Is there a need for secure, personal touring pitches so as to keep your pet dogs safely contained?
Rather than running a conventional touring/camping site we are considering a very low number of secure pitches.
Pitch sizes of approximately 150m sq surrounded by picket fencing of approximately 1.5m high.
The pitches would be within a two-acre field and offer a unique and quiet holiday with your pets.
It would be interesting to see if there is a market for such touring pitches.
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i would still put my dog on her lead, no matter what you claimed to have done to secure her in, it takes seconds for a kid to open the gate and she would be gone.
I believe The Old Forge (I think it's called) near Banbury is just such a site so there must be a market. Most folk just keep their dogs tethered though.
There are a small number of sites doing at least some 'fenced pitches', and the question of sites offering this get raised on here from time to time, so some demand.
Personally, I'd not bother, my Border Collie could (and likely would!) 'ping' from standstill over a 1.5m fence! So I'd still need to tether her/keep her inside the van. A lot of medium/larger dogs can scramble over 2m or even higher fences with little trouble (think Police dogs, they do it for a living!), so not automatically an effective containment! - very much down to the dog!
I regularly camp with a crowd of rescued Border Collie owners, many create 'Dog Gardens' from wind breaks on their pitches, but they only tend to be successful if the dogs cant see through them to 'attractions' outside, if they can see out (as with a picket fence) they will attempt and frequently succeed to escape!
Equally, I wouldn't want to pitch inside a solid 2m+ high dog proof fence!
Smaller dogs and some less inquisitive ones would effectively be contained by your proposal, but it wont be perfect!
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There is a niche market for such enclosed camping areas, judging by occasional queries here. Might also be handy to keep free range children safe… We just attach our dog to the MH with a 2m long lead.
If you Search the forum, you’ll see what people are looking for & some suggestions about sites - you could get in touch with the owners or managers for first hand advice.
The kennels that our dog goes to has a 2 m high deer fence round the off-lead area & the mesh is buried 300 mm along the bottom too, facing inwards, to thwart the digger dogs. Installed by an agricultural fencing contractor.
I suggest you’d need a clear disclaimer about the dogs’ safety & security being the owner’s responsibility, so no one can claim on your insurance should a Houdini escape over your fence & come to harm or go missing, or get stuck on (& hurt by) the picket fence. Use a safe stain or paint too, in case a bored dog chews the wood.
And think about the maintenance eg leave the grass long on either side? When will you cut the grass if the pitch is occupied for 2 weeks & you can’t go in because the Yorkie is in attack mode?
My friend had a Weimaraner I could not figure out how the dog was escaping. Eventually discovered it was clearing the 6 foot fence that was around their backyard.
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There is definitely a demand. If you were in an area I wanted to visit and had toilet/shower facilities then we would consider it. Lots of places say secure but they're not really high enough but 1.5m would be good for our dog
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Topic: Caravaning with Pet dogs
via mobile 06/7/2025 at 2:52pm
