Travelling with Your Dog | Advice and Tips
June 25, 2018
7 Top Tips to make travelling with your dog that little bit easier
At West Country Parks we understand that dogs are an important part of the family and many of our visitors like to bring their furry friends along on their holidays - so
all of our Holiday Parks are dog-friendly and we welcome conscientious pet owners.
We also know that travelling with the family can sometimes be stressful so here are our top tips to make travelling with your dog that little bit easier for you all!
1. Pack some food for your pet
To prevent sickness, it is advised that you feed your pet no sooner than two hours before you travel. If your journey is long enough to cover a period of time that your pet would normally be fed, remember to take their regular food with you. If your dog is prone to car-sickness we suggest that you talk to your vet prior to travelling.
2. Exercise your pet before you leave
The more energy you can burn-off before you set-off, the more likely it is that your dog will be happy to rest for at least some of the journey!
3. Make sure that your pet is comfortable and secure before setting off
If not secured properly he/she could cause an unintentional distraction, endangering themselves and you whilst you are driving. Travelling down the M5 at 70 miles per hour is probably not the ideal time for Fido to clamber onto your lap!
4. Take plenty of water with you for rest stops
Your dog should always have access to water during your travels.
5. Take regular breaks
Much like young children, your pet should be allowed time to stretch, drink and go to the toilet throughout your journey. Always exercise your dog on a lead and make sure that they can’t escape when you get them out of the vehicle. And always have your poop-bags ready!
6. Never leave your dog alone in your vehicle on a warm or hot day
The RSPCA
advises that this can cause ‘distress and suffering and lead to the death of your pet’. A car can become extremely hot even when it doesn’t feel that warm outside. When it’s 22 degrees outside, it can reach an unbearable 47 degrees in your car in less than an hour - cracking the window open will not make the slightest bit of difference.
7. Make sure you can access your pets essential items
Pack the essentials for your pet and make sure that they are easy to access throughout your journey. We would recommend a water bowl, food, medications, poop-bags, a spare name-tag and collar with leash, towel, dog bed/blanket, favourite toy and of course - treats! Items that are familiar to your pet will help to keep them distracted, calm and relaxed.
We hope these tips make any upcoming holidays a little easier for both you and your pet! To find out more about our dog-friendly Holiday Parks please contact us.
Latest News
Following our annual Mystery Guest visits by a professional inspector this April, each park has been re-assessed under a set of quality standards agreed between the AA and the UK Tourist Authorities. The inspection included an assessment of each parks; Location and Access Sustainability/Green Credentials Customer Care Cleanliness/Maintenance across the park Toilets (quality, cleanliness and maintenance) Other Site Facilities Pitches Grounds All three parks scored an impressive 91% overall (an increase on last year) - with Coombes and Rose Farm both achieving full marks for 'customer care' and Riverside’s impressive facilities and cleanliness/maintenance across the park bagging them the top score. Additionally, each park was again awarded a Gold Award, placing them amongst the best sites in their star category. When visiting Four Star Parks, customers can expect an extremely high standard in all areas, with well-maintained facilities, very good customer care and additional facilites compared to lower rated establishments. David Tattersall, Group Manager of West Country Park Homes: "Consistency is so important in our industry and we're extremely proud to have achieved this level of award by such a high-brand Assessor for the second year running. It just confirms that we are continuing to meet the high standards that our visitors expect and deserve."
On another sunny morning this April, volunteers from Riverside Holiday Village, Edithmead Leisure and Park Homes, Fairways Holiday Park and New House Farm headed out on our third 2-mile 'litter pick' along Bridgwater Road in Weston-super-Mare. We managed to collect 14 sacks of litter, plus several broken road signs and a damaged car tyre! As usual, energy drink cans were by far the biggest offender, closely followed by discarded alcohol bottles and fast food takeaway wrappers. We even found a discarded wet floor sign! All waste was collected by our waste management partner, MJ Church. Now the biggest initiative of its kind in the UK, the Million Mile Clean is an annual event, mobilising 1,000,000 million volunteers to clean over 10,000,000 miles of UK landscape between 2021 - 2030. We would like to say a massive 'thank you' to all of our volunteers - we're planning another 'clean' this September - please keep a lookout for more updates about future events!
Last year, 13 volunteers collected 23 sacks of litter over 4 miles as we completed two Million Mile Cleans. And this April, we're doing it all over again!