Finding a Bed and Breakfast With Your Dog

As a dog owner, I find the attitude of the average British Bed and Breakfast to pet dogs frustrating in the extreme. Some 43% of all British families have a pet of some sort, many being dogs. Those dogs on the whole being properly house-trained and well-behaved. Given these huge numbers you might have imagined that the owners of B & B's would have been desperate for their trade. But no! The usual response when calling to enquire is "yes we have vacancies and no we will not take your dog".

My experiences in continental Europe has been totally different. Most commonly being greeted with a look of total incomprehension when asked whether dogs are permitted. Of course they are, what is the problem! So how do you go about finding a good Bed and Breakfast which will actually take you and your faithful companion? I find Google to be a good source, just try a search like "Pet friendly B&B Exmouth" (or wherever) and a select list of establishments will appear. If you are out and about then the local Tourist Information office will hopefully be able to help. Sadly their awareness of pets seems to vary from town to town.

Once you have located a suitable establishment, there are a few key questions you should ask.

How much do they charge for a dog?Is it allowed in public areas?Can you leave your dog in your room?Is there somewhere convenient to exercise your dog?

These are all important questions but keep in mind that what you are really trying to do is determine if your dog will be welcomed or barely tolerated!

So what should you expect as answers? I think it reasonable that a small charge be made for an animal to cover additional cleaning costs. Our experience running an establishment that takes dogs is that on average, those costs are minimal. Anything over a fiver a night seems very hard to justify.

Access to public areas is much harder. We allow dogs in the public areas as long as there are no non-dog people around (very rare in our establishment).

It is most unusual that you will be allowed to leave your dog in the room on it's own. In fairness, there are some strong arguments (who wants a howling dog in the room next to them?). If you need to leave Fido in your room when you go out then it's only fair to discuss this with the owners of the establishment first. In our case, assuming the dog is sociable and gets on OK with our own dachshunds then we will take care of your dog for you whilst you are out in preference to leaving it alone in the room.

Hopefully these musings on dogs and holiday accommodation are of some use to you. Maybe one day you will choose to visit us at our dog-friendly B&B.