if you were going on a self-catering holiday in the UK with friends how would you feel if someone wanted to bring their dog?

[hatwoman]

not an AIBU as such - I'd just like a genuine sounding of opinion

We can all come on and individually say we would love it or hate it.
But I think given that there are both sorts of people that it would be more considerate not to bring the dog, or at least to ask in a way that doesn't put people on the spot.

Yes, you definitely IMO need to check with those you are going away with.

If I had been arranging a holiday with other people who had a dog it would have been one of my first queries when the idea of the holiday was first suggested.

well, secondcoming, you evidently would raise that issue with a dog owner before holidaying with them. (they might think you were barking..snarf snarf)

dogs & tinies don't mix, which is why...i don't mix them. they still go on holiday together though. self catering accoms are easy enough to sub-divide with stairgates etc. Really, you're just making problems where there are none.

imagne the converstion though

friend to OOM - yes we'd love to holiday with you - but you're not bringing your dog.

OOm - might i ask why?

friend - well, i have kids and stuff

OOm - that won't be a problem, i'll manage my dog.

friend - that's not good enough!

OOm - fine. we won't go on holiday together then. Now, which cocktail do you fancy??

friend, I'll have a mai tai, you dog-loving loon.

OOm - and I'll have a GnT, you dog-phobic freak...

I would not go. Dogs are smelly and shed fur everywhere.
Not an animal hater BTW. I have a cat who sheds hair everywhere. I just wouldn't want to go on holiday with a pet.

It very much depends on who the friends were and what dog it was, how well we knew them and their pet.

For example, I have one set of friends who have a collie, she has been part of the family forever, is old and lovely and is always just there, would not be bothered in the slightest if they brought their dog.

However, have another set of friends with a much younger quite highly strung dog who 'gets in my way' so to speak and is quite annoying. I would not really want him to come on holiday.

However, I also know that most of my friends with pets would bring their dogs, or want to bring them, unless it was abroad, so on that basis I would not book a holiday initially with those people if I did not want the dog to come, as I would expect them to bring the dog.

Well, for my friends who have dogs, their dogs are part of their family and go everywhere with them. Apart from abroad (except friends with old collie, they take her to france with them in their van, they go camping mostly).

Exactly as Pavlov says. There are certain people I would not choose to go on holiday with and the same goes for dogs.

My dog is a minuture schnauzer and does not shed, he is remarkably calm and gentle, he would be a perfect holiday companion .

Presssed submit before I was finnished.
We rented a holiday cottage which allowed pets.
When we turned the hoover on the stink of dog that came out of it was foul. I had to call the lady who looks after it to come and swap the hoover. No bloody way was I putting up with that stench every time we hoovered.
It has put me right off renting a place which allows pets.
Dogs do smell. No matter how fragrant you think your pet is , non dog owners can smell them.
My DD is frightened of dogs so we would not go if someone brought a dog.
I have asthma and mutts set it off.
The hair everywhere really bugs me.
Did I mention the smell...? ;)

listen very carefully. I'm not going to repeat this again.

the "holiday" evolved. there was no decision to all "go on holiday" together, which could them be followed by (or preceeded by) follow up questions, like will the dog come. The original plan was that several families would like to be together at a particular time of year. So the plan was for some to take a holiday home near where we live and a couple of families would stay at our house (with the dog. it is, after all, our house. and his). but for various reasons this plan changed and the latest proposal (with someone needing to put a deposit down asap) is that we all take a house in another part of the country.

secondcoming - you accuse dog owners of having no clue about people who don;t like dogs (which isn't true) yet you have no clue about dogs and dog owners:-

"i'd find it too tieing.I don't mind arranging meals out/getting up on the whims of a human but on a fecking dog???" why on earth would the dog affect your meals and when you get up?

"the holiday was due to be doomed to them pissing around with their bloody dog!" again, why? unless you like shared holidays where you have to be glued at the hip so you'd get up at the same time as me and walk the dog with me. which I'd consider most odd. (and in my particular case, as I have said more than once, there's no way we'll be doing everything together on this holiday there are way too many of us.)

dog threads always go wrong. I fully get that some people don;t "get" dogs. some don;t like them. some are terrified of them. fine. (but however many times I say that some poeple just don;t want to hear it) but what pisses me right off is when people start throwing round ridiculous generalisations about dog owners - that we're all potty. that none of us understand that some people don;t like dogs. that none of us have decently trained dogs. and even, on this thread, that we are worthy of hate just because we have a dog. I don;t make generalisations about non-doggy people. nor do I hate them. it would be ridiculous.

thanks to the majority here who've providied rational and thoughtful responses from a variety of perspectives.

belly rub for sunfleurs min schauz<

my dog is looking envious.

onebat - you are clearly calmer in the face of provocation than me. oh well. work's over for the day...must go get dds

Just thought I'd give you some suggestions on how to make taking your dog with you work. When we go away with others we take a travel child gate, so we can shut the dog away (he's a big dog, but never tries to get over the barrier), so that the children can play without the dog. We also have a stake that goes into the ground with a chain on it, so he can be outside but not have to worry that he might escape etc. This works well in campsites.

But, as is the same with your dog I am sure, he is a family pet, and is used to being around people and children and is therefore perfectly suited to going on holiday with us!

hatwoman - no solution here I'm afraid, but you have my sympathies!!

If I was going to stay at someone else's home I would NEVER even ask if I could bring my dog - plenty of friends offer though as our jack russell is pretty cool and grown up and very used to being around people and in social situations (not nippy or yappy although he does shed). Our only worry is going to friends with other dogs is that they all go off hunting together.

I did ask once if I could bring him on a self-catering holiday to Scotland, but I wasn't the holiday organiser who had 'taken' the house and I wasn't offended to be told no.

It really depends on the situation and what kind of activities you plan to do on hols. Lots of walking, etc - then I think the dog would fit in very well. If you plan on driving around the countryside site-seeing then probably not so suitable as dogs+cars=pita (for me anyway)!

Really, I can see people's objections if they are allergic or afraid of dogs or have little ones, but I can't see how the dog is a tie to anyone but the owner. I can't see how they could possibly restrict anyone's activities bar the owner either.

my advice: take your dog and the stuff that makes it easy to manage them (crate, dog gate, ground anchor etc.)

maybe discuss with people that run the accoms what will be useful?

then if you find there is very little space then your dog may have a very boring week or so spent mostly partitioned off from everyone. but no-one will have reason to complain. (which as evidenced here, doesn't mean they won't)

No - one would have to enquire about allergies at least. It would ruin any holiday this family went on if a dog came too.

Dogs are for life....

.... not just the work-year.

I am deeply suspicious of people who dislike dogs quite as much as has been demonstrated by some on this thread. There are so many different kinds of dog, with all different kinds of personalities how can they all be lumped together and detested like that. You are missing out thats all I can say.

My dog loves me and my dc beyond all other, he is very small but will take on anyone or any other dog of any size to defend us if he feels us to be in danger, he is unquestioningly loyal and loving to us. All you can see is a smelly, hairy, dirty, face licking nuisance. I think that is really sad actually.

Sunfleurs you are my kind of person

On a serious note, could not agree with you more- its sad. My dogs are great, far far nicer than a lot of people on this thread.

at the end of the day, all dogs pong and they poop and you have to pick it up and it honks.

that's why i wouldn't want to go on holiday with a dog even if i didn't have any children.

because they bark, they lick things and they are rank.

Sunfleurs - you're my kind of person too.

My dog does smell, yes - he smells gorgeous, all doggy and biscuity and warm .

You may prefer him when he comes back from the Groomers though expat, they spray him with Joop!