We have an 11 week old puppy who will by August be a big dog. We have cancelled our planned holiday abroad because my mum needs a new hip and we don't want to leave him in kennels for 2 weeks (we realise by august we will be more used to him etc but we want to book our holiday now and this is the way we feel at present). We want a cottage in the Loire Valley which will accept 1 dog and sleep at least 4 people and which has a swimmpng pool.
We've asked a few properties in existing brochures but they all tend not to want dogs in the High Season

You'll need a pet passport to get your dog back into England (that is, of course, assuming that you are English). If you inoculate your dog in next week at 12 weeks of age, which is what our veterinarian said was the minimum age, your puppy will need its titer test for rabies no less than 30 days after that, making that five weeks. The pet passport is not effective until six months after that date, or at the very earliest mid-to-late August.

I haven't checked for places in the Loire Valley, but I have found quite a few holiday homes in the United Kingdom that accepts pets and are lovely.

Good luck.

further to this you will I believe have to have the dog go to a local continental vet within 24 hrs of departure from france for further treatment against fleas etc., and produce papers to the custom officers in this country the treatment has been given, otherwise it still means 6 mths confinement before your dog is allowed to go back home.

David, you may find the following links of use if you are considering taking your dog abroad. DEFRA: Pet Passport Regulations & Pet Travel Scheme Information.

Many countries have specific rules for carrying dogs in cars. Just as a couple of examples, it is illegal to leave an animal in a car parked on the road or in a public car park in Brussels. And in Italy you will get a on-the-spot fine of 121,000 lire (£38) for having a dog loose (not caged) in your car.

Leigh

Sierra As you may know I'm a newish dog owner and haven't had to worry about kennels and/or taking dogs on holiday. We had already booked a holiday in Holland in Feb B4 we got Thistle and I was dreading leaving her in kennels as she's only 6 months old. Anyway I breathed a big sigh of relief when our 'dog minder' agreed to have her for the week.
However, I want to book a holiday in the summer in England , somewhere that we can take the dog-near the seaside . Can you recommend anywhere?

We stayed at a wonderful farm in Cornwall on our holiday this autumn. All the houses were either historic homes or farms. Farmers in the area worked the fields where we stayed, but we had access to over 100 acres with a particularly nice long driveway/road that we walked each morning (in the week we were there we encountered two cars on our daily drives out -- none on our walks). Cornwall, as you may know, is pretty dog friendly and there were lots of beaches and fields that we could take the dogs. The farmhouse slept eight had two large sitting rooms with fireplaces, heating, large full kitchen and laundry facilities, fenced in front and back gardens.

I also have some information on places in Wales and Scotland, most of those are only one dog permitted places, so it didn't fit with our brood.

Feel free to email me and I'll pass along the info on the houses in Cornwall and the ones in Wales and Scotland.

We're planning on going back down to Cornwall for a week this spring.

I bought a book from Amazon.co.uk called Pets Welcome which advertises hotels, B&B's etc which allow pets.

Wendy

David,
Try www.cheznous.com.
My parents have been a few times to France in properties found with this company, and they have taken their dogs with them each time.