10 tips for taking your dog on holiday

Read our top 10 tips for going on holiday with your dog to make your holiday or short break with your four legged friend go smoothly.

1. Make sure that the holiday cottage you choose is indeed dog friendly and that your dog will be welcome. At Gardeners Cottage in Blakeney the house has moppable wooden or tiled floors throughout ( no pale carpets or coir to drag mud onto ) Our sofas all have washable throws on so if the worst should happen and your dog gets mud everywhere it is easily cleaned up.

2. Choose a holiday cottage with a fully enclosed garden for your dog. Otherwise you will have to take your dog out on lead to toilet . Now this might not seem that big a deal but at 11pm at night it will be.

3. Pick a holiday cottage that has lots of nice dog walks nearby for your dog and ideally not on a busy road. We are totally spoilt for choice of dog walks as Blakeney has the most fabulous walks along the North Norfolk coastal path, just a few minutes walk from the cottage, and we do not need to cross any busy roads to get to them.

4. Bring your dogs bed with you. Some holiday cottage may supply a dog bed, but most do not and will expect you to bring something for your dog to sleep on.

5. Remember to bring your dog’s food and their treats. It is best if they stay on their usual food and although there may be lots of pets shop nearby, it is best if you can keep things as normal as possible for your dog, and not risk upsetting their tummy with a sudden change in diet. It is also useful to bring their usual treats, as most dogs recall much better off lead, if you have a delicious biscuit or treat waiting for them

6. Bring a crate for your dog, if it is not house trained or chews. The cottage owner will not be impressed if your dog urinates all over the cottage or chews things when left alone. If you dog is normally left in a crate at home then bring it with you on holiday. The dog can also travel in the car in their crate.

7. Bring your dogs food and water bowls with you. We do provide stainless still food and water bowls, but not all holiday cottages will do so. Some dogs can be quite sensitive and may not like to eat or drink from a different bowl, so in that case it is sensible to bring your own,

8. Bring several leads for your dog on holiday with you so that you have a spare. You could keep one in the cottage and one in the car. There is nothing worse than getting to the beach with your dog and finding that you have forgotten your lead.

9. Bring plenty of dog poo bags to clean up after your dog. Blakeney and North Norfolk are very dog friendly, and it is important that you always clean up after your dogs. Make sure you also clean up the cottage garden before you leave to go home . It will be very much appreciated by the owners and the cleaners.

10. And lastly bring a couple of old towels with you for your dog to use. Ideally one to keep in the car and one to keep at the cottage. Most self catering holiday cottages provide towels for the human guests use, but not for the dogs. All our guest towels are white fluffy towels. Great for humans but not for dogs. We find it is best to bring a dark coloured towel for our dogs when we go on holiday. There is nothing worse than a wet muddy dog shaking itself all over your car after a trip to the beach. Blakeney quay is also quite muddy, and if your dogs like to swim they will come back to the house covered in mud, so an old towel is a very useful to dry them off.

And one last one as a post script

1. Check that your dogs collar id tag and microchip record have your current correct mobile phone number on and not just your home number. If your dog should stray or get lost people will then be able to contact you if they find your dog.

North Norfolk is a wonderful place to come on holiday with your dog and is an increasingly popular staycation destination for dog owners.

Miles and miles of unspoilt coastline and countryside, lots of dog friendly holiday cottages and hotels, as well as pubs, cafes and restaurants.