Taking dog on holiday

[snowyskies]

Really want a week away in a cottage in UK with DCs and our dog but DH not keen. He says we won't be able to do anything with her in tow. So could anybody tell me how they have managed a holiday like this? She's nearly two and not really that much bother. We had somebody look after her last year when we went away and I was so sad to leave her, honestly think I would have preferred to take her and leave the DC behind!!

We've always taken our dogs on UK cottage holidays.

What tends to happen is one of us will walk the dogs for an hour first thing in the morning, then we feel we can leave them for a couple of hours after breakfast, in the cottage. Then we can do stuff in the morning, then back to pick them up and maybe have a pub lunch with the the dogs, sitting outside, then walk them on the nearest beach/riverside/hill and head home. It works for us as we don't do all day long trips when we're on holiday.

OOh I;ve been on two of these with my dog, sister & her two dogs! We had fab time! Lots of walking in woods and beaches (if permitted), self catering obviously.

We have one coming up we booked through Dogs Trust - Hoseasons actually are the agents for the holiday. Just google uk dog friendly holidays in UK. There are LOADS all over the country. Ours will be in Yorkshire, converted barn, sleeps 6 and will allow 3 dogs, Cost £400 for a week.

Big Tip - get one with enclosed garden so dog can run around safely! Enjoy!

Our dogs always come with us on holidays. We've been in cottages both in the UK and in France.

Never found a problem with taking them (other than initially checking the cottage will accept dogs). We tend to spend a lot of time walking, or doing stuff on the beach (rock pooling, swimming - anything other than just sitting, which I find dull). Our dogs are old hands on steam trains and the like too. If we do want to go somewhere where the dogs can't come, we crate them whilst on holiday just in case they destroy stuff in the cottage.

I can't imagine leaving the dogs behind - they are family. We don't do anything like museums and the like on holiday though.

I kind of thought that's how it could work with the walk then her being left for a bit. Similar to her routine at home. But I think DH thinks it will cause difficulties if we decide to go out for the day. Obviously I wouldn't leave her in the cottage but if it's hot (July) then she isn't great in the heat so couldn't sit on the beach etc for very long.

Of course I wouldn't leave her all day (don't at home) but don't want a sulky DH.

Actually maybe I could kennel him somewhere......?

We always take our dog on holiday with us.

We have been to center parcs, sandy balls and sykes cottages with him. lots of pubs are dog friendly and certain beaches are. We walk a lot, but have also been to Alton towers and taken it in turns to dog sit. Lots of National trust places are fine for dogs on leads.

Our dog also likes car journeys and steam trains.

The key is to find good dog friendly accommodation. We've stayed in places that provide kennel areas for dogs especially for days out, and offer dogsitting and we are looking at another which provides you with a crate. Alternatively you can find somewhere with a boarding kennel nearby that does day boarding, though bear in mind that the summer holidays will be the busiest time of the year and many will already be fully booked or very nearly.

It's also worth thinking about days out that can include the dog, and there are lots of websites etc that give info on this sort of thing. Cadw (the Welsh version of English Heritage) allows dogs on leads into a surprising number of its properties/places.

We always take our dog and to be honest it can be a bit of a pain but she is part of the family and we feel we should and want to take her with us. We check carefully if there are dog friendly beaches in the area - we have to go in high summer when restrictions are in place. Obviously you need a dog-friendly cottage and we only take somewhere with an enclosed garden. Remember, many, many places say in their terms that you MUST NOT leave your dog unattended in the cottage. Obviously you will have to decide whether you choose to abide by that or not.

Cornwall is one of the dog friendliest places I have ever been. There are so many good places you can go and take the dog that everyone enjoys.

We went last year and went to Lands End-dogs everywhere and lots of stuff for DCs to do as well.
The Seal sanctuary-again loads of dogs
The cider farm, dogs welcome everywhere, on the tour, in the shop, everywhere.
The old fashioned railway. Dogs welcome
Go karting- dogs welcome (not actually in the go kart )
There was also loads of dog friendly pubs, shops and restaurants.

We never had to leave the dogs behind at all, they were welcome everywhere we wanted to go.

We've just got back from a short break with a 7 month old Cocker, we stayed in a very dog friendly pub, he slept in his car crate in the room at night as he's used to sleeping in his crate at home.

The doggie pubs website is great, we found some lovely pubs which allow dogs, so you can have lunch sitting inside, in the warmer weather it's easier of course, we had a lovely lunch earlier this week sitting outside Jamies Italian in Cardiff, without coats :O

Usually we take our touring caravan and it's been easy with previous dogs, he can be left in the caravan in the evenings (in his crate) for a couple of hours if we want to go somewhere non dog friendly. same would apply to a cottage.

That said we're looking for somewhere we can leave him, so that holidays without him are possible, we didn't leave our previous dogs as puppies and once they were older it wasn't fair to suddenly start leaving them, I'm looking at home boarding places rather than kennels.