Squeeze, Scratch, Sniffy, Tyler and Tubby's visit to the West Country.

There are many places in the UK that we can take our four legged friends where they will enjoy themselves as much as we do. This is the story of Squeeze, Scratch, Sniffy, Tyler and Tubby and their humans on holiday in one of the most dog friendly places in England; Cornwall.

• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Happily ever after.....

Saturday

Squeeze, Scratch, Sniffy, Tyler and Tubby are all rescued dogs, from Battersea Dogs & Cats home. They live with their humans in Oxfordshire. The trip from Oxfordshire to Cornwall is a very long one, once we arrived we were all so tired we went to bed early.

Sunday

After breakfast we set out walking for Porthoustock. Squeeze only has three legs so she has to travel in a back pack.


Porthoustock is right by the sea, and the trails are very beautiful. After our walk (of about four miles) we all went to the pub for lunch.
The pub we visited is very special as they allow dogs, and there is even a dog that lives in the pub!


We took Squeeze into lunch with us, she had cod, chips and peas. After her lunch Squeeze played with some children who were all five years old. She then hopped off the the kitchen on her three legs to try and steel some food from the chef!




After lunch and our four mile walk we went home where we met our friend and her dog Tigger. Tigger is a Lucas Terrier and he has very short legs. This means on all the walks he walks a lot further than the rest of us. He also goes slow, which is a good excuse for me - I go slow too!

Monday

Today we went for a walk in an area called Frenchman's Creek. The dogs got to go swimming and got incredibly muddy.


On our walk we saw beautiful new Bluebells and an entire forest of Wild Garlic. Tubby and scratch had a narrow escape as they almost got into a fight with a very naughty boxer.

At the end of our walk we lunch at another pub in Manaccan. This time Tigger came in for lunch with us.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I could not take any pictures. The reason being that it was pouring with rain. Another reason is that I forgot my coat so I got really wet. The best reason of all however is that the camera was in my coat, hanging in the cupboard in the house!

Wednesday

On Wednesday we went for a walk on Loe Bar Beach. This was Tigger's last morning. Loe Bar is one of our favourite places as there is a big beach for the dogs. The sea is the colour of blue/black ink and the dogs love to run and jump at the surf. Tubby got really wet but Scratch and Sniffy have been there many times before, they were careful to stay far enough away from the surf!

On Wednesday night some more of our friends arrived. Two Jack Russel Terriers called Beano & Pico and a Duck Tolling Retriever called Skittles and their Human. Skittles is also a rescue dog from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Thursday

On Thursday morning we set off across the fields for another long walk, stopping to admire the view along the way.






After we had walked down to the sea the trail led back up again through the forest. Tyler, Scratch and Sniff go first because the know the trail.








Soon we came to a stream that was just right for playing in the water, so all the dogs jumped in!

Friday

Today we decided to take a very long walk to a beach called Kennack Sands. To get there we have to walk through many pastures, these can be and usually are very muddy!


After an hour we could see our goal - the beach. Tubby loves running in the tall grass in the pastures by the sea. Pico is always way ahead because he is always anxious to get to the beach.


When the dogs were soaking but happy we let Squeeze come out of her pack to have a bit of a play while we had lunch sitting on the sea wall. The lunch we brought was supposed to be for the humans but all the dogs managed to charm something out of us!



I was happy all the lunch and drinks had gone though, as then I didn't have to carry it anymore!
Our walk was four miles long and took us three hours to complete as the paths were either very muddy or very steep. Going down was harder than going up!




After lunch we climbed up away from the beach, along the cliffs by the sea. When we finally reached the top we could see down the other side to the sea breaking in waves accross the rocks.


A bit further on we came to a herd of cows, the only picture I have is one taken from afar. The reason for this is we were too busy. We had to walk through the centre of the herd with seven dogs on the ground and one in a pack. We were not sure if the dogs are more affraid of the cows or the cows were more affraid of the dogs!



Everyone heaved a big sigh of relief when we reached the road, and were a safe distance from the cows. Squeeze had a break from the pack, and enjoyed walking with the other dogs as we made our way back to the car.


When we got home we had to have a big showering off party because there wasn't a single clean dog!






After their shower the dogs devoured their dinner and went straight to sleep. They were so tired they didn't mind where they slept, and we had to step over them if we wanted to get anywhere!

Saturday

Today we decided to go down the path next to our house which leads to the sea. Firstly though, we parked the Land Rover in the next village by the pub so it would be there on our arrival.


It was a long walk, and took about three hours. The path going down to the sea was so steep we had to hang on to the railings.
When we got down to the sea we met some children who also had a dog, that was very exciting as everyone wanted to say hello and have a play with their dog.



On our way to the Land rover (and the pub!) we found a lovely pond, everyone wanted to go for a swim, except Pico who really doesn't like to get wet.





We then walked through a forest on our way to Coverak. It was very muddy but very pretty with lots of flowers.
When we arrived at Coverak we were very happy to see our Land Rover waiting for us. The dogs had a big drink of water and promptly fell asleep, while we went into the pub for lunch.

On arriving home the two-legged people were full from lunch but the four-legged people were very very hungry. They even queued up for dinner.


After dinner the dogs had a treat - a bonefest. While we had been at the local butchers earlier on in the day he had offered us a treat for the dogs. When he asked us "How many do you have?" and we replied "eight" everyone in the shop looked amazed!

Sunday

Our chosen destination for our walk today was on the Helford river, a place called Frenchman's Creek. This is a place made famous by Daphne Du Maurier, a famous novelist who's characters and plots revolved around this part of Cornwall.






After consulting the tide tables to check when high tide was due we set off for the beach and the dogs daily swim.




After they had all been in (except Pico who was taking great care not to get his feet wet!) we climbed all the way up to a high bluff overlooking the Helford river.




The trail then took us back down along side the river, to another favourite dog swimming spot. This is slightly different as there is an old boat wreck there. After the swim the path we were on took us away from the river, to a forest that was literally carpeted in Bluebells.


On returning home, the dogs gobbled their food down and then found a comfy spot to go to sleep in. The terriers took to two of the chairs in the house, and coud always be found sleeping there. By the end of our stay we were refering to this room as 'The Terrier Lounge' for obvious reasons!

Monday

The route we decided on for today started from the house, went via Trevalsoe and Coverak and finished back at the house.

After leaving very early in the morning the first fields we came to had very tall grass; so tall Sniffy had to keep jumping up to see where she was going!

I lead the way as the path was not very well marked, but sometimes the dogs would go ahead and wait for us to catch up.



One of the trails was very rocky and I fell in the mud. My wife was laughing at me, but her turn was coming!





We had been walking for about two hours when we passed Coverak. We were now heading home along the costal path. The view was lovely, the sea very calm and it was very warm - especially going up hills!



On our way home we had to cross some really deep mud. My wife ended up in the deepest part and it was my turn to laugh - but only after I had pulled her out before she sunk in and was never heard from again! The worst thing by far though was how stinky the mud was. A smell that accompanied us all the way home!

Happily ever after.....

Well, that's the end of the story - beautiful scenery, stinky mud and very, very sleepy (and very content) dogs.