Dog friendly holiday homes

It is always a quandary - what to do with pets when one goes away. For years we have used kennels as there was no other choice, but our recent experience with our old kennels (with new owners) was not good, so we decided to look for a "dog friendly" place and take Kramer.

I didn't want to drive a long distance - whilst I like country travelling when you are going away for less than two days the traveling time can make a difference.

On the Net I did a search for "dog friendly holiday places" and found one not far away on the lovely Karragarra Island. I phoned and booked (although there was some confusion with that!) and booked a spot on the car ferry. Karragarra is a small island with only 100 or so residents, and no shop, no public transport etc so we had to take everthing with us - so taking the car was essential. Anyway it was marginally more than the money we save by not using the kennels.

Kramer was excited. I put his little car seat belt on and strapped him in the rear seat. So excited was he that he kept getting tangled up in the seat belt, so after disentangling him a couple of times I gave up and left him unsecured. We weren't travelling a long distance anyway.

When we drove onto the car ferry Kramer saw that he was not the only dog in the world - in fact most of the cars transported a dog. There was a lovely red setter in the truck beside us!

The trip over was most pleasant as the sun rose in the west leaving a wonderful golden glow in the sky.

By the time we arrived in the island it was dark, but we followed the truck with the red setter who has our guide - that is another story - and reached the cottage, where the owner was waiting with one of her dogs - a lovely young German Shepherd.

The cottage was fairly new - two bedrooms and well appointed with a view to the south over the swamps which take up more than half of the island. The property was well fenced and Kramer wandered around quite safely. He explored every blade of grass and and every corner of the property and every plant.

It took us a while to unload the car, but we were soon settled in and preparing the evening meal.

There was a list of house hold rules - one being animals must not be on the furniture. It was a cold night, so the best option was to put Kramer's bedding in the bathroom, and shut him in. Otherwise how can one stop him getting on the lounge?

But Kramer was having none of that - and kept up a racket until we gave in around 2 am and put him in the lounge room. Of course he found his way onto the lounge chair - but after a sleepless night, we gave in.

He woke at the usual time - around 6 am - and was ready to go! No sleep in for us!