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Posts Tagged ‘Dog Holidays’

Holiday Bear

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2021| 1 Comment »

I’ve written before about the challenges of holidaying with a reactive dog. Not all of our attempts at a break have ended well – I’m still scarred by the experience in Hay-on-Wye. Part of the reason I invested in our own dog-friendly holiday let business was so that our fur babies could stay somewhere familiar to them. Sadly, even before the pandemic, Annie’s deteriorating health and discomfort travelling meant we couldn’t spend any time there. Precious days with our girl were far more important that a holiday. After losing Annie in July, we had a bittersweet return to Wales this month for our first holiday since 2017 and our first trip to Wales together for almost two years.

At fourteen, Bear is still reactive to other dogs on lead, but he is also advancing in years, so our trip centred around making sure he was comfortable. Enter the ‘Bear Mobile’, an off-road dog buggy that is, without doubt, our best purchase of the year. He refuses to sleep in it, preferring to take it all in and tell us in no uncertain terms when he wants to hop out and explore. It gave us the freedom to explore places too, and we did some wonderful walks around the area. Link below if anyone’s interested.

He was a complete star all holiday, even tolerating a couple of pub lunches, a night in a Travel Lodge, and trips to visit family. There were days when we stayed home just to allow him to rest up, but on the whole, he loved his trip. One of my loveliest memories is how we woofed and wagged his tail when we arrived at the house. He might not have been there for almost two years, but they say Schnauzers never forget, and he certainly seemed pleased to be back on home soil again. 💗

  • Pub Dog Bear
  • Gallery Bear
  • Road Trip Bear
  • Eploring Bishops’ Wood
  • Snoozing Schnauzer
  • Happy Bear
  • Clyne Park, Swansea
  • Visiting the Family Bear
  • Paddling Bear (River Afan)
  • Hotel Bear
  • Pit Stop Bear (Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre)
  • More Paddling – Clydach Canal
  • Buggy Bear

More info on walks: The Dramatic Heart of Wales

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When life gives you lemons….

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2019| 2 Comments »

Mini Schnauzer curled up on the writer's chest

Little Bear decided I needed a hug

When you have a reactive dog, let alone two, holidaying with your hounds isn’t the relaxing experience it might be. We have tried, but as my post, The Hay Scale details, sometimes with disastrous/hilarious results.

We’ve also tried holidaying without them, stealing ourselves to leave them at home with our wonderful house-sitter friend who they absolutely adore, but as they get older, it gets harder and harder to leave them.  The best scenery in the world can’t make up for the ‘what if?’ thoughts.

Taking the plunge 

Realising that never taking a break wasn’t a recipe for good health, in late 2017, high on the (misplaced) optimism and security of a new job and the opportunity to spend more time with my wonderful Mum, we took the plunge and bought a little house high in the Afan Forest, back home in Wales.

Having our own dog-friendly rental made complete sense.  We’d get more time in Wales with friends and family, the dogs would get to stay somewhere safe and familiar and I’d always have a base I could take the dogs to if my mum was ill.  In the meantime, we’d let it out so that other people could enjoy it.

We called it Ty Hiraeth. Ty is Welsh for house and Hiraeth means ‘a Welsh person’s longing for home’ although I prefer the more romantic interpretation of ‘a longing to be where your spirit lives.’  It felt apt as this was literally the house that ‘called me home to Wales.’

Home from home

The dogs love it there.  Little Bear turns billy-goat and just wants to climb every mountain, even when that means we have to follow on hands and knees (we keep telling him he’s 11 but he doesn’t listen), and Annie has made a new sport out of jumping in the waterfall pools whenever our back is turned.  There are so many walks that it’s easy to avoid other dogs if we want to, but they’ve also made new canine friends too. And of course, Bear being Bear, he quickly sussed out which of our lovely neighbours are always good for a biscuit!

There are times in life when it’s good to know what’s around the corner – and times when if you did, you’d probably never leave the house again. 2018 was certainly the latter.

Here come the lemons

We had barely started the renovation when my mum began to rapidly lose her sight and was told that she’d need mayor surgery.  Then I was made redundant. We stepped up the pace on the house while I also set about re-staring my consulting business, but like peeling an onion, we found more and more that needed to be done in the house before we could open the doors to paying guests.

A few months later my darling aunt passed away plunging us all into a black hole.  A few weeks later my mum had her first surgery, followed a few months later by the second.  Her sight was completely restored and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief.  But then just seven months after my aunt passed, my mum was gone too – following her beloved sister.  And the losses would just keep mounting up from there.

Constant companions

I’m sure in years to come I may look back on 2018 with a wisdom and maturity that are just beyond me at the moment.  What I do know is that by my side throughout it all I’ve had, not just my wonderful husband, (see hon, you do come first sometimes) but my incredible dogs.

They have sat in uncharacteristic patience with me in my numbed silences; licked tears gently and thoughtfully from my face; curled up one each side, when even moving was beyond me and forgiven me who knows how many times for delayed dinners or walks. When it felt like no one understood or cared, I looked into their eyes and knew that they saw it all – felt it all, and in that connection, they held me here.

Ty Hiraeth 

Against the odds, our little holiday let, ‘Ty Hiraeth‘ welcomed its first guest last summer. More followed and their lovely comments have been little rays of sunlight amongst the gloom. I love seeing pictures of our canine guests exploring the forest or romping on the beach, tongues lolling, happy holiday faces beaming.

‘Ty Hiraeth’ has already given us so much – it allowed me to be there for my family when they needed me and most importantly of all, it gave me time with my precious mum. Then, afterwards, it provided a place of healing and retreat for us all.

We have no idea what 2019 will bring, hope can be cruel, so I’m leaving it in the box for now, but one thing I do know – when life brings you lemons, at least we have dogs.

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