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I’m just emailing on behalf of Tourism Ireland as I noticed you’ve written some great stories covered Dog friendly holidays in UK, but haven’t got any for Ireland, so wondered if you would be interested in a new feature idea?
Basically with the summer holidays in full swing, and everyone planning for their annual summer holiday, Tourism Ireland have pulled together a “Ruff guide to Ireland” with great tips, ideas and advice on taking your canine companion away with you this summer.
Unlike other holidays with your dog, you won’t need a passport or a stressful session in quarantine for your four legged friend. You can
just pop your pet into the car, and get onto the next ferry to Ireland.
With less than a two hour ferry journey and no luggage restrictions, your holiday can start almost straight away!
Most of the ferries don’t even charge an extra fee to bring your dog! So with miles of sandy beaches for those long scenic dog walks, friendly locals and some pet friendly accommodation why not take a look at Tourism Ireland’s guide to a Dog friendly holiday?
www.discoverireland.com/gb/about-ireland/experience-ireland/dog-friendly-holiday/
If you are British, taking dogs on holidays to Alaska is obviously, for purely practical considerations, out of the question.
But Alaska is most definitely ‘open for dogs’, with the difference that here it’s the dogs who take the owners rather than the other way around.
Alaska is America’s northern wilderness. Vast areas are covered in snow and before the advent of snowmobiles, dog-pulled sleds were used for hunting, moving camp, and transporting medicines, food and mail. Nowadays, dog mushing as it’s called is mainly a sport – in fact, it is the official state sport. The main event is the annual Iditerod Sled Dog Race, which starts in Anchorage and follows a course of over 1000 miles.
When we travelled to Alaska with Celebrity Cruises, we were able to assuage our dog-homesickness by visiting a musher’s camp near Juneau. Nestled in the wooded mountain slopes behind the town, our first site of the camp was a whole area – known as a ‘’, with wind-proof kennels each with a dog lying beside it.
Our guide was a professional musher who explained about the sport, the race, and how sled-dogs are not a breed as such but are bred for strength and endurance.
We were also taken for a ride, in a golf cart (obviously not a traditional sled as lack of snow) pulled by 14 dogs attached by a series of chains. Each dog has its own role in the team and responds to commands from the musher, who has a very close relationship with all her dogs.
We only had a short trip, but it’s a great way of seeing scenery and finding out about these wonderful dogs.
We travelled with Celebrity Cruises but if you want a more extended adventure, try Alaska Dog Sledding, http://www.alaskadogsledding.com/, does more extended wilderness adventure holidays.
With thanks to Anna Hall
I am quickly writing to let you and our other dog friendly people know of a great day out I recently had with my 2 border collies.
We quite often go to stay at Weston Super Mare, where dogs are allowed on the main beach between 1st Oct to 30th Apr, but also allowed on the bottom part of the beach all year round which takes you on a lovely beach walk all the way to Uphill.
However on one particular visit last year, we wanted to take a day trip somewhere else locally, so decided on Chedder Gorge.Cheddar is an absolutely beautiful part of the country in its own right, but we were so pleased when we arrived as virtually everywhere was dog friendly and very welcoming.
You can walk up to the top of the Gorge and walk all around…this is not for the faint hearted, but very beautiful and great excercise for the dogs. But for everyone else I was amazed at where our dogs were welcomed.
Firstly the shops, admittedly although we had a glorious sunny day it was not the height of the season and so not too busy, but as I waited patiently outside shops with my dogs, whilst my partner went inside for a look, I was always beckoned in by the shop owner. The only shops where this didnt happen was the food shops….which is quite understandable. I would reccommend that perhaps people checked with the owners before strolling in with dogs, but I think you will find that the majority will be most accommodating.
Then we were allowed to take the dogs into all the caves, not only that, but into the museum and on the tour bus too.
Finally the cafes, most of them had outside seating areas where you are welcomed with dogs, but most of them already had dog bowls for water outside, and if not as soon as they saw you with dogs, the staff were more than happy to find a suitable container for the dogs to drink from.
All in all this made for a great day out, as many of us find that when we do turn up somewhere with our beloved pets most of the time we are not welcomed or sneered upon….not so at Cheddar Gorge! Its well worth a visit.
With thanks to Jodie Price
I thought I’d mention that I went to West Bay in Dorset with my dog at the weekend and found whilst visiting Lyme Regis, that they have now changed the rules. Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times in the gardens and on the beach. I went there last year and there weren’t any rules then so I didn’t give it a thought. I didn’t notice the signs either and was told off by a PCSO (the fine is £75 but luckily I didn’t get a ticket!).
With thanks to Jo Hathaway
I thank you for your letter of 25th March 2009 with which you sent a list of some Dogfriendly hotels on the Isle of Wight. I decided on the Hayes Barton Hotel, 7 Highfield Road, Shanklin, IOW and spent five days there last month. It is a family run guest house, the owners being Joan and Chris Williams. I cannot speak too highly of this establishment. Nothing was too much trouble; the food all home cooked; the menu changed each day and there was plenty of variety. My room was very comfortable with all the amenities. There is a very nice garden where one can sit and relax, as I did, during my stay, as the weather was fine and sunny – and my little Pug Macie enjoyed herself too. The hotel is situated within a two or three minutes walk away from a park area – so all in all it was good for Macie and me. Didn’t want to return home. All being well I hope to go back there next year and have in fact made a provisional booking for the same few days. I thank you very much for your help and rest assured Hayes Barton will not disappoint anyone who stays there. Joan and Chris are a charming couple – they work very hard and make every effort to ensure that their guests enjoy their stay with them.
Thanks to Keith Mason
Having just received and read my first copy of your magazine, I thought I should write and let you have details of a recent experience of less than dogfriendly logic applied by the management of the Travel Lodge chain.
We had used the chain to stay at their Central Milton Keynes site on a couple of occassions before this year, and been charged £10 on arrival (no need to pay up front for our dog Kizzy, and this amount covered up to two dogs). This, we felt, was a reasonable charge. When we decided to visit our daughter again in August this year we were dismayed to find the charge had doubled to £20 and was PER DOG. We paid this out of necessity as Kizzy is part of the family and accompanies us everywhere.
Following our visit we contacted Travel Lodge to find out what was the reason for this massive increase and were told that it was to cover the cost of a ’specialist’ clean (extra cleaning was necessary when a dog had been staying overnight in a room). Our point, raised in the correspondence was that they were essentially charging for two specialist cleans if two dogs stayed for one night, which seemed exorbitant and unnecessary, and was not answered other than the totally bland smokescreen reply of … ‘that the rate increase was only introduced after considerable discussions carried out at board level’ …
We also made the point that the cost for two dogs (£40) would have been more than double the special rates, some as low as £19 per night for a family of two adults and two children …
My wife and I had successfully applied to enter Discover Dogs at Earls Court in November with our two rescue dogs Kizzy (a cavalier/whippet cross) and Nutmeg, our new recruit (ruby cavalier puppy). We booked a room in advance at the Heston Service Station, to obtain a lower rate but had to pay 2 x £20 for the dogs at the time of booking. Unfortunately Nutmeg became ill in the week leading up to the show and on vets advice about her condition, we did not travel, ultimately losing the full cost of our booking, despite there being no need for a ’special’ clean, as their insurers would not refund any of the monies paid.
Needless to say we shall avoid using the Travel Lodge chain again.
With thanks to Janet, one of our Dogfriendly members
I know you always wish to receive positive information re acceptance of dogs in public places but I was so incensed today about an anti dog attitude I thought it might be useful for members to know.
I try and avoid traffic congestion whenever possible and today we had to go to Truro and as usual took the dog with us (Parsons Jack Russell – quite well behaved except in the company of rabbits), and we thought we would try the Park and Ride at Threemilestone. Having parked the car we walked with the dog (my husband is recovering from his 4th stroke but refuses to give in) to the central buse ticket office to be met by some official telling us that no dogs were allowed on site or on the buses. The dog bins are for blind dogs only (How blind people find the poo and the bin is still a mystery to me).
I really think that there should be some statement on the gate, and that dog owner visitors should be forewarned of this unfriendly attitude. I could understand not leaving dogs in cars, but they are allowed on all other buses – this is not good for the tourist industry they say we so desparately rely on.
Sorry about my grumble.
Thanks to Lorraine McKechnie-Ryder
Holiday Destination: Scotland, Oban.
Name Of Accommodation: Oban Camping & Caravanning Site
Address Barcaldine by Connel, Argyll PA37 1SG
Type Of Accommodation: Touring Site
Telephone 0845 130 7633
Website www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk
Describe The Property – C & C site open to non members, set in a beautiful Victorian walled vegetable garden about 13 miles from the town of Oban (age, character, quirkiness)
Describe The Surroundings. – It is a sheltered site next to Sutherland’s Grove, a Forestry Commission woodland criss-crossed by colour coded walks and cycle paths with fire trees and waterfalls.
Describe Nearby Attractions – The town on Oban is to the south, where you can get the ferry to the one of the Western Isles. There are more walks near Dunstaffnage Castle overlooking the Bay near Oban. The Scottish Sealife Centre is also less than three minutes’ drive from the site.
Price – members from £15 to £22 per pitch per night for 2
(peak, off-peak)
Any Extra Charges – No
(charge per dog)
Dog-Friendly Provisions – Dog biscuit treat on arrival, plus water bowls
(bed, treats, poo bags, food, bowls, accessories)
Your Holiday Experience:
Nelly and I arrived at the Oban Campsite on a lovely day in late September, the site being in a walled garden was delightfully sheltered. The campsite is in a fantastic location, through the ancient doorway set in the wall, leads you to excellent dog walking in the forest. The Scottish Forestry Commission have done a marvellous job of making the forest very dog and walker friendly by the various coloured walks of different length to follow around the woodland. Not thinking I would do very much but walk Nelly around the woods for the next couple of days, the manager of the site encouraged me to go further a field with Nelly. So under his instructions the following day we headed off the Oban arriving to catch the noon ferry to Mull, it was £7.55 for a return ticket (no charge for dogs). The crossing was very smooth and we sat outside looking at the beautiful scenery gliding by. I believe there also is a lounge below decks that dogs are welcome should the weather be inclement.On arrival in Mull we then boarded a luxury coach (yes, they let dogs on these too!!), and after the 45 minute drive we arrived in Tobermory a picture postcard village where they filmed the children’s series Balamory. At the far end of the pier is situated Cafe Fish in the old waiting room for the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry which has superb views over the Tobermory bay to Calve island and beyond from its dining terrace and offers an amazing selection of fresh seafood dishes straight from the sea. The dining terrace (dogs allowed) was where I enjoyed a crab lunch washed down with lovely glass of wine. The owner spoiled Nelly by hand feeding her loads of little chunks of lobster. This has to be one of my favourite stops on my tour of Scotland.
Ratings
Accommodation – great
Walks – excellent
Dog Suitability – excellent
Value – perfect
Overall- wonderful
There are three levels of paid membership for Dogfriendly.
- Full Membership – this is £5.99 per year and will give you access to search all of our databases on-line.
- Full Membership plus one book of your choice – this is £9.99 per year and will give you one Dogfriendly book of your choice and full access to all of our on-line databases.
- Full Membership plus two books – this is £19.99 per year and will give you two Dogfriendly books, one of your choice plus the Pubs Beaches and Days Out book and full access to all of our on-line databases.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP AT ANY TIME AND IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH ANYTHING THAT YOU BUY FROM DOGFRIENDLY, WE WILL REFUND YOUR MONEY WITHOUT QUESTION.
From Julie, Robin & Millie (German Shepherd)
We’ve just come back from a long weekend in Cornwall. I took your guides and other Pet friendly guides. We stayed at www.campingcaradon.co.uk at Trelawne, Near Looe - PL13 2NA, its very close to Tallan Bay. Found them in Pet Friendly places to stay 2009, couldn’t find them in your guide, may be worth a look. Dogs should be on leads… They were very accomodating…
In Looe itself, dogs were not allowed on the main beach at any time… although there was a bay next door where dogs were allowed (we couldn’t use it because the tide was in!). We also visited a VERY friendly cafe called Daisy’s in Castle Street, Looe where ‘dogs, kids and muddy boots’ were welcome. We’d recomend them to all dog owners.
Visited Readymoney Beach at Fowey. No dogs on the beach between Easter and 1st Oct. It was a fairly small beach and the coastal walks which were just behind the beach, were full of people with their dogs. The walks were fairly steep and not suitable for people or dogs who are not physically able.
We also visited Polperro where we climbed the path to the rocks at the end of the bay to watch the stormy seas. On the way back I saw a Doggie Vend (see attached photo)!
On the way back we visited Golitha Falls National Nature Reserve, Southern Bodmin Moor. Lots of people with their dogs. Rivers were a mixture of strong currents as well as slow streams and still eddies. Fantastic scenery!
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