A calmer kind of dog boarding.
A countryside holiday retreat for dogs, created especially for dogs who need more patience, space and understanding.
A holiday, not a kennel stay
Some dogs walk into boarding kennels and get on with it. Others spend the week braced. If your dog is nervous, sensitive or reactive, you already know the difference, and you have probably spent a long time looking for somewhere you genuinely trust.
Love of Dogs is a family run retreat set in quiet countryside, built around lowering stress rather than simply providing a bed. Every dog is known as an individual, with their own routine, their own pace and their own person looking after them.
Several of our clients have described the experience as Center Parcs for dogs. We rather like that, because a holiday is exactly what we are trying to give them.
These are the three things almost every owner of a nervous dog says at a first meeting. Here is how we answer them.
Nervous and reactive dogs are not an exception here, they are the reason we exist. Danielle has worked in training and behaviour for 11 years specialising in reactive dogs, and the whole site is built around dogs who need space and patience.
We never start with a week in kennels. We build up through meet and greets, confidence sessions, gradual handovers and a day or overnight trial, and we only continue while your dog is telling us it is going well.
Most owners of sensitive dogs do, and information is the only real cure. We keep an open WhatsApp line, send photos and videos, and tell you when something changes rather than waiting to be asked.
How we help dogs settle
No dog arrives here and is expected to cope. We build the relationship gradually, and we go at your dog's pace rather than to a timetable.
Your first visit includes a tour for you and a proper assessment for your dog, so we understand who they are before anything is booked.
Short, gradual handovers that let your dog get used to us and to the site in steps small enough that nothing feels sudden.
Visits where you can stay with your dog while they explore, so their first impressions of us are made in your company.
We learn what helps your dog feel secure, from how they like to be approached to any particular feeding requirements we need to accommodate.
An open WhatsApp line with photos and videos through the stay, alongside visual barriers, gentle background radio and time to decompress on arrival.
A reactive dog does not need to be managed constantly if the environment is designed so there is nothing to react to.
10
acres of woodland
11
separate exercise areas
Dogs are not left staring at one another all day, which takes the pressure out of the day.
Gentle background noise softens the sudden sounds that unsettle anxious dogs.
Reception time on arrival, where nothing is asked of a dog until they are ready.
Enrichment used thoughtfully, where it suits the individual dog rather than as standard.
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Practical details
£35 per dog per night, including VAT. That includes exercise at an absolute minimum of twice daily and more if your dog needs it, treats, feeding, enrichment and suitable medication. Owners provide their dog's normal food, portioned for the stay, because we do not believe in changing diet at the same time as a major change of environment. We feed at set times and can accommodate particular requirements, such as three meals a day, where appropriate.
Tell us what they’re like, what they struggle with and what you need from us. We’ll tell you honestly whether Love of Dogs is the right place for them.
