We invited our Explorer’s Tara and Penny @penwen.thecollie to join us for the Big Dog Walk at Belvoir Castle. They had an absolute tail of a time, and they’re here to share that fluffy experience with you.
Arriving At The Big Dog Walk
When we saw the adverts for the Big Dog Walk at Belvoir Castle, we thought it looked like a fun day out. By the time we got round to booking tickets, there were only slots left for the last walk of the day (2:30pm), and you could only arrive up to 1 hour before your slot. So we planned to leave early so we could get there ready for 1:30 and make the most of the afternoon… and then we had the journey from hell!
- Inconvenience No. 1 – the bag split after collecting our lunch and McDonalds and chips flew aaaall over the floor. That added 20 minutes to our journey.
- Inconvenience No. 2 hit. I accidentally missed the junction, so I had to drive to the next junction and turn around.. which added another 30 minutes.
- Inconvenience No 3. When we finally got to Belvoir Castle, we parked up and queued for the ticket office, only to find out we were on the wrong side! So we had to get back in the car and drive round to the other car park
But then we were there! And it looked amazing! It wasn’t huge, but we could see all the stalls in this huge field. Crowds of people enjoying the sunny weather, a full car park with families having picnics. We walked to the entrance, and got handed a bandana (which looked dashing) and started enjoying the day.
The Big Dog Walk
Because we got there late, we didn’t have much time before our walk started, so we said a quick hello to our friends from Dog Furiendly and headed to the walk starting point. We assumed there would be a walk leader, but everyone just seemed to start walking on their own so we followed. There were 3 walking routes, the 2.5km, 5km amd 10km (the 10km was shut for the 2:30 walk). We chose to only do the 2.5k, although Penny could easily do the 10km and still have loads of energy!! This way, we still had plenty of time to check out everything else before the end of the day.
We started by walking through the field, with views of Belvoir Castle. We then got led past some horses, round through the woods, up a hill and past a pond, and then through some more woodland before arriving back at the event village. If we had booked an earlier time, we would have happily done a longer walk and carried on exploring because it was so beautiful!
Exploring the Event Village
We got to do a spot of shopping!! We met the lovely owner of Bella Lottie Fetch and got Penny a new harness and dog safety alarm (ideal when dog thefts on the rise). Penny then got some lovely dog treats from the Dog Bakery Leicester, and we got some treats for us from Letterbox Cheese and the Ponton Farm and Craft Shop.
After doing some shopping, we headed to the have-a-go activities. Penny does agility so we thought she’d be amazing at the Dogstacle Course.. we couldn’t have been more wrong! She flew under the green net and needed rescuing immediately, and then got so excited she couldn’t focus on the jumps! She did manage to finish but I wouldn’t be sending her to Crufts anytime soon!
We also had a go at Temptation Alley by the Dogs Trust. The idea was to make it to the end and back without being distracted by all the treats, toys and water bowls scattered throughout the course. Again, Penny failed straight away! The second she saw a tennis ball, she decided she would rather play a game of fetch, so we ended up doing that for a while. At least she had fun and entertained the guy from Dogs Trust!
After all the excitement, we decided it was time to sit down, enjoy some ice cream and watch the Fun Dog Show. We didn’t take part in it, but it was fun listening to all the stories and watching the dogs get crowned in their categories. The host was really into it, wearing a glitter jacket and getting invested in the rescue stories! Sadly, there was no dog ice cream but Penny shared mine (shh).
After that, it was time to head home. Even though we had only been there for a couple of hours, we were so tired! We’d managed to see everything, but to really make the most of day, we definitely needed to get there earlier. Still, we made some doggy friends, played some games and bought lots of treats!
Our Paw Rating!
I would definitely recommend going to the Big Dog Walk! It’s not as big as DogFest or Dogstival, but it’s still a great family day out. We had a great time at Belvoir Castle. Hopefully we’ll see you at the next one!
When and where are the Big Dog Walks taking place?
- Pollock Country Park – Glasgow – 22nd August
- Sunday 3rd October – St Clere, Kent
- Sunday 17th October – Hylands Park, Essex
How much are tickets and how do I book?
Prices are £10.50 per adult and children 5-16 years are free of charge. We also have a cheeky discount up our sleeves, just for you! Use the code DOG20 for 20% off.
For more information and to Book tickets visit The Big Dog Walk.
Looking forward to doing the big dog walks at Kent and Essex! Question: did you have to pay for the have-a-go activities there?
We’ll see you at the Essex one! We didn’t pay for any of the have-a-go activities while we were there (: