Winter dog walks
Dog walks, every pooches daily highlight. This week our friends from Canine cottages have pulled together a helpful guide to inspire new adventures for winter holidays with your fur friend. Read on for a helpful guide on the best the UK has to offer for dog walks.
Why winter walkies are the best walkies...
Want to get your dog’s tail wagging extra this winter? Not a difficult feat with the amazing selection of dog-friendly places to visit and walking destinations on offer across the UK, ready to welcome winter wanderers with both two legs and four.
As the remains of summer and autumn fade away, the British landscape becomes a winter wonderland for our canine friends - mud is brought in by the truckload, puddles get deeper (and much more fun) and the first sprinklings of frost appears underpaw, ready for the festive season ahead. So, dust off Fido’s best winter coat and check out our top destinations for pet-friendly holidays with your best pal.
Best place for country winter dog walks – Devon
Woofers with walkies on their minds will be thrilled to find the car heading in the direction of Devon. With not one but two spectacular coastlines at their disposal for bracing winter walks with the human, beach-loving hounds will get the best of both coast and country, with many of the county’s stretches of sand backing onto fabulous country parks and muddy forests. The windswept wilds of Dartmoor and Exmoor offer some of the best winter walks around too – deep wooded valleys, pretty rivers and rugged moors to explore, not to mention the odd wild pony for company.
Best place for watery dog walks – Lake District
Canines looking for a more tranquil way to spend their holiday will love a trip to the Lakes. Sixteen glacial expanses of water to stroll around at their leisure, multiple forest trails for squirrel stare-outs and quaint villages with dog-friendly pubs to warm the old paws are all on offer in this delightful region. Best of all are the tranquil boat trips across the water, so lazy pups can see the sights without so much as having to lift a paw.
Best place for mountain winter dog walks – Wales
Grab your rucksacks (note from the dog: add extra dog treats for energy) and head up to the magnificent mountain ranges of Wales. Fit dogs with a whole heap of stamina can join their willing owners for a trek up the snowy summits of Snowdonia for the best scenery around, while wobbly woofers should sniff out the lower lakeside trails. Those looking for waterfalls, nature reserves, castles and caves should head to the Brecon Beacons where you will find them in abundance.
Best place for forest dog walks - New Forest
You may need your waggy one’s wellies for this one as it gets M-U-D-D-Y. There’ll be no complaints from the canine department, however, as the 140 miles of trails and forest walks of the New Forest are pretty much what winter is all about. Let them run free across unspoilt pastureland, heath and ancient woodland (being wildlife and pony aware of course), then stop off in one of the picturesque village pubs or cafés to refuel, before treating them to an afternoon out at one of the dog-friendly places to visit nearby.
Best place for coastal dog walks – Cornwall
Hounds with water on their minds should head to Cornwall – its fabulous selection of over 130 pup-friendly beaches (50 of which welcome sea dogs all year round) have great stretches of sand to scamper across and turquoise waters for premium wave dodging. There are also lots of places to make new walking buds such as Land’s End and the Lizard Heritage Coast and best of all, it has a sub-tropical climate so winter doesn’t get too chilly here – great for those older dogs who suffer from the cold.
Best place for off-grid winter walkies – Scotland
Step it up a gear with a walk in the remote wilds of Scotland. Wrap up warm and explore the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Trossachs National Park and Loch Lomond, or the Cairngorms National Park – all simply made for bracing winter walks. For something remote, take scenery-loving four paws to the dreamy Luskentyre Beach in the Outer Hebrides where creamy white sands and green hills studded with pink rock create a breathtaking backdrop to a walk at any time of year. We can’t even begin to describe its beauty – it has to be seen to be believed.
For busy puppers, walkies are really what winter is all about. But all that splashing through puddles, scaling snowy summits and sliding down muddy banks needs a cosy cottage to return to at night. So why not let them stretch out in front of a roaring wood burner and snuggle up with their favourite human on fabulous pet-friendly holidays with Canine Cottages and their range of dog-friendly cottages.
Holidays with dogs have never been such fun!
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