When I became a dog owner in 2010 I assumed we would take our beloved pet on holidays and days out with our family - but I soon discovered it wasn't that simple!
The idea for Can We Take The Dog came after our first frustrating attempt at a holiday with our dog Meg.
Although we had researched dog friendly accommodation before we left, when we arrived we found it difficult to find places to visit that would allow us to take Meg with us. It was equally difficult to find pubs, cafes and restaurants that we could eat in while we were out. We found that very few small business had websites, and after a few wasted trips we ended up phoning places in advance to ask if they allowed dogs.
We also found that the beaches all had varying dog policies, some of which weren’t clear until you got to the sign in the beach car park.
After compiling lots of information about dog friendly places while we were away, we decided to share the knowledge with other dog owners to make travelling with dogs easier and the Can We Take The Dog blog was created.
About the Website
We provide information to dog owners about tourist attractions, holiday accommodation, cafes and restaurants that welcome dogs.
The website has been running as a blog for a while and has attracted a great following of dog owners. We now want to take the next step and develop the site into the source for dog friendly information in the UK.
Over the last year we have averaged 13,900 hits per month, from approximately 5200 unique users per month.
Just over 90% of our traffic is from the UK, 4% from the United States and the remaining 6% from the rest of the world.
We have worked hard to provide excellent content, and 89% of our visitors come through organic search.
What is the aim?
The aim of the project is to develop the blog and create a mobile friendly website, and eventually an app, that dog owners can use when they are out and about to find dog friendly places near them.
We would expand the website past Meg's own visits, so it included tourist attractions, holidays and places to eat all over the UK. The blog will also be developed to include useful information for pet owners and reviews of dog products and services.
The information will be in a uniform format, and users will be able to submit their own suggestions for places as well as rank the ones listed for their level of 'dog friendliness'.
We hope to make it easier for dog owners to take their pets with them on holidays and days out.