Dear All,

We are planning to get a puppy (Miniature Schnauzer) in May of this year. We would also like to take a holiday at some point during my daughters school holiday, therefore we are considering booking a dog friendly cottage in Norfolk (with enclosed garden etc.) at the end of August.

Please could you let me know how realistic this seems in terms of timings (it is 25 years since I last had a puppy!)

Thanks

My first Labrador, Mandy, went on a caravan holiday with us at 14 weeks old! We must have been mad but both her and us enjoyed ourselves immensely. I still look back at the photos of her at St Mary's Loch and Edinburgh Castle and they bring back some wonderful memories!

Regards, John

Karen,

I took my Rough Collie pup on holiday at 4 months, along with her mother, plus two friends and their adult dogs. (What a carful that was!) Didn't have any major issue, just had to make sure I kept the exercise at a sensible level as it's easy to get carried away and let them overdo it.

I would NOT have considered doing this without having a crate to keep her in whilst not being watched 100% percent, as I feel very strongly that if we do not respect rental cottages with our dogs, in a very short time owners will get tired of this and will not allow dog owners to use them. Need to bear this in mind in the garden as well, obviously! In fact, any dogs I take to rental cottages always sleep overnight in crates - although I do not use them this way at home, I make sure the dogs are happy with it before I go away.

However, points to think of would be that I went early in the year, and you are looking at high summer - your pup will be too young to be on the go all day, and it is likely to be too hot to leave him/her in the car. This will limit you. Also, we had the use of a fantastic beach, which thankfully is open to dogs - don't know where you are, but we stayed in Carhampton, 5 minutes drive from Blue Anchor Bay - but this is also often limited at high season.

That said, we all had a great time, and have some lovely photos to remind us!

Marina

Hi to you all

Thanks for the comments and advice. I have thought that a puppy pen or crate could be useful on holiday, both for the night and just in case we had to pop out somewhere without pup, to avoiding chewing etc. I guess in that case I ought to get one before arrival of the puppy and ensure it gets used to being in there for a short length of time every now and then. Any recommendations as to whether crate or pen would be best? Tips on best size might also be useful (for a Mini Schnauzer).

I know that the beach we usually frequent is fine for dogs, so that will be ok.

Many thanks
K.

Hi Karen,

My recommendation for a crate would be the one they sell in Argos - size will be fine for a MS, and at approx. £35 it's probably the best price you'll find. I have a couple of them and quality is great.

Is this a generally available rental cottage that you've been to before? If it's a good one with nearby dog-friendly beaches, can you let me know which company it's available through and the name/location of the cottage.

Thanks,

M.

Many thanks for the crate recommendation - I will certainly follow up on that one.

Have not tried this cottage before - but we always really like this area of Norfolk. (My husband booked it and I'm not sure which company it was through).

We are staying in Burnham Market, the nearby beaches include Holcome (sp?) Bay, Brancaster and also Wells - we have in the past seen dogs on all of these beaches. There is a lovely inn and hotel in Burnham called the Hoste Arms - this has beautiful gardens and food and dogs are certainly allowed in the gardens, in fact I have seen them putting out bowls of water on hot days!

Many thanks for all of your advice.