back to blog
the ‘ruff guide’ to pub walks with dogs
Is there any greater joy in life than a long country ramble with your faithful friend, finishing up at a lovely pub? Here’s the Dorset Cereals guide to real dog-walking, including how to find pubs that welcome muddy boots and paws…
Don’t look now, but there’s some big brown eyes and a sad look following you around the room. Your dog, with a quizzical, doleful tilt of the head and its own lead dangling from its mouth, wants to go out for a walk and there’s no amount of emotional blackmail it won’t stoop to. Sometimes it’s hard to work out exactly who is taking who out for a walk.
None of that matters, once you’re out there, striding along with your best friend either at heel or careering off into the distance. Throwing balls, not only letting the dog off the leash but letting your mind follow in the great British countryside.
What could make this more perfect than finishing your walk at a dog-friendly pub, taking your hound in tow?
And forget the puppy eyes as you order your drink from the bar, some pubs even stock non-alcoholic, non-carbonated “dog beers” like Woof and Brew, Snuffle Chicken or Bowser Beef.
Image (and top) from ‘Pub Dogs of Glasgow’ by Reuben Paris and Graham Fulton.
dog-friendly pub walks in Dorset
With all that in mind, we’ve put together some ideas for dog walks that end at the bar. There will be some wherever you live, but because we live in Dorset we’ve found a couple nearby to whet your appetite.
Brewers Arms. Martinstown, nr Dorchester
A great pub, very dog-friendly and known for their food.
Plenty of quiet green lanes, byways and footpaths over fields around this pretty village, or you could start at nearby, ancient Maiden Castle with its enormous ramparts and ditches. One of the jewels of Dorset and approximately a kilometre long, there’s lots of space to play fetch and stunning views over Dorset.
Pilot Boat. Lyme Regis, nr Dorchester
Not only great, locally-sourced food and cask-conditioned ales, but also very dog friendly and therein lies a tale. There’s a memorial here to a dog called Lassie – the original Lassie that all the books and films would be based upon was the Pilot Boat’s faithful collie who would bark for help and bring her mistress, who suffered from epilepsy, back to consciousness after a seizure by licking her face. Lassie also helped a seaman, believed dead, recover consciousness the same way.
You can run your own Lassie on some of Lyme’s beautiful beaches, but restrictions apply in summer.
finding one near you
Each of the following sites offer a selection of dog-friendly pubs. There will be one near you!
www.sawdays.co.uk/pubs/hand-picked/dog-friendly-pubs-inns
Image from ‘Pub Dogs of Glasgow’ by Reuben Paris and Graham Fulton.
Remember
As a responsible dog-owner you won’t need reminding to leave gates open or shut as you find them, always keep your dog on a lead around livestock and pick up after they’ve ‘been’.
The fabulous pictures of dogs in pubs above and top are from ‘Pub Dogs of Glasgow’ by Reuben Paris and Graham Fulton, published by Freight Books and available to buy here.
