Are these the dog days of travelling around Britain?
By Kate Simon
A friend protests on Facebook about the inability to travel anywhere in Britain these days without encountering a dog. He rages about hygiene issues and the negative effects of dogs on the environment, wildlife and other people, especially asthmatics and those not so keen on our four-legged friends.
My friend travels widely yet his world has shrunk as the territory for dogs has expanded. They’re even allowed on steam trains, he complains. And as for pubs; Wetherspoon has become one of the few places left for a drink because of its no-dogs policy.
I’ve just returned from a week in the Brecon Beacons with the family – and the dog. It’s true, there were few places where Diggle (pictured with my partner, Dean) couldn’t cross the threshold. For a £30 cleaning fee, she shared our self-catering cottage. She was able to accompany us to the pub and pad around several local shops. She was even allowed to join us in the restaurant for my birthday lunch.
As well as the obvious choice of walking routes, I was quite surprised at the number of beaches available to us in the height of summer, when dogs are usually banned from the sands. In fact, if I’d got my act together, she could have come with us to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, which holds Doggy Days on Mondays, Fridays and certain weekends.
Pet-friendly travel has been on the increase in the UK for several years but has positively boomed since the pandemic as more of us have added a little Rover to the family – almost 60 per cent of homes now have a dog says the Pet Food Manufacturer’s Association. And with the pandemic clipping our wings, so more of us are holidaying in the UK, we’re inevitably taking our canine companions with us. In fact, one leading dog-friendly holiday booking website, Pets Pyjamas, reported an 80 per cent surge in bookings in 2021, a figure that will surely remain on an upward trajectory.
And these days dogs don’t have to be content with a place under the table and a bowl of water as more holiday and hospitality businesses recognise the value of the pooch pound. Welcoming dogs along with their owners can add 30 per cent to the value of a booking, according to industry statistics.
Treats and blankets have become commonplace, dog ice-cream and Sunday roasts are familiar additions to the human menu. The pressure is on to stand apart from the dog-loving crowd. Take, for example, the five-star Lygon Arms in the Cotswolds, where you can book a Nails and Tails day for you and your dog. While you’re pampered in the luxury hotel’s spa, the dog is whisked off to a nearby professional groomer for a wash, cut and blow-dry, nail trim, blueberry facial and even a spritz of ‘John Paw Gaultier’ perfume. A snip at £170.
Our Diggle isn’t that sort of girl, she’s happy with an open space in which to romp with her frisbee and a roll in the grass. So, among the more conventional sources I refer to when we go away is the helpful page on Visit England, which highlights day trips with the dog and can be filtered by region, terrain and season. And there are lists of properties where pets are welcome on the English Heritage and the National Trust websites.
Good books on the subject include Lottie Gross’s Dog-Friendly Weekends: 50 Breaks in Britain for You and Your Dog (Bradt, 2022). She regularly covers the theme for the national newspaper travel sections, too. Another book to thumb through is Good Guide to Dog Friendly Pubs, Hotels and B&Bs by Catherine Phillips (Ebury Press, 2017).
As well as Pets Pyjamas, dedicated booking sites include Canine Cottages, Dog Friendly Cottages and Dog Friendly Retreats, and Sawdays, the guide book publisher focusing on independent places to stay, has a dog-friendly section on its website. In fact, most large cottage search engines have a filter for properties that accept dogs – The i newspaper reports that the number of pet-friendly Airbnb properties in the UK increased by 95 per cent between 2019 and 2021. It seems my friend’s type of holiday has gone to the dogs.
Phil’s beer notes
Welcoming dogs has become a competitive sport. Best Pub For Dogs is one of the new categories in the Great British Pub Awards 2022, organised by trade magazine The Morning Advertiser. Judging is underway, and the contenders have already been whittled down to five finalists.
Many pubs are popular destinations for people out walking the dog – that halfway pint can be a big part of their trade. But the winner of this award will have to demonstrate the Orwellian dictum ‘four legs good’ by really making canines feel an important part of their business.
One of the finalists, The Greenhead at Brampton in Cumbria, boasts a special area where dogs can wash off after a long day strolling Hadrian's Wall. Another, The Runner in Swindon, helps rescue dogs find a new home. Bowls of fresh water and complimentary doggy treats – even a full menu – could also be part of a winning offer.
The other finalists are The Bellflower in Preston, Lancashire; the Leicester Arms in Penshurst, Kent, and The Pheasant at Bassenthwaite in the Lake District. The category is sponsored by Rover, which matches dog owners with trusted sitters and walkers.
My experience is that taking the dog restricts you. There are far fewer B&Bs that will accept dogs - our week-long walk around the Isle of Wight resulted in some longer walks to the only dog-friendly B&B and in one case a six-mile bus ride. We relied on the B&B allowing us to leave our dog there, locked in our room, so we could eat in two restaurants. We're going camping near Stonehenge next weekend, where the dog is not allowed in the exhibition room let alone near the stones, even in a bag or pouch. Our Jack Russell weighs 6kg. She is small and lighter (and quieter and better behaved) than most babies in their parents' papooses. We have not attended some festivals because dogs were not allowed. The rules for taking your dog abroad now are too complex to even consider. The sort of people who complain that there are dogs everywhere used to say the same about Blacks and Irish.