Home from home for holiday dogs

This is the time of year when holiday companies start to flood the television advertising breaks with their offers. If you think you deserve a nice trip, what about your dog?

Claire Rhodes runs a dog holiday business at the farm where she lives near Holme upon Spalding Moor in East Yorkshire. This is an alternative for people who don't like putting their much-loved pet in a kennel while they go away.

"What we do is quite different, we strictly have no kennels at all," says Claire. "The owners come along and meet the carer, their dog will stay with that person and live completely as they would at home, so it's like a home from home stay.

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"They bring their own bed with them, they stick to their own diet, they have the exercise that they need to do. It's dogs from one household at a time, there is lots of one to one attention."

Almost all of the carers, of whom there are 70 throughout Yorkshire, are rural-based or on the edge of town. "We never take any who are in a city," says Claire. "Part of the requirement is that they have to have country walks straight from their property. Quite a few of the carers are also farmers."

Jeremy Mothersdale from Ripponden is one of them, although he doesn't have to worry about dogs chasing his livestock. Mr Mothersdale farms worms which he sells to both anglers, and to gardeners to make compost.

He started taking in dogs on their annual holidays three years ago following a career change from being a manager to running a smallholding.

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Looking for a new way to earn money, he planted some of his land with Christmas trees, which he still grows. Offering holidays to dogs provided another income stream.

"It fits in because I'm home based, and I'm in and out of the house all the time. Some of the dogs who we care for are 'home-birds' and like to be snuggled up inside, and some of them like to get out and about a bit more."

Another carer who combines smallhold farming with holidays for dogs is Glynis Willsher from Snainton, near Scarborough. Along with her husband Bruce she takes in more than a dozen dogs each year. Sometimes she's booked for weeks on end, particularly during the summer, on their smallholding.

She's particularly keen on the requirement to take her guests for walkies.

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"In the past we've been long-distance runners. We're keen to keep fit, and we love taking dogs out walking," says Glynis who has her canine regulars.

"We have quite a few who come back. We have some from Tadcaster, we have some who come all the way from Hull."

Leaving your pet with a carer costs 15.50 for every 24 hour period, that rises to 23.50 for two dogs from the same household. "Comparing that against good kennel prices, putting one dog into a good kennel it would be 10," says Glynis.

Food is not included in the cost. That is all provided by the owners. Claire Rhodes says that this is to ensure the dogs stay on the same diet as they are fed at home.

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Kirsty Whittam from Market Weighton first started using Claire's service when she moved house, and no longer had neighbours to take care of her two dogs.

"She just ticks every box possible," says Kirsty. "I do not have a moment of worry while I am away from the dogs." A carer has the dog with them 24 hours a day. It's a job that suits people who are retired, or who work at home. Claire Rhodes says that in the three years since she started, the business has kept growing and she's always on the lookout for new carers and has added a further 10 to 20 more this year. She sorts out the insurance and is around to help with any medical problems which might affect the guest dogs.

Holidays 4 Dogs: 01430 860552 or 07851 070389.

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