'Pet Friendly' caravan park.

All I can say is by slapping 'Pet Friendly' on their website obviously gets them business. I'm really annoyed to say the least.

Paul and I were looking at going on a caravan holiday just on the East coast for 5 days in April. We looked through a few places and found one that was perfect, he's been to one before and said it was lovely.
I spotted that they allowed dogs and these were the rules:
£50 per dog per week (Fair enough)
No dogs in complex areas, swimming pools and Eating areas (Fair enough)
No Dogs allowed to be left unattended in caravans at any time. Ok, what?

They also don't allow you to tie your dog up outside when you're out, and aren't allowed to be tied outside any complex areas even if you're just popping into the supermarket! I can understand the whole "It might bite someone" but I can't actually see a point in allowing people to bring dogs when someone that's going has to be chained to the caravan to keep and eye on the dog.
You get the 'privalige' of paying £50 to take them and can't actually go anywhere on the park with them

So basically that "If you get a dog, you can't go on holiday" bit that Pauls mum said to us was kind of true

Sorry to hear of the hassle - but have you looked at other places? I'm sure there are other more accommodating sites on the east and south coasts and there are loads of places in Wales; all where you can leave your dogs in teh caravan if you're out.

Cant comment on the £50 charge for a dog, other than it sounds a bit steep,

Regards the other conditions I cant see why it should be a problem

I own a static caravan, so the "no leaving dogs unattended in the van" I completey agree with , your dog may be OK, but a bored or destructive dog could destroy a caravan in a very short space of time,

You cant make a rule for one owner and their dog ,and not others, so a blanket rule is needed.

Why on earth would you want to leave your dog tied up out side when you go out, thats a very sensible rule to be honest if people leave their dogs tied up outside a caravan while they go out, someoen has to see sense.

You would not be able to take your dog into a shop /supermarket /restaurant at home, so why expect it to be different on a holiday park.

There are hundreds of dog friendly sites around the country, but you will find they will all have a rule or two, if you dont like said rules look for another camp site,

Caravans can heat up like a car in warm weather and also other campers may be there for peace and quiet so a dog shut in or tied up with no supervision may bark and disturb them. Seems like sensible rules to me now had you said you went to the caravan park we visited 2 years ago where they said we should feed our dogs off the park I would have agreed with you !

I wouldn't expect to be allowed to take a dog in any of the areas on the site, the point was that if you can't, and you can't leave your dog in the caravan then what are you meant to do? :/ It just seemed a bit redundant saying it was pet friendly when there really isn't a point in taking them at all as someone will always have to stay in with them.

Well yes I see your point but to be honest we have used many sites over the years and never found it a problem to take turns to go to the shower etc

I've never stayed in a caravan with my dogs but I've stayed at plenty of holiday cottages & they all said that dogs are not to be left unattended in the cottages. Presumably this is in case of destruction, mess, barking etc but seems eminently sensible to me. I'd be very wary about leaving a dog on its own in a strange place.

But my dogs are very content to doze in the car; provided they've been walked & had a drink then they're very happy to settle down for an hour or so. I make sure I park in out of the way places & obviously I'd never leave them there if it was warm or sunny. It gives us the chance to do a bit of shopping or have a quick pub lunch.

Would your car be an option?

Provided the owners are liable for any loss or damage (which they are) I don`t see why you should have all these rules. And the solution is simple - don`t go there.
There are genuinely pet-friendly places out there - vote with your feet. British holidays are expensive enough without `extras`.

Well they may be insured and may be recompensed by the dog owners but what about the next people to use the caravan or cottage - either they will ban dogs altogether or have even higher "extra" costs written into the holiday deal. It really isn't that hard to adhere to the rules.

Yes, cos children or teenagers never make a mess, do they.