Travelling with Your Dog in the UK: Best Dog Friendly Travel Apps & Websites

by Nicky Ruggier June 7, 2021

Are you planning a staycation with your fluffy family member and not too sure where to begin planning?

This aspect of travelling with your dog(s) can seem a little overwhelming as you’ll need to know where you can stay, where you can hang out, vet services and so on! Well overwhelm no more, because we have sourced not only seriously good stuff for dogs, but seriously good travel apps and websites for you, so that you can research with ease before em-barking (woof) on your staycation with your best friend(s) by your side.

What you need to know when planning and going on your trip…

Going a trip with a dog in mind can require some planning and preparation which are key to having the most enjoyable time possible with your furry friends! So where do you begin? Here’s a little check list to help:

Destination: where are you going to go?
Accommodation: where are you going to stay?
Preparation: what will you need to take?
Emergency: how to find help when you’re away (vets, food and if your dog goes missing, dog forbid!
Bonus checklist: use a devices like ‘Tractive’ which uses Bluetooth and GPS to keep track of the pups! There are others of course, Tractive is just a PupRepublic choice that comes with an app to track our pups movements

Now, let’s take a look at some dog friendly websites and apps to bring the above checklist into fruition for your UK staycation!

Top 3 Dog Friendly Stays: Websites

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Pets Pyjamas - www.petspyjamas.com

Pets Pyjamas are a really good UK based resource for dog friendly stays in hotels or self-catering. While some information such as ‘enclosed garden’ might mean enclosed to some and not to people like us with a little Houdini in tow, the best feature of Pets Pyjamas is their concierge service. They’ll do all they can in the finding out and booking for you by email and phone! We had a fabulous stay in Devon via this website and couldn’t fault the information or the stay itself. 5-paw service from us and our pups!

Canine Cottage - www.caninecottages.co.uk

We like this one, even though the PupRepublic pups didn’t win their contest to be ‘Canine Critics’ for the site (doh), it was a really well thought out site with guides written by the Canine Critics to different areas that massively helped us navigate through our stay there.

Dog Friendly Cottages - www.dogfriendlycottages.co.uk

Dog Friendly Cottages have a wide selection of self-catering properties with an easy search criteria. It is worth noting that in my searches for this year (2021) the properties with enclosed gardens seem to be booked up the most as they seem to be the preference for dog owners, so plan ahead is the moral of our 2021 and beyond…

We have come to the end of our top 3 recommended dog friendly stay websites that we hope you have found useful for planning your staycation. While we have mainly focused on completely pup-centric websites, many for self-catering holidays include a pet-friendly search option which makes the search a whole lot easier, so keep your eyes peeled for those options!

Top 3 Dog Friendly Stays: Apps

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Dog Friendly Magazine

Dog Friendly Magazine was started by dog lovers who were frustrated at a lack of information out there for dog owners. They are a UK based database and magazine (print and online) with a supporting app - yay. This really is a one stop shop for everything pup-related from holidays, vets and days out to dog food, trainers and walkers - it is 100% Compawhensive!

This app is subscription based charging £9.95 a year for digital subscriptions or £19.95 per year for the physical copy, though you can join for free to receive information and updates. We’ve joined and are loving it!

PupRepublic says: “A fabulous resource for ALL things canine!” Seems like a pawsitive app that we dog owners shouldn’t and couldn’t live without…

The Dog Spot Beach Guide

As it says, it’s about seeking dog friendly beaches in the UK - what an amazing idea? No one likes to be the one told off or unsure of the rules particularly in the summer where it all changes, so we think this is a great app with easy camera access for users to post their own information and share the love. An overall handy app to explore dog friendly beaches in the UK particularly if you’re going on a summer staycation with your pup-pal(s) in an unfamiliar location.

Dugs ‘n’ Pubs

Developed and run by Rian Matthews in Glasgow, Dogs ’n’ Pubs costs £1.99 for the app and we think it is well worth it. It is a brilliant resource for anyone living in or visiting the city, with loads of reviews of places to visit and eat that are dog friendly; including reviews of travel and transport options - fantastic. PupRepublic says: “There’s also information on other parts of the UK. Let’s support it and grow it.”

We would love to hear about other enterprises like this one, so if you know of any feel free to add them in the comments at the end of this blog.

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So that’s the end of our top three dog friendly websites and dog friendly apps ideal for planning your staycation in the UK fuss free! It is worth noting that there are a number of growing apps and websites to support going on staycation or further afield with your dog(s), and highly suggest conducting your own research - anything in preparation that will keep stress away from you and your pups to make the most of your trip together. Also bear in mind that whether global or local, that these all rely on user input to keep them current and accurate so be ‘pawmmunity’ spirited and contribute wherever you can.

Subscribe to our mailing list for more pupdates and special offers that we know both you and your pups are going to LOVE. Remember to share this blog post with anyone you know might also be planning a staycation too! They will be pawsitively greatful we're sure!

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