do with friends. Yes, it does stop various activities like cinema, nightclubs, shopping, theatre etc., but we get round it and have a great time. I have a friend who goes to the same cottage every year that doesn’t allow dogs, so she puts the dog in nearby kennels for the nights and also in the day if they want to.

We sometimes borrow a dog to go on holiday with. Stay in a beautiful cottage in Devon, go for lovely walks, enjoy drinks in the pub and occasional meals out. It’s more fun with the dog than without.
Clubbing is out of the question though.

It depends where you are going and what you intend to be doing.
If it's a walking holiday in the Lake District then absolutely no problem with activities or eating out as most places dog friendly.

If however you wanted to go out for posh meals, visit stately homes and nature reserves a dog could be more of a problem. You aren't meant to leave them in holiday homes unattended and you may also not be fond of doggy smells and so forth.

As others have said, depends on the type of holiday. We have to holiday with our dog and she can’t be left on her own or she’ll bark/howl/destroy things. We went with family and stayed in separate accommodation . So depending what we were doing that day one of us stayed with the dog whilst the others went off with family, or the dog came with us.

Very rarely are you allowed to leave the dog in the property unattended so it does restrict where you can go, and what you can do. We often take ours away to cottages, air bnbs in the U.K, and are yet to find one that says you can leave them unattended. It's a different kind of holiday with a dog, as literally everything you do has to involve them, (and quite often revolve solely around them) like being away with kids, but in a way it's worse, as dogs aren't welcome in alot of places that children are, so can actually prove more restrictive.

I'd expect the dog to not be allowed to be unattended and not allowed on the furniture.

More than this it will really limit what you can do, as a dog owner she'll be so used to this it probably won't even register that it's restricting.

Time for some research and an honest chat.

Id just be honest with her.

Yes it will limit you - even things like looking in shops or eating in a restaurant etc.

If I owned the cottage I wouldn't be happy with it left alone in a strange place.

It wouldn't faze me and I say that as someone who doesn't particularly like dogs.

Holidays often mean peeling off during the day so she can do whatever dog-friendly stuff she finds appealing and I'd do my own thing then we can meet back at 'home' for drinks before dinner. If she finds a dog-friendly place to eat then all the better but otherwise I'm off!

If our plans cross then brilliant but if not I'm well able to enjoy myself while she hangs out with her dog.

It shouldn't limit what you can do as it's not your dog. Just crack on with what you would normally do on holiday. If your friends have to stay in with dog that's on them.
I'd be quite happy to bugger off and do my own thing.

Most holiday cottage companies don't let you leave dogs there (the dogs are in an unfamiliar place and are more likely to be destructive). If you do leave a dog unattended you can face a huge fine or be asked to leave.

Depending on the part of the UK you go to it will change how your holidays functions. The Cotswolds is dog friendly, but not that dog friendly. North Norfolk is SUPER dog friendly - every pub I've ever been in (and I've been in a lot) allows dogs, most shops do, more cafes do, all beaches are dog friendly except particular parts at particular times of year (spring/summer nesting birds, but most of the beach is still fine) etc. Cornwall I found not to be dog friendly...or really people friendly tbh.

But, it's not your dog. You can go and do your own thing and just chill with them in the evening and go to dog friendly pubs.

It depends a lot on the dog too. Ours comes on holiday with us but he’s not relaxed in pubs for instance, so we don’t have meals out. Doesn’t bother us as part of our holiday is going to local farm shops and making a nice dinner with wine or whatever, but if you plan to eat out as one group it might be an issue. A lot of dogs are fine with pubs though, and pubs are often fine with dogs in the bar area at least.

None of the dog friendly cottages we’ve booked allow dogs to be left alone. We wouldn’t leave ours anyway to be fair, but owners say it’s because a dog can become distressed and destructive if left alone in a strange place. It doesn’t limit what we do, but it does influence what we do if that makes sense.

Loads of cottages are dog friendly now but there might be other criteria your friends look for which limits you or whacks the price up. For instance, we want an enclosed garden, ideally detached property so he doesn’t get barky, off road parking so it’s easy to get him in and out of the car safely etc.

You might love it, but just some things to consider.