Last year, Arty and I spent six weeks living in Shetland through summer. I was there to finish writing my Dog-Friendly Weekends Scotland book, which is out later this month, but I was also there to escape the chaos of the summer holidays in Britain. Arty is reactive and unpredictable around kids, so when the schools are out, I dread my daily dog walks.
Shetland is a relatively faraway island that takes 15 hours to reach by ferry from Aberdeen – the Northlink has excellent dog-friendly cabins – and it has a sparse population, around 15 people per square kilometre, compared with almost 300 per square kilometre in my home county of Oxfordshire. It seemed like the perfect, relaxing escape, and so when a dear friend offered me his home in exchange for some chicken feeding, I immediately said yes.
But after a few days of exploring the coastal walks on our island, Whalsay, I discovered something else that would create trepidation before our morning trot: sheep. I should have predicted this, I’d been to Shetland before and I knew there were sheep all over the place, and we had already struggled with them in the Outer Hebrides that summer which inspired this post on Instagram. But I didn’t anticipate that Whalsay, an island known for its fishing fleets, would also be home to so many free-roaming sheep. The dog was beside himself in their presence, and I sometimes had to carry him on stretches of road where the sheep were lazing around in the seemingly endless summer sun.
This made our daily walks exhausting, and some days I simply didn’t have the energy so we stayed home. We were lucky that my friend’s house had a large grazing field we could use for ball chasing, and that the disused airfield out the back of the house was largely sheep-free, but I could never fully relax with him off the lead.
This is why my favourite holiday activity is hiring an enclosed dog field. It might sound boring to many, but it’s the best way for my dog to really get to run off some steam. Having a reactive dog is hard work at the best of times, and when we’re travelling I want us both to be able to relax as much as possible, so I’ll happily drop £50-60 in a week to give my dog the freedom of a fully-fenced field.
We’ve now got a whole list of our favourites, and when I’m planning long journeys with him, I’ll find dog fields along our route to give him a proper runabout between driving stints. I loved the Fosseway Fields in the Cotswolds, and I adore the West Oxford Dog Field which has a 30-acre meadow for serious off-lead running time. I’ve even booked campsites and accommodation because they’ve got enclosed field onsite, like Rowley Farm Holidays, where I spent Christmas in their shepherd’s hut in 2024, and the Winchcombe Camping & Caravanning Club Site which has a huge open field where Arty made friends with a Lakeland Terrier who gave him a proper run for his money.
Shetland didn’t have an enclosed field when I was there, so we made do with beach trips and fetch in the garden, but the Peerie Paws Park opened earlier this year and it now provides a safe, six-foot-fenced field for dogs to get their energy out without menacing the sheep.
What’s news in the dog travel world?
There’s a new crash-tested dog crate on the market by Travall and it’s the most affordable yet, at £290, which is significantly lower than most tested, boot-fitted cages.
My Dog-Friendly Weekends Scotland guide is coming out on 28 August and it includes 30 destination guides, with walks, activities, tours, restaurants, cafes and accommodation in each one. Explore the Isle of Skye without the crowds, hit the trails in the Great Glen, or have a heady city break in Edinburgh or Glasgow with the dog, guided by the research I did last summer with my own dog, Arty.
In other book news, a brand new memoir charts the life of one woman and her dog on a Greek Island. If you’ve ever wondered what a dog’s life looks like on a small Greek island, read An Island Home and a Salty Dog by Jennifer Barclay.
Just back from… a Field in Somerset
Camping with a reactive dog can be a bit chaotic sometimes, especially in peak summer, but I think I’ve found the greatest hack there is: Wild With Consent. Last month we spent a night ‘wild’ camping in my caravan in a farmer’s field in Somerset. Set in the tiny parish of Aller, we had this huge open grassy field to ourselves for a night of off-grid camping. It was £45 for the night and had zero facilities, but it was exceedingly peaceful and so lovely to let the dog roam free while we barbecued in the sun, without a running child or passing dog to bark at!
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