Are you "Pet Friendly"?
Aaarghhhh! I hate answering this question.
I'll tell you why.
Not all pets are created equal.
Now before any of you pet owners get upset, let me explain.
There are as many different types of pets as their are people - your pet might be a Siamese Fighting Fish* or it might be a Ragdoll Kitten. So, it helps a little if you explain what you're actually asking by "Are you pet friendly?"
If your Siamese Fighting Fish is in a tank inside your caravan there's a pretty good chance that we're going to be OK with that. If, on the other hand, your idea of pet ownership is free ranging your Siamese Fighting Fish into our natural river ecosystem, we're probably not going to be too keen on that as an idea (and nor will your Siamese Fighting Fish once the hungry Eels gobble him up).
But I'm not really here to talk Fighting Fish or RagDolls.
The reason for writing this article is very serious, in spite of the light tone I'm attempting to keep.
This last weekend, our gorgeous, crazy, super-friendly, annoying, childish, mum-of-three, Border Collie / Kelpie teenage dog, Poppy was attacked by someone else's "pet". The only reason she survived this attack was because we were lucky to have a very animal savvy friend on the spot. He saw it all happening and knew he had to act fast. He knew how to advise the 'pet' owner of what to do when one dog has another by its throat and is locked on. Poppy was nearly killed by the pet of one of our camping bookings, one that we had responded to with "Yes, pet dogs are fine" after receiving a less than informative "Do you allow dogs?" text message.
Now I reckon the way we feel about our pets can be a little bit like how we are with our children - we have a natural bias thinking the best of them, knowing how much we love them. They are - after all - part of our families. Many of us think our own are the best there could be, and that they can do no wrong (well, I don't actually think that about our children or pets, but you know what I mean). Our children tend to be crazy, erratic, loud, cranky etc (a little like their mother) when they are at home, but the wonderful teachers at their school tell me that they are angelic, helpful, kind, caring, quiet etc etc - and I wonder whether they have our kids mixed up with someone else's. I am, however, incredibly grateful, proud and relieved that our kids know how to act when they are out and about.
The difference is that our dog isn't like that. Poppy is always going to be the super-friendly, lick you to death, never make a guard dog, turn up at your campsite unannounced, beg for a pat, jump up in excitement, ditzy kind of dog, regardless of if she's here at our place or out at someone else's. Sometimes that's incredibly annoying, to us, other people and to other dogs. We get that. (That's why we don't take her many places - although she wouldn't hurt a fly**.) We understand what she is like, and that's important when you're taking your pet out and about.
The thing is - if you KNOW your pet, and you KNOW they don't socialise well - it's your responsibility to ensure that no one else (animal or human) is endangered by that. Only when these campers got to our farm did they indicate any issues with their dog - "Oh, he frets. He's not real good around other dogs" and it was mere hours later that he attacked our dog when she came for a friendly visit to say hi (as she does, on her home turf).
These people were mortified by what happened, so I don't want you to think that they were uncaring about the situation. They offered to leave, offered to pay vet bills, etc etc... So, all is forgiven. But this should NEVER have happened - because pet owners need to take responsibility for understanding the nature of their pet, and the surrounds they are taking them to AND because I DIDN'T do my job of screening potential visitors as well as I should have.
I have learnt my lesson. I will not allow a person's pet on our farm unless I've actually spoken with the owner first and discussed the specifics of their pet. I need to screen their animals in the same way I like to suss out who the people are who are coming to our farm (that is, our home) to stay. (It's another reason why we don't take 'instant bookings' if you've ever wondered.)
We understand how much a pet can be part of your family, which is why we've always welcomed pets. We don't want to have to do a blanket ban on dogs, but we do have to change our approach.
My standard response to "Are you pet/dog friendly?" being "dogs are fine as long as they are not hunting dogs and can be managed and controlled around children and livestock" HAS to change. It will now be "Call me to discuss."
This is our home - our children and our pets live here, as well as livestock. I need to be more careful about who I let in.
So, just a heads up... if you're considering coming camping with us any time soon, and you have a pet, we'll be asking some questions.
Heather
*May or may not actually be a breed of fish, I possibly just made it up. #creativelicence
** That's actually not true - I've seen her try to catch flies in her kennel, bumping her head on the ceiling as she goes. She does NOT like flies.
