It can be a daunting task being the lead organiser of a large group of people planning a trip together, especially when multiple needs of humans and furry family members are to be considered. We have put together our top tips on making the planning part of a large dog friendly group holiday as enjoyable as the trip itself, including our new multi party booking search tools.
1. GUESTLIST: WHO’S COMING + DOG SOCIALISING.
Many of us only get away for a long break once or twice a year with our pups. That means that the company we choose is critical to set the tone for how relaxing and fun or adventurous and lively our break might be. It’s also vital to have sense checked the four-legged holidaymakers amongst you. Dogs have different needs and you need to consider how they get on with each other. If there are dogs going away together from different households, hopefully your pups have met on group walks before. If this is not the case try and make that happen if you or alternatively make sure a ‘socialising walk’ is on the cards as soon as you arrive. As dogs are territorial by nature it may be worth considering separate properties for the different households if you are unsure if they will be ok under one roof!
Our site makes it so much easier to find a unique set up for your group with options to search for multiple properties within an area, meaning everyone gets time together and time to hang out with your immediate household. Read more about how to use the Multi Party Search Tool here.
2. PLANNING: ASSIGN TASKS
Although it’s easy to want to make every aspect perfect for everyone on your own we find it best to try and spread the responsibility of a break away. Let everyone have a role! Someone takes on the task of shortlisting some properties to choose from, someone researches the local area, someone sorts out the food shop/delivery, someone books the best dog-friendly restaurants etc. This way, everyone feels like they’ve contributed and no one is left feeling overworked or stressed out. We also find it helpful to have someone in charge of a holiday ‘kitty’ – a group banker! There are also many online tools to help with syncing dates to holding polls etc. that we think are very useful.
N.B make sure you have told the head of shopping which dog food you need in the shopping order unless you intend on bringing your own.
3. DESTINATION: WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?
Sometimes your family go-to destination becomes an easy first choice if adopted by the wider crew but if the holiday destination is still up for debate that wills likely need a little thought and negotiation amongst your group! Often with larger groups travel radius or the location of your perfect sea view property, or collection of properties for your whole group can dictate where you head. The multi destination option on our holiday search allows you to add multiple destinations at once rather than having to shortlist for each destination.
4. COMMS: SET UP DEDICATED CHAT FORUMS
Whatever your channel of choice; Facebook event group, Whatsapp chat group, even a dedicated blog or website for the trip it’s good to have a dedicated place to discuss key decisions and also to get excited about the trip all together! It also provides a great space for sharing stories and images (mostly of dogs!) once you’re all back home.
5. THE ITINERARY: PLAN YOUR TRIP
We completely agree that part of your holiday experience should be spontaneous and all about exploring the vicinity of where your holiday home is to find your preferred dog walk, local pub or restaurant. However, as we all know, some places do tend to get booked up or simply don’t allow dogs in peak season – especially larger groups with multiple pups in tow. We strongly recommend making some pre-emptive bookings and having a loose idea of some spots you would like to get to, most of these can be cancelled on arrival if you change your mind. Also make sure you have checked that dogs are allowed in all the beaches, pathways and attractions you are planning on visiting. Plotting your week a little before you get on holiday will really help with larger group planning and ‘debates’ once you arrive too. The Dog Friendly Retreats team have written lots of blogs to help you identify some key attractions at some top UK destinations: https://www.dogfriendlyretreats.com/blog/
Lastly – really enjoy it! We don’t always get the opportunity to head away with extended family and friends so make the most of this time spent together with your furry family in tow. We know all of our new search features at dogfriendlyretreats.com make the booking process an easier and more enjoyable one so get booked up for your group escape soon.
