Dogs are, they say, man’s and woman’s best friends. Pretty sure this is true as they are always happy to see you (apart from some of those emotional collies who get grumpy for being left behind). Pet and Dog-friendly holiday rentals are now a part of the accommodation landscape. Kennels are not as popular and for obvious reasons. Imagine leaving your young child alone in a cage with hundreds of other shoutings close by and disappearing for a week or two. Much better to de-stress your dog and take away the worry of how your dog is fairing whilst you are off enjoying yourself.

TRAVELLING WITH YOUR DOG

If you do bring your dog away then you need to consider various elements of travel and stay. Dogs can get stressed by travel and there is a lot of advice on this available on the net. No different to children: Boredom, sickness, worry, and more!

dog-friendly-travels

What to do when you are in Torquay

All dogs need exercise, some more than others, but they still need to get out, even if it’s raining! So where can you take them?

Beaches are popular and between October and the end of April, nearly all beaches are accessible. In the peak periods, however, you will need to check. The most popular ones in this summer period are Meadfoot beach, Northern end, Goodrington Beach, North Sands, Elberry cove and Broadsands, Paignton Beach, and Preston end to the left of the Pier looking out to sea. Babbacombe beach is also good for dogs that like swimming, but do not confuse that with the larger Oddicombe beach.

Goodrington Beach South

These rules can change so please take notice of the signs and be sure to clean any poop up. Please check out our beaches page for more information or the local beach page on Passpawt.com

The local council website is updated regularly with information, please check this out too.

Walks are also very popular and none more so that the South West coastal path. This path will take you alongside the beaches and further to Brixham or Shaldon toward Teignmouth and more beaches. There are also wide open spaces (Elberry and Goodrington Headlands, Hopes Nose or Walls Hill,) and wooded trails (Bishops walk from Ilsham to Babbacombe) and Elberry cove to Brixham. 

This article gives an excellent walk-through of the Dog-friendly walks in Torquay

Wooded Dog Walk Bishops Close

Dartmoor is also not far away and lots of other walks that can be good for a day out.

Where to stay

We have made life easy here and supplied a list of Torquay properties that are dog-friendly cottages. Some are more “dog friendly” than others of course, but provided your dog is well behaved all should be well. The rules often include “no jumping on beds or furniture” or “wet shaking from the beach in the house” and all poops need collecting from the garden.

Dog friendly Henrys Beach House

EATING OUT

Always a tricky one and always good to check beforehand.  As of 2017 we know (As we take our dogs) that Offshore (Torquay Harbourside), the Hole in the Wall, the Cary Arms, and The Buccaneer pub on Babbacombe Downs all take dogs. The best idea is to research them all and check the latest rules and regs.