dogs and staying in cottages!

firesidemaid

hello fellow dog owners!

i'm hoping you can help me with a question to see what others in the same position do?

we are going to be renting/staying in a cottage soon and obviously want to visit the surrounding area but not always take the dogs with us. all the cottage companies say that the dogs should not be left unattended in the properties, but we have to be able to go out without them sometimes but don't want to leave them in the car either. we are only really talking about 1-3 hours, not all day.

what do other owners do/think? we leave them at home all the time and at other people's houses where we stay with no problems, and they always have at least two good long walks a day. we are not worried about the dogs damaging anything and we always take extra sheets etc to cover furniture just in case.

it's just that they make a point of not leaving them - is this just to cover themselves? please let me know your opinions, thanks in advance.

Errata

What happens if the dogs bark their heads off all the time they're alone because they're in a strange place with strange noises ?
Personally, I have never left a dog alone in holiday accommodation if I've been requested not to - that's part of the deal.
If the dogs are going to inconvenience you, why not put them in kennels.

elsien

I never take mutt anywhere - don't trust her as far as I can throw her.
But if I had a normal well-trained dog who wasn't going to trash the place, or be a noise nuisance, I wouldn't see a problem with leaving her for a couple of hours to go out for a meal or to visit somewhere where dogs aren't allowed.

They're probably covering themselves because of those people who think their animals are fine when really they're a nightmare. Thing is though, if it says not to in the terms and conditions, how likely are owners/agents to check up on whether you're sticking to this? You wouldn't want to get turfed out for breaking the agreement.

clairibel

We've had this dilemma on last holiday in a cottage, and most of the holiday party, my mum and grandparents were keen to leave our dog at the cottage, but i just couldn't as she wasn't familiar with it (too soft i know) and i didn't want to get busted as the owner of cottages lived on site.

vikingvampireparrot

Are your dogs crate trained? When I was phoning up places a lot that said dogs couldn't be left said it was ok if they were crated so always worth asking that.

In the end we got somewhere that was happy for them to be left - turned out was good job as one of them kept escaping from crate when left!

firesidemaid

thank you for your replies so far.

we have not had a holiday in 5 years! we have never put the dogs in kennels and we would not want to. i understand some of the replies, but i don't see how you can have a holiday in a dog friendly cottage but not be allowed to leave the property apart from walking the dog?

i am now having a real dilemma and am thinking i should ring the company and try and contact the owners. we have never worried about this previously, but then it has never been mentioned - i think this applies to the whole company and not just this property.

ohhhhhhh........

Mojisola

elsien wrote: »

I never take mutt anywhere - don't trust her as far as I can throw her.
But if I had a normal well-trained dog who wasn't going to trash the place, or be a noise nuisance, I wouldn't see a problem with leaving her for a couple of hours to go out for a meal or to visit somewhere where dogs aren't allowed.

They're probably covering themselves because of those people who think their animals are fine when really they're a nightmare. Thing is though, if it says not to in the terms and conditions, how likely are owners/agents to check up on whether you're sticking to this? You wouldn't want to get turfed out for breaking the agreement.

I would only do this if you are willing to cope with what happens if your dog does do some damage. A dog left alone in a strange place might behave quite differently to how it behaves at home. Can you afford to replace furniture if it gets damaged?

You agree to a contract that says you will not leave the dog alone in the house when you make the booking. The last couple of holiday houses we have rented, the owners lived next door and another one, the owner's sister lived across the road so, even if the dog behaves well, the owner may well know that the contract has been broken. If the owner realises you have done this once, they may insist on you leaving even if the dog hasn't damaged anything, before you do it again and risk their property.

Errata

I think the point is that however well trained or placid dogs are, they're unpredictable. They get upset tummys, they bark in strange surroundings, they can cause damage. Owners don't want their carpets ruined because a dog has had a runny carp and then trampled it in all over the place whilst left alone for an hour or three. Owners don't want neighbours disturbed by visitors dogs barking and howling out of earshot of their owners. Owners don't want dogs throwing themselves at a single glazed pane of glass because they've spotted something outside that looks interesting and nobody is there to stop them.
These are all the things holiday accommodation owners think about, amongst others, and why they refuse to allow visitors to leave their dogs alone in the accommodation.

firesidemaid

the replies have all been helpful thank you. i do see what you mean about what if the unexpected happened.

the problem is that the last time we booked with this company they did not have this restriction and i think i was caught off guard when they mentioned it on the phone.

i am going to ring the company in the morning - i only booked it just before they closed this evening so perhaps there is an opportunity to cancel it or we'll have to go anyway and stay with the dogs at all times and have a less relaxing time than if we stayed at home:rolleyes:.

i was just looking forward to a little time out and some meals out at the local pub etc. we don't want to leave the dogs in the car as they are of a kind that may be stolen (and we have had an attempt before).

i will let you know what the outcome is.

PasturesNew

The issue, from the cottage owner's perspective is this: it's a holiday cottage with a turnaround time of 3 hours on a Saturday (say). 3 hours is enough time to go to it, clean it out and vacuum, sort out any minor maintenance issues and have it ready for the next holidaymaker. The next holidaymaker, having paid good money, will expect to be able to walk into their holiday cottage at 2pm and relax.

There isn't enough time for them to turn up at the cottage at 11am to find that your dog became distressed, moulted, peed itself, chewed a sofa cushion, scratched some wallpaper off and did a whoopsie behind the sofa. They don't have the extra time needed to make those things "right" for the next person.

It takes them a LOT of money and effort, building up the business, hoping to get referrals, good feedback and repeat bookings. Without those, their business is doomed to failure. One bad experience could finish them off as somebody with a gripe makes a lot more noise than somebody who thought it was lovely.

It's business.

moomin5

Have a look and see if theres any dog friendly pubs you could go to. I was pleasently suprised how dog friendly the Lake District was on our short break, although my local pub at home also allows dogs inside. I had to leave the dogs unattended one evening in our cottage for a family meal but had taken the dog pen so just corralled them into the kitchen to limit any damage/accidents. Our cottage didn't have any limitation on it, but the hotels we use do state that dogs are not to be left unattended so we do have to take them everywhere with us which is trickier as we don't have the self-cater option.