Dogs and Touring
Comments
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What a lovely new addition Rowena, and so glad to see that Sam (is that right?) and the new puppy have bonded so well. What sort of dog is the puppy and what is his/her name?
As far as exercise is concerned, little and not too often is a good rule of thumb for a new puppy. We met a couple in Perranporth just last week with a 6 month old spaniel and were a bit taken aback when they told us they'd walked all the way from St Agnes with her - a long, hard coastal walk! (They may have carried her part of the way, we didn't ask. ) We persuaded them to take a bus back, they were intending to walk back with her!
Lots of adventures to come - and hopefully some pictures too!
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Most of the Cornish beaches with dog restrictions came into line at the start of the year, TtDA, or it might have been the back end of last year. So yes, lots more scope now. Interestingly, the ever popular Fistral beach in Newquay (which is as far as we ever venture into the town
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A puppy! That's great, Ro.
Do you have the facility at home for the pup to familiarise him/herself with your T/T? Even if it's only to sniff around it, it will be a form of familiarisation.
The Norfolk Broads site is one of my favourites. It can be a bit noisy if you pitch near the gate but, otherwise, it's great, although I see some recent reviewers aren't too happy with the neighbours. There's a good cafe at Ludham Bridge just 100yds or so from the site.
Be aware that the on site dog walk is small and your pup will need to be used to fast traffic on the walk to the Bridge - there are pavements - from there you can follow Riverside paths.
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Rowena, nice to hear your news. When we visited the Norfolk Broads site our last dog was at the opposite age, 17 years old and she needed a bit of help with transport! I've put this pic on previously but there are some nice walks from the site. We were on our way to see St Benet's Abbey.
We now have a young rescue dog and the main thing has been getting her socialised, she loves her van holidays, I think yours will too. 🐶
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Rowena-carry nappy sacks & small bits of her fave treat. The sacks are scented. When you call her give her the treat & fuss her, I’m talking on a long lead. If she barks at other Dogs just tell her NO. When she doesn’t bark treat her & super fuss her. It’s been the best advice I’ve ever had & has worked with all my Dogs, consistency always👍🏻. My GK’s(6&8) melt when they see our Dogs & come to stay & it’s reciprocated. Every child deserves to get the love of a Dog, it helps develop love & respect for other creatures. Good luck & good call👍🏻
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Rowena the Norfolk broads site has not got a very big dog walk we, if going to that area would and have used Great Yarmouth race couse site,,left out of the site in a few hundred yards and you are on the sand dunes and dog friendly beach or you can walk to Caister nice cafe at lifeboat staion
Tthe Norfolk broads site area ,unless you use rhe car is not off lead dog friendly
One important thing when out with a dog is carry some water as well as poo bags
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I absolutely agree with Rocky. Always reward the good behaviour. Our last boy was the hardest dog we ever had to train and carrying treats, as well as the poo bags, became second nature. It paid off eventually.
Dogs aren't born understanding English and they learn their behaviour from us and how we react to them. If we make a fuss of them when they jump up, they’ll continue to jump up as they see the fuss as a reward.
We always tried to take enough of his treats and food to last a good few days when we went away in case we had trouble getting supplies while away.
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How lovely Ro, ours is 17 months and giving fun but keeps us on our toes!
Not used the Broads site but Great Yarmouth race course is great. Good walks off the site to the dunes, a road bus along into the town, or a walk along the beach/esplandade/pavement. Bus opposite the site.
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It just goes to show how the different sites grab us. We absolutely hated the Gt Yarmouth Racecourse site but love the Broads site. It's horses for courses - pardon the pun.
There are walks from the Broads site as, I described but, as we go out regularly with the van, it was never a problem finding somewhere for Boyo to run off lead.
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That’s lovely for your family Ro, great for little Sam😁 Really good tips from everyone about young dogs. There’s an art in not walking too far to damage young joints, but giving enough exercise and stimulation for tire them out. Can’t help with that area, as don’t know it well, but North Norfolk has some wonderful dog friendly beaches, particularly Holkham Beach.
Get your pooch used to camper if you can, great if you can find a bit of space for his/her bed, so that when tired, he/she knows where to rest. Not always easy when in a confined living space.
On hot days, you might find yourself carrying fresh water and a drinking bowl of some kind for the dog, along with your own cooling drinks, and some sort of beach shade, so invest in a couple of decent sized rucksacks and split the load for child and pooch between you! 😁
Hope you have some lovely times together👍
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Looking for sites ideally with footpaths that I don't have to walk a mile to get to with our Springer spaniel on a lead (she's not great on it and not normally on a lead for walking). The Malverns club site was very good. I'm based in the North Staffs/South Cheshire area - Buxton looks good on paper. I was just outside Leek - Blackshaw Moor - which gave access to The Roaches and the area around Tittesworth reservoir (the stone path around a lot of the reservoir wasn’t nice for my dog who ended up with some cuts in her pads and there were many “keep your dog on a lead” signs) but once I got away from the man made path and got on to the surrounding footpaths through meadows it was lovely.
I've been looking at site between Stoke and Betws-y-coed but not find anything that really grabbed me. So basically where is great for dog walking? We like to be out for around 4hrs - with stopping to eat, hills and map reading that might only be 6-9 miles. We could head off in any direction - doesn't have to be West towards Wales - any solid gold suggestions?
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At Troutbeck Head in the lakes the dog walk from the sites joins the paths and forest roads of Matterdale Forest. They appear quite extensive and there are routes displayed in the information room, we did the walk to Dockray - nice pub too.
See:
https://www.forestryengland.uk/forest-planning/matterdale-forest-plan
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Try Wirral C.P. where you can walk your dog for miles and miles starting from right outside the gate of the site.
Buxton is Ok but if you are looking for variety and don't want to use the car then you will find it limited. There are walks directly from site but only a couple before repeating yourself. Castleton on the other hand would be better. We have done several walks from the site at Chirk, Lady Margarets Park as you have the N.T. grounds and the canal to walk, if wanted to you could walk down to Llangollen from the site. Clumber Park would be ideal for you as well.
On top of all the above why not try some CLs. There are plenty of CLs in the Peak District that would be great for direct from site walking.
Edit - If you could get into the site at Chatsworth then that would provide you with a full weeks walking from site with a different walk every day without having to move the car.
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Jane, There are many miles of off road trails in Derbyshire which might suit you. The Callow Top site near Ashbourne has direct access to the Tissimgton Trail which itself is 13 miles long, but that campsite also has an on line map showing links to other off road walking and cycling routes in the area.
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Max is a very nervous dog, dislikes road walks. At 14 years of age he loves Malvern, Southport, Clumber Park, Stockton, In fact any site with a reasonable stroll without crossing a busy road! He’s also very nosy!
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I am a dog lover, I do not own a dog but I do look after one occasionally I have no interest in banning dogs from sites thats my starting point.
Its become quite noticeable to me this year that more dog owners than usual are ignoring using dog walks in favour of walking their dogs slowly on long extending leads aound pitches letting the dogs sniff around until the inevitable happens, they pick it up and back to their unit they go I presume because they've picked up they see no wrong, even though quite often it is on or close to a pitch, I find this totally unacceptable as I know you cannot always pick up completely, they seem to have complete disregard for other site users getting themselves or equipment contaminated with their animals s--t and giving responsible owners a bad name with themselves.
The sites I've witnessed this on have easy accessible dog walk areas, as dog owners can you suggest a way the club can discourage this behaviour and ease the negative impressions of dogs at sites.
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It’s been a problem for a long time, Arch, and if you have insomnia you could read through this thread and see the same points made again and again. In a nutshell, it’s the irresponsible owners who get others a bad name. The club altered the dog rules - 2m max lead, tethered at all times etc - but still people ignore the rules. The wardens can’t be all seeing but alerting them to a problem and following the advice given by Rowena in her OP might achieve something.
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Where the C&MC can they could reserve pitches closest to the Dog walks purely for +Dog travellers👍🏻. I doubt very much that would ever happen Arch as I don’t think the C&MC see it as an issue, add to that they(+Dog folk) may not want to be there🤷🏻♂️. I too am a Dog lover with 2 but I’m annoyed at some members who don’t care-they are Dog owners not Dog lovers🫤
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If you can manage without site facilities, Bromyard Downs is a great site for dog owners. Cross road outside site, 100 metres gets you up and onto the Downs. Coastal walking? Try the Club’s Yellowcraig Site up on Firth of Forth. Beach access direct from Site, then a decent coastal walk in either direction with some wonderful scenery.
Be careful choosing Peak District Sites. The walking is fabulous, but like the Dales, full of ruddy sheep everywhere, so you will need a very well trained dog if off leash walking is required.
Personally, as life long dog owners, we have found the CL network tends to give a lot more options. Many are adjacent to National walking paths of all kinds.
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From time to time I might 'exercises myself by walking round a site ie taking note of what's where .... do I leave the dog in the caravan ... that's against a rule too! ... or do I take the dog with me & upset another group of people watchers? Where's the line between exercising the dog & walking around a site?
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I am a dog owner having had 4 dogs during our 50 years of marriage, we currently have one small dog. I’m just as annoyed when someone allows encourages his dog to do things on or around my pitch, I have one solution that works most of the time that is I tell them, I point them to the dog walk and how I would appreciate it not coming on my pitch.
This works generally some times a bit of abuse can put up with that but if they continue to appear I round up my dog and follow them back to their pitch and walk her around the pitch whilst they are sat there.
The abuse can intensify but I have never seen anyone again.
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I have watched dog owners allow their dog(s) to urinate on grass around their pitch. I find this disgusting especially when the next occupants may be a family with young children. I have seen this at Wharfedale when the next occupants spread a picnic blanket on the contaminated area.
The club seems to actively encourage dogs by providing dog washing facilities and dog walks so charging an appropriate fee would be reasonable. The child fee would be appropriate.
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From a Dog lover’s perspective I agree with you👍🏻. It would help differentiate folk who truly class their Dog/s as family members from those who bought a Dog because their 7yr old promised they’d look after it. The poor Dog that ends up home alone for 10 hrs a day howling & annoying their neighbours☹️
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In Spain there is a law in most regions possibly all that states that when walking your dog you must carry water so that you can wash down areas where your dog has urinated, maybe you should write to the club and suggest the club make a similar rule, including urinating on pitches.
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It seems to be an increasing problem. This year I too have noticed the lazyness of a minority of dog owners who cannot be bothered to take their dogs to the dog walk or off site. What can be done about it is another matter. I doubt introducing charges would make much difference other than swell the Club's coffers. It seems some sites, C&MC sites more than others, attract more than their fair share of dogs. Perhaps this is again down to the demographic of the Club. It seems to be the older generation who are more likely to own them, especially more than one.
peedee
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The club has said it has no intention of charging for dogs. I think the logic is that the dogs bring lots of fee paying owners with them.
It's the same old story of the irresponsible few letting the good folk down.
Wardens can't be all seeing so I guess it's down to members to politely point out the error of their ways to the irresponsible folk. Education, not punishment.
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Regretfully this is quite common practise, I won't say by all, clearly there are many responsible pet owners, but certainly a percentage of members with pets. The Club don't seem interested in doing anything about it. If they started to charge they would probably alienate half the membership. Its quite interesting that on sites that do charge for dogs there are usually far less of them. The Club seem to be going out of their way to encourage dogs. The other day I got an email advertising the item in the picture below.
David
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There has been an explosion in dog ownership these last two years, and lots of folks who have never had a dog before, decided to get one. That of course means that the numbers in terms of those who don’t do things properly has increased correspondingly. The main issue is simply that dogs of any size, breed require commitment in terms of training, and after that, in terms of a certain amount of time per day dedicated to exercising it.
We have always toured with dogs, but we tire our dogs out daily with a decent morning walk, they are either out with us, or are taken for another good walk in the day, and then another pre bedtime walk. Shuffling around a Club Site (or any other kind of site for that matter) isn’t a walk, nor does pegging your pooch out, or confining it it in a fenced off area count as exercise.
I sincerely hope the Club doesn’t allow such as in your photo DK, and I wish they would be more pro active in terms of warning and dealing with those who consciously allow their dogs to defecate around Sites. That to my mind would be preferable to imposing a charge for dogs which won’t stop the bad behaviour, but might alienate those like us who do our best to look after and exercise our dogs appropriately.
I know I risk wrath here, but combine a young dog with anyone not physically capable or committed to giving it hours of attention and exercise, and there will be some sort of problem. Small dogs might look easier, but they are not. They still need training and tiring out, and all dogs need socialising not to be a menace to other dogs and humans around them. Club Sites are notorious as far as we are concerned for nasty tethered dogs lunging at anything that walks past. It’s not fair.
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