The Best Bone Idle UK Breaks The Daily Mail
Activity menus, luxury accommodation, gourmet food… no, not the latest five-star hotel package for work-worn humans in need of a break. This is what Britain’s luckier canines can expect on a growing number of doggy holidays.
No more sad weeks in cages waiting for their owners to return, these days, the pooches are more pampered than their parents. And nobody knows more about spending money on her dog than Judith Summers, who has written in the Mail about the extraordinary lifestyle of her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, George. Here, she presents five of the best new-style ‘canine hotels’. All o er chau eur-driven transfers over a wide catchment area.
The Dog House, Carmarthenshire
The Dog House isn’t so much a hotel as a canine health farm and an activity holiday centre. And with the daily itinerary including four to five group walks, play sessions, football and rounds on a canine assault course, it’s for real dogs, not faint-hearted or feeble pooches.
Situated in deepest Carmarthenshire, and surrounded by 350 acres of woodland and meadows, the Dog House gives its residents frequent health checks and ample opportunity to exercise o any excess pounds. There are plenty of lakes and streams to swim in, and all guests are towel- dried after taking a dip.
Although owners Mark Thompson and Gillian Quek say they aim to treat their residents like dogs rather than ‘baby children’, the sleeping quarters have piped classical music and are individually heated according to the needs of each breed, and the dogs quench their thirst on fresh spring water. Dog-trainer Mark also offers two – eight-week residential training courses for puppies, anti-social pets and gun dogs.
Guests are sent home glowing with health, freshly groomed, and with a detailed report card.