Emma, Merry & Coal

Meet the Owner

Every month we talk to one of our favourite dog owners about their four-legged friend/s and ask for their top dog friendly recommendations – places to stay, places to eat and places to go. Today, we’re joined by our very own roving reporter, Emma, along with our two canine contributors, Merry and Coal. We’re so excited to have Emma and her boys as part of our extended team and hope you enjoy finding out a little bit more about them.

Where and when did you first meet your fur babies?

I got Merry from a breeder in Cambridgeshire when I was at university – getting a puppy in the last year of my degree probably wasn’t the wisest decision in hindsight. It was definitely meant to be though as he turned 8 weeks old and was ready to come home on my 21st birthday – the best present I’ve ever bought myself. I was very lucky to have a great network of friends who helped with puppy sitting when I had lectures and seminars, although juggling a puppy and a degree was a bit precarious at times.

A friend of ours had a litter of Labrador puppies at the end of 2019 and we obviously couldn’t resist going over to give the puppies a cuddle. Coal was the only puppy left who hadn’t been reserved, and who can cuddle a 4 week old Labrador and not fall in love instantly? Not us! Getting a puppy from a friend was a great experience as we got to spend lots of time with Coal before he came home, and Merry came on all of our visits too, so they knew each other already when Coal came home. We also know and go for walks with Coal’s sister, mum and grandma regularly too which is lovely.

What are Merry & Coal’s favourite things to do?

Merry loves getting out and about on walks and would happily walk all day and night – when we did the Yorkshire Three Peaks with him, he was ready to go round again when we got back to the car. He is also water obsessed and you can always tell when there’s water nearby because he will immediately drag you off to go for a swim – we always joke that he’s part dog, part otter. Strangely, he dives under the water (like a duck) to collect rocks from the bottom of rivers, and makes himself a little pile on the river bank. This is especially odd because he never takes any notice of rocks on dry land.

Coal is fear reactive, so he sometimes finds being out and about quite stressful, and he loves being at home chilling in the garden. He especially loves it when the paddling pool comes out in summer. We’re on our third paddling pool in a year already because he sprints around the garden jumping in and out of the pool until the sides rip.

What is their favourite dog/puppy product to play with?

Merry absolutely LOVES any kind of ball. It’s how I get him to stop and pose for photos on a walk and the only way guaranteed to catch his attention when he’s off the lead. I do have to keep an eye out for other dog owners with balls at places like the beach because he has been known to pinch other dogs balls, resulting in me having to chase him around to get it back – not enjoyable.

Coal is very responsive to any kind of noise and gets very excited (I made a kissy noise once and nearly ended up with a black eye as he jumped up to lick my face so enthusiastically) so I would say his favourite toy is anything that contains a squeaker. This has not been ideal in a working from home environment but my work colleagues have come to accept that there might be the odd squeaky noise in the background on a Teams call!

What difference does having dogs make to your life?

Having a dog has made a huge difference to both my physical and mental health. Before I had a dog, my idea of going for a walk was a walk to the shop, and I never would have discovered the enormous benefit that being out in nature and hiking can bring to your life. I’ve also found that having the boys at home with me during the day has helped me with the feelings of isolation and loneliness that everyone has probably experienced to some extent during lockdown – although my boyfriend does find it slightly odd how he’ll find me in the kitchen having a full blown conversation with the dog.

Do you like to travel with your dogs?

Absolutely! All of our holidays now are in the UK, and the dogs come with us on them all. If the dog can’t come, I’m not going. Over the last few years more and more places have opened their doors to dogs which has made travelling with a dog so much easier and gives a lot more choice of where to stay. I do tend to go a bit overboard with the packing and end up taking more stuff for the dogs than I take for myself. That’s all part of the holiday experience, right?

City, coast or countryside. Any preference?

For us, it has to be the coast. I grew up by the sea and going to the coast always feels, in a way, like going home. Whether it’s strolling along the beach or up on the cliffs overlooking the sea, there’s always a sense of being miles away from all the stresses and worries of daily life. I also love being able to let the dogs off the lead and watching them sprint around on the sand – where we live in the Yorkshire Dales there are a lot of sheep, so they don’t get a lot of opportunities for total off lead freedom.

Favourite dog friendly place to stay:

In September 2020 we stayed at Cathair Dhubh Estate in Assynt and it has to be my favourite place we’ve ever stayed. From the cottage, you could walk straight down to the beach, which was always really quiet. There were so many amazing walks in the area and absolutely incredible scenery: it was an outdoor lover’s paradise. At the end of the day you could sit inside and watch the sun setting over the sea – we just felt so far removed from civilisation that we could’ve been on a different continent.

Favourite dog friendly place to eat:

This is a tough one! After much deliberation I think I’m going to say the Kylesku Hotel in Assynt. The staff there were absolutely lovely to the dogs – treats and water were brought straight over to our table – and they were so accommodating to Coal being reactive, giving us a quiet table which wouldn’t have lots of people walking past and not seating any other dogs immediately next to our table.

I do also want to give an honourable mention to Jasper’s Coffee House in Keswick, for letting Merry and I dawdle in there for about two hours while Dog Dad was running an Ultra marathon.

Favourite dog friendly place to go:

There are so many places I could choose! This is really hard – hmmm – I think I’ll have to say Thrunton Woods in Northumberland. It’s the perfect combination of a walk that’s great for the dogs and great for us. There’s miles and miles of woodland to explore, which is great for letting the dogs have a good run, but you can also climb up to the higher ground above the woods to get amazing views across to the Simonside Hills. Because the area is so vast even if the car park is busy, you’ll probably only see a few other people at most – perfect!

What makes the perfect dog friendly destination for you?

Since we got Coal we’ve found that travelling with two dogs presents a few more challenges than going away with just one. Finding somewhere that accepts multiple dogs, and with enough space for two people and two dogs to chill out at the end of the day without all being on top of each other, can sometimes be tricky. After a few cases of me taking the ‘it’ll be fine’ approach to booking accommodation I’ve now learned to research where we’re staying in detail before hitting ‘book’, some of the things that are really important to me are: