Have you ever brought your dog on a walking holiday?

ncmc

Hi all, I have a fit and active 4 year old Cocker Spaniel. I am thinking of bringing her on a weeks walking holiday to the Lake District (Cumbria, England) in April. I have been over there myself and know she would adore it. At the moment she gets an hour to an hour and a half walk every day, with longer walks at weekends. My one worry is that after a long walk (lets say 2 hours) she is wrecked for the rest of the day and just sleeps all night! On this holiday we would be planning on 4 hour + walks most days, I'm just wondering if she will be able to keep up? Is is fair to walk a dog this much?

Just would be interested if anyone has taken their dog on this type of holiday and how they got on. Also, I am a bit worried about leaving her in the car while we would be on the ferry. Any tips on making this less stressful for her?

olaola

Sounds like a great idea! If she's only 4, she should be able for the walks. And she, like humans, will get fitter as the holiday progresses. I'm sure the dog will be fine on her own in the car for a few hours. The trip isn't that long. Just make sure you tire her out before she gets in, and she'll sleep the journey. We usually bring a ball thrower and keep throwing the ball until the dog says enough! Then we know she's ready to rest, and we pop her in the car.

Tranceypoo

Hundreds of years ago when I was a youngster in the UK, I used to get dragged back to Ireland on the ferry every summer, we brought our dog a couple of times and we got tablets off the vet to make him sleep, doggie sleeping tablets, they worked a treat and he had no side effects, I think some ferries let you take the dog into the ship, in restricted areas, worth checking out?

olaola

AFAIK there are no Irish sea ferries that allow you to even take your dog out of the car. Going to France Brittany Ferries have a dedicated 'dog walking' area on deck, that is in the passenger part of the ship, so you may visit at any time. The Irish Ferries 'run' is on the car deck, and you need to be accompanied by a member of staff if you wish to visit.

TooManyDogs

olaola wrote: »

AFAIK there are no Irish sea ferries that allow you to even take your dog out of the car. Going to France Brittany Ferries have a dedicated 'dog walking' area on deck, that is in the passenger part of the ship, so you may visit at any time. The Irish Ferries 'run' is on the car deck, and you need to be accompanied by a member of staff if you wish to visit.

Both Irish Ferries and Stena line have kennels on one of the car decks that you can leave your dogs in if you don't want to leave them in your car. I did a number of trips to the UK with my 6 dogs and they were always fine. They stayed in the car because they're used to travelling so are very familiar and comfortable in the car. If you can I'd give your dog a long walk before getting the ferry so she'll just sleep the whole journey.

duckysauce

will be doing the same this year in june will be leaving her in the car for ferry crossing to holyhead , was wondering at that time of year will it be too hot on the ferry , i will be leaving windows open ,just wondering if people have crossed with their dogs in june and if the car deck is cool enough to leave dog in car


Thanks

ISDW

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Hundreds of years ago when I was a youngster in the UK, I used to get dragged back to Ireland on the ferry every summer, we brought our dog a couple of times and we got tablets off the vet to make him sleep, doggie sleeping tablets, they worked a treat and he had no side effects, I think some ferries let you take the dog into the ship, in restricted areas, worth checking out?

Yep, that was our summer holiday every year as well, they did used to let you bring a dog up into certain areas, but not anymore.

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Both Irish Ferries and Stena line have kennels on one of the car decks that you can leave your dogs in if you don't want to leave them in your car. I did a number of trips to the UK with my 6 dogs and they were always fine. They stayed in the car because they're used to travelling so are very familiar and comfortable in the car. If you can I'd give your dog a long walk before getting the ferry so she'll just sleep the whole journey.

The only ferry that I would consider putting my dog into the kennels on is the Irish Ferries Ulysses from Dublin to Holyhead, they have a proper kennel room with good sized crates in. They have a sink in there so that you can fill up a water bowl and put it in with your dog. The room is locked during the crossing, but I would recommend putting a padlock on the crate as well. I wouldn't put a dog in any of the other 'kennels' as they are basically travel crates on the actual car deck, behind the lorries, so the dog would hear all that noise, and the fumes worry me. I'd rather leave my dogs in the van, they're used to travelling in it, and they don't know they're now on a ferry and not on the road:D

mymo

Never done the walking holiday (yet), but my dogs are happy with 40 min off lead running around walk through the wood, they will sleep all day after that. But we often go to the beach, or out for the day with the dogs and they will keep going all day, they just do whatever we're doing and enjoy being with us.
I have had cockers before and I would find it hard to believe they wouldn't manage a walking holiday:D, the ones we had would go all day.
If you're really worried, try the odd really long walk and see how she reacts, at 4 she should be fine though.