Holidays with Dogs

Wheelchair-Friendly Holidays with Dogs

The New Forest is a wonderful area for dog walking, with miles of forest and beach paths to explore. Guests often ask whether we accept dogs. The answer is yes, but with some important conditions to ensure the comfort and safety of all our guests.

Which cottages allow pet dogs at Our Bench?

For pet dogs, Garden Bench is our dog-friendly property. It has its own enclosed private garden and is the most suitable of our three cottages for guests holidaying with a pet dog.

Pet dogs are accepted in Garden Bench by prior arrangement and are subject to an additional fee of £100 per dog per week.

Why are pet dogs restricted to Garden Bench?

Little Bench and Bench Cottage are semi-detached properties. They share an internal wall and garden areas, so noise from a dog in an unfamiliar environment could disturb guests who have specifically chosen a quiet holiday.

We also accommodate guests with a wide range of disabilities, medical conditions and allergies. Restricting pet dogs to Garden Bench helps us balance the needs of guests who wish to holiday with their dog with the needs of guests staying in our neighbouring cottages.

Assistance dogs are different from pet dogs and are welcomed in all three cottages. Where the facilities required by a guest are available in Garden Bench, we may suggest it as the most suitable option because of its private enclosed garden, but this is not a requirement for an assistance dog.

What should guests know before bringing a dog?

All pet dogs are subject to the following conditions:

• Dogs must be declared and agreed with us before arrival.
• Dogs must not be left unattended in the property.
• Dogs must not climb on furniture.
• Dogs must be appropriately controlled.
• Dogs must toilet outdoors only and waste must be removed immediately.
• Dogs must not cause unreasonable disturbance, nuisance or hygiene concerns for other guests.

Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs accompanying disabled guests are welcomed in all three cottages and are exempt from our pet fee. We ask guests to tell us about any dog accompanying their party at the time of booking.

An assistance dog is not simply a pet accompanying a disabled person. An assistance dog provides assistance to a disabled person in connection with their disability. Assistance dogs support people with many different disabilities and their role may not always be immediately apparent.

There is no single registration or certification scheme for assistance dogs in the UK. Assistance dogs may be trained by a specialist organisation or by their owner, and they are not legally required to wear a particular jacket, harness or identification.

Where it is not apparent that a dog is an assistance dog, we may ask for reasonable information about the assistance the dog provides. We do not require guests to disclose detailed medical information simply because they are bringing an assistance dog.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission explains that most assistance dogs are likely to be highly trained and are likely to:

• sit or lie quietly next to their owner;
• not wander freely around premises; and
• be unlikely to foul in a public place.

Assistance dogs can also be owner-trained. We therefore do not require a dog to belong to a particular organisation or registration scheme in order to be considered an assistance dog.

However, the presence of a disability does not, by itself, mean that a dog accompanying that person is an assistance dog.

This distinction is particularly important at Our Bench because most of our guests have access requirements. We need to balance the needs of guests who rely on assistance dogs with the needs of other disabled guests sharing or using neighbouring areas.

Behaviour of Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs are subject to reasonable behaviour, safety and housekeeping requirements. All dogs must be appropriately controlled and must not cause unreasonable disturbance, nuisance, damage or hygiene concerns for other guests.

Dogs must not:

• be left unattended in the property;
• wander freely in shared areas;
• repeatedly or persistently bark or cause unreasonable disturbance;
• jump at, intimidate or interfere with other guests;
• be permitted on furniture; or
• foul the property or shared areas without waste being removed promptly.

We recognise that behaviour such as barking may sometimes form part of the work of an assistance dog, for example where the dog has been trained to alert its owner or another person. We will therefore consider individual circumstances rather than treating a particular behaviour automatically as a breach of our policy.

Where a dog's behaviour causes a significant or persistent disturbance, safety concern, damage or hygiene issue, we will discuss this with the guest and consider reasonable steps that may resolve the problem. Where the problem cannot reasonably be resolved, we reserve the right to require the dog to be removed from the property.

Emotional Support and Companion Dogs

Emotional support animals are not defined as assistance dogs under the Equality Act 2010. However, we recognise that an emotional support or companion dog may be connected with a person's disability and that individual circumstances differ.

We therefore consider requests involving emotional support animals individually. Please contact us before booking so that we can discuss your requirements and the most appropriate cottage.

Where an emotional support or companion dog is accepted as a pet, our normal pet conditions and £100 per dog per week fee apply. Where a different arrangement may be required as a reasonable adjustment because of a disability, we will consider the individual circumstances.

Booking a Holiday with a Dog

If you are bringing any dog, please tell us when booking and complete our Dog Booking Form .

Our full conditions relating to pet dogs and assistance dogs are also set out in our Terms and Conditions of Booking.

We can recommend plenty of wheelchair-friendly dog walks to help you make the most of your stay.

For your convenience, we provide towels for muddy paws and a garden hose on the patio if needed. Alternatively, there are self-service dog washes locally, including:

• The Old Dairy Workshops, 44 Milford Road, Lymington SO41 8DU
• Highcliffe Castle Car Park, Highcliffe, Christchurch BH23 4LD – ideal after a beach walk
• Dog Wash, 189 Long Lane, Holbury, Hardley, Southampton SO45 2PA

Holidays with Other Animals

Due to staff allergies, we cannot routinely accept cats, rabbits, birds, hamsters or other animals. If you need to bring an animal because of a disability, please contact us before booking so that we can consider your individual circumstances.

Nearest Dog Walks

The nearest places to walk your dog during your stay include:

• Head out of the drive and turn left. Before Pennington Club, a driveway leads into Pennington Recreation Field. This is a large, level grass playing field that is rarely muddy.
• Head out of the drive and turn right. At the end of the road, turn right again into a private tarmac lane. Ponies are sometimes seen on the right. Towards the end of the lane, a footpath leads onto a circular walk. A RADAR key is required for gates. Accessibility depends on season and weather, as paths can become muddy.
• Head out of the drive, turn right, then turn left at the end of the road to reach Pennington Common. This can be useful for a short dog walk but is not recommended for most wheelchairs because of the grassy terrain.
• We can suggest further walks on our walking page.

Our Dog

Matt and Helen have their own dog, Sparky. He is a very friendly Border Collie who loves playing ball and is pictured in some of the photos above. Sparky enjoys forest walks, trips to the sea, time on the water and paddle boarding.

Sparky does not live on site but does sometimes visit guests. He also has his own Facebook page sharing his adventures.

Last updated: September 2026