Latest news with #dogfriendly
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Our obsession with spoiling pets has gone too far: your dog doesn't care if its collar is from Burberry
A delightfully fluffy expenses controversy emerged in Queensland in the past week. The ABC reported that the chair of a Queensland government-owned company 'faced questions' after billing the taxpayer for a hotel stay with a luxury accommodation package for his dog. The energy company chair, his 'fur-baby Vito' and his wife (unnamed) allegedly enjoyed a $500-a-night stay at the Ovolo hotel in Fortitude Valley when a board meeting obliged his attendance in Brisbane, 100km away from his Sunshine Coast home. The 'luxury pet-friendly accommodation' offered at the five-star Ovolo includes a 'super comfy' dog bed, treats, premium dog food, mealtime mat and water bowl, as well as a take-home dog toy 'because who doesn't love a present?' According to the report, although the stay last year was approved, the cost was queried by the company's operations director who feared it was 'above the state's recommended rate of $181 a night for stays in Brisbane'. The story provokes two immediate responses. The first is: should the people of Queensland really be subsidising some suit's puppycation when the state's youth justice system cries out for reform? The second response is, alas: 'Honey, grab the dog. Ovolo are doing a puppy package. We're going to Brisbane.' If the suit wants to move on from the story, I'd suggest they merely outline to the Queensland government the efficiency dividends delivered by choosing dogcommodation over the alternatives. The productivity impact on leaving one's dog behind for a business trip is considerable. The phone costs of being told by a partner on solitary dog duty at home that 'he keeps sniffing the door, waiting for you to come back' may be negligible, but consider the data costs of watching breed-specific Instagram videos from your lonely hotel room to make moony, sooky faces over. Forty-eight percent of Australian households own dogs; to those of us on the outlay for food, treats, toys, grooming, kennels, vets and puppy school, $500 seems like a rare bargain. While the suit declined to comment to the ABC, a company spokesperson said his travel with his dog involved extenuating circumstances related to 'personal family circumstances, which are private'. They said the trip complied with the corporation's policies and that he 'strongly rejected the assertions made against him'. The 'VIPooch' story isn't this nation's only political dog-indulgence expenses controversy. In 2016, it came out that the Victorian corrections minister, Steve Herbert, had used his taxpayer-funded ministerial car to chauffeur his dogs, Patch and Ted, the 97km between his Melbourne residence and his Trentham country home – notably, without him. Herbert insisted he'd done this only 'once, possibly twice', but the backlash at the time was enough for him to resign his ministry and, soon after, leave parliament. One wonders if he'd be obliged into such a dramatic apology now. In the almost 10 years since the 'dog chauffeur scandal', the century-long shift of pets from household roles of utility to those of companionship has ratcheted up rapidly. Australians have always been pet people, but we are now living in the wake of a post-pandemic pet proliferation that between 2019 and 2021 raised the proportion of Australian households with pets from 61% to a goggling 69%, marking the largest increase in decades. Australians are now – officially – more pets than people, with 28.7 million fluffy, furry, scaly and feathery pals spread across the population. (Notably, households own over 11 million fish. Someone really should tell the Ovolo marketing department.) Other western countries are similar; 94 million Americans owned a pet in 2024, which is more people than voted for Donald Trump. Half of European households are now pet owners. The existence of Petfood Industry magazine itself suggests an expanding 'pet economy' that's estimated to be worth $157bn in the US alone – yet the figures this august journal supplies are also a revelation: gen Z are building a pet empire. In 2024, 18.8 millions American households from this cohort were pet owners – a staggering 43.5% increase from only the previous year. It has long been observed that the size of every market spawns a proportional online influencer community to grift from it; the word 'petfluencer' has entered the dictionary. Those horrified by the concept of a dog-positive hotel stay should block their eyes here. Harrods will sell you a designer diamond dog collar for £500,000; 'pet-focused fashion' is a real term invented by real human beings to describe brands that hawk pet accessories from raincoats to jewellery made of precious gems and leather. 'Barkitecture' is now also a word, used in the 'designer dog house' biz; you can DIY or invest in 'doggy mansions' – even a dog castle – with a build that costs more than a human house. You can charter a private plane for your pet. Send them off to a spa. There's dog yoga, custom cakes and an 'aesthetic cat furniture solution' for those whose problems obliging it are truly beyond my imagination. The problem with late-stage capitalism is its indulgences are so extreme that fancier pet food, a BarkBox delivery or the odd commonwealth-sponsored dog chauffeur seem positively humble in comparison. As the birth rate continues to decline, 'pet parenting' has emerged as a household-building alternative, expanding the content of family, if not the definition, as a place of mutual love and togetherness. Problem is, we are making our pets the new projection surface for all the fucked-up materialistic status performance infecting us elsewhere – this time, in the most clownish of ways – because your dog does not care if its collar's from Burberry or its hotel really deserves its five-star accreditation. What makes it most like a human child, my friends, is that it just needs to be fed, needs to be safe – and to spend time with you. Van Badham is a Guardian Australia columnist
Forbes
7 days ago
- General
- Forbes
Hutton Brickyards: A Hudson River Cabin Retreat Is A Dog Paradise
The 1870s Edgewood Mansion in Kingston, NY is now the Hutton Brickyards main hotel to go along with their riverside cabins. It's a good bet that few New Yorkers have any idea where the bricks all around them in the five boroughs ever came from. Simple answer: A short way up the Hudson River. Today, one of the biggest brick making operations that goes back a century and a half is now the Hutton Brickyards, a retreat made up of comfortable cabins on the river banks. An extra plus is that the 100-acre wooded setting outside of Kingston, New York is a wonderful playland for your dog whom the resort welcomes with their own bed, treats, pet stations and lots of love. The Hudson brick factories were so vast that they employed thousands at any given time, which surely helps account for the city of Kingston's handsome collection of late 19th-century housing stock—largely in brick, of course. The original Hutton Brick Works Company operated from 1865 all the way up, surprisingly, until 1980. Fenced off from the main resort property, three of the work's massive kiln structures still stand, rusty, roofless and covered in vegetation. Hutton's great soaring crane still hangs over the river bank as well, a testament to the mighty machinery that made the Second Industrial Revolution happen (the resort website has great historic photos of it and more). The Hutton Brickyards is large enough that electric carts will take you from the gravel parking areas to your cabin. But you're here for your dog's delight, so just follow the nicely compact black stone dust pathways, along which directional sign post arrows add a rural village-like feel. No surprise that there are broken chunks of brick everywhere, from those that fill gabions as part of the landscaping and building design to those sticking out from the unmanicured natural terrain outside of your back terrace. Along with the ruins of kiln factories, the Hutton Brickyards crane remains from the site's long-ago brick making days. As you sit on your terrace with your dog at your side listening to the wind rustle through enormous Eastern cottonwoods, you'll also hear bullfrogs croaking in the riparian reeds. While birdwatching is among the property's activities to book, you might also download the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Merlin app that will identify dozens of bird species all about (the property Wi-Fi works everywhere). To go with Hutton's original repurposed trailers, larger cabins that were built onsite over the pandemic, rather than being brought in as prefab, have full picture windows and a porch. The tiny homes have Edison bed lamps and there are nicely no TVs in the rooms. Behind sliding barn doors, bathrooms carry Malin + Goetz bath products and sustainable slippers. A turntable has half a dozen vintage records to choose from—anyone for falling asleep to Fleetwood Mac? The property's River Pavilion restaurant and bar, laced with string lights, has an open air barn-like feel and is another great place to while away time, especially once you plop down in an Adirondack chair on the lawn overlooking the river. The property's very cool old crane that was used to transport bricks downriver is a photographer's dream. The menu is as robust as you'd expect from a former industrial site, with a half chicken, skirt steak, wood-fired pizzas and even a melon salad huge enough to satisfy a brick foreman. In homage to the brick making history, cocktails have names that let you know just what prominent city sites were made with Hutton bricks: Empire State Building, Columbia University, Brooklyn Bridge and Yankee Stadium. The modern Hutton Brickyards riverside cabins were built onsite, rather than prefab delivered. Your dog won't join you on all activities, such as in season kayaking, or trying your hand (shoulders?) at archery, both which you'll follow up with a session in the cedar barrel sauna. But hitting a section of the paved Empire State Trail to the new Sojourner Truth State Park river overlook is ideal for a long walk with your hound. Or you can cycle it on one of the property's trail bikes. In a big 2021 property development, Hutton Brickyards turned a local architectural jewel into a major component of their lodging. A few minutes away from the cabins, the 1873 Edgewood Mansion built in Second Empire style sits on a bluff above the river, complete with with a columned porch and crow's nest atop its mansard roof. The house serves as reception for the whole property, and has a dozen rooms, a bar and seasonal restaurant. The Edgewood home, which stayed in the hands of the Cordts family who co-founded Hutton Brickyards until the 1980s, is filled with old paintings, maps and engravings, as well as historic furnishings, chandeliers and grandfather clocks. The whimsical bunny motifs you see are from the hand of the last owner, artist Hunt Slonem. The Hutton Brickyards open-air River Pavilion restaurant and bar, here, is complemented by the main house's Edgewood Restaurant. Edgewood's parlors, its ample lawn, and a fine carriage house with original stables that is under renovation are desirable venues for weddings and corporate retreats. The same is true for down below by the river at the Hutton Brickyards main campus, which has even more space for fairs and festivals they put on. Live music events, such as the upcoming July 31 Damian Marley and Stephen Marley concert, draw thousands. Historic Kingston is minutes away with streets made for walking your pooch even further, whether you head to the Stockade District or the Roundout area with their shops and cafés galore. When you get back to the Hutton Brickyards, Fido will be more than ready for a snooze on your cabin terrace while you enjoy the Hudson River view before you. The Hutton Brickyards cabin pet fee is $75, with a portion donated to a local no-kill pet shelter. Edgewood Mansion is not open to pets.
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
A Revived Montauk Yacht Club Goes Extra Dog Friendly
Newly renovated, the Montauk Yacht Club has been a Hamptons staple for nearly a century. Dogs, like us, are quirky characters and come with all variety of tastes and habits. Your wonderful dog may or may not hanker to break routine and go on holiday. Your dog typically may not enjoy swimming either, nor even appreciate an oceanside get away. But your highly-adaptable dog can change their spots, and definitely will get a kick out of your stay together at the Montauk Yacht Club in the far reaches of the Hamptons. In this new world of super dog friendly establishments, you couldn't ask for a more happy romping ground than these 16 acres that front Lake Montauk and the Hamptons' largest marina, all of which under a handsome lighthouse belong to this newly-revitalized historic hotel on the eastern tip of Long Island. Officially an artificial embayment now, the estuarine Lake Montauk hasn't been a lake, in fact, since developer Carl Fisher in his late-1920s quest to make Montauk into a sport fishing Mecca and the Miami of the North broke through to Block Island Sound and Atlantic waters. There was a short time when the likes of names like Ford, Morgan, Vanderbilt and Astor made a retreat here, while Lindbergh often landed a seaplane onto the 'lake.' The Ocean Club Montauk restaurant & bar is a completely new element to the Montauk Yacht Club. The Proper Hospitality group has managed the Montauk Yacht Club (or MYC) since Safe Harbor Marinas' $149 million purchase of the property in 2023, a Hamptons record price for those keeping count. Following a soft opening last summer, the 107 guest room MYC has just reopened for this coming summer season. The MYC's modest lobby nicely doesn't scream hotel, and staff wear no corporate-looking name tags. Hotel hall and corridor walls are lined with vintage black and white photos of fishermen, early-century pilots and beach scenes, all provided courtesy of the Montauk Library archives. Reached via a split level, the main building's upper and lower rooms are bathed in light with white plank paneling and floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open to balconies. Some private cabana-like patio rooms lead right out to the small beach or face the piers. The all-white linens feature simple marine piping and bathrooms carry the Australian Aēsop line of body care products. As super friendly as MYC staff are to dog guests, you might think they were hired on that basis. And dogs will make plenty of other canine friends, whether around the fire pit with its Adirondack chairs under the property's signature lighthouse, or walking down one of the piers as they check out multimillion-dollar vessels docked in 232 slips. Romping the property's Great Lawn with its summer pool may well become your dog's favorite game. The Montauk Yacht Club and Sisley Paris have partnered for summer on the spa cabanas. Beyond that Great Lawn stand a cluster of somewhat Dutch-looking 1928 cottages that made up the original Ziegfeld that Ziegfeld. Currently, some of the structures—all of which are on the National Register of Historic Places—are being converted from a hodgepodge of rooms into suites. You are on Star Island here, which since Mr. Fisher's lake dredging and landfill is actually a peninsula. You're also next to a fine 1950s Coast Guard Station that sits before a plethora of fishing vessels. It's all further territory that makes for fun dog walking. South African-born Culinary Director Jarad McCarroll was instrumental in the design of the handsome open kitchen Ocean Club Montauk which has especially fine marina views from four-top banquettes among the marble table settings. A nautical aesthetic is further enhanced through flooring that resembles decking and navy raffia wall decor. Chef McCarroll can draw upon some of the best fisheries on the East Coast. A new seasonal menu with just-caught seafood and local produce features the wood-fired braai grilling technique from the chef's homeland. A sea bass tartare starter is built around an emulsion of horseradish, dill, lemon and caviar. A main dish of halibut is served with kale, a yoghurt emulsion and shallot, while raw bar options alone fill a third of the menu page. Even a simple round loaf of bread served with dipping oil is a hit. The Chef's Table for custom McCarroll menus faces the kitchen, while the Ocean Club's bright and cheery bar and lounge, as well as the Pool Bar have all-day menus. The light and bright newly renovated Montauk Yacht Club rooms reflect their marine setting. Guests at MYC enjoy paddle boarding, two outdoor and one heated indoor pools, padel courts and bicycles borrowed through the concierge office. An INEOS house car is available, while a 45-minute X-Shore electric boat ride can be booked. In a partnership through Labor Day, Sisley Paris has turned the upper decks of the property's spa cabanas that are docked at the marina into lounges for relaxing before and after treatments. Sisley Paris treatment items can be purchased directly from the spa and at MYC's on-site boutique. Also available through Labor Day, the Michael Kors x Montauk Yacht Club Jet Set package includes a Bedford Travel Signature Logo Stripe Weekender Bag from Michael Kors. Chef McCarroll will also prepare a custom meal at the Ocean Club restaurant, and guests also enjoy a 60-minute massage at the spa cabanas and a sunset cruise aboard an X Shore boat. Along with its classic yacht club labeled sweatshirts, the property's boutique will display a Kors corner of apparel and items. Just below its still-functioning lantern room, the MYC lighthouse's lounge with coffee table books and chessboard is comfortable and large enough to make for an enviable city apartment. You'll be inspired to drive later the few miles further east to one of America's great historic lighthouses. The Montauk Point Lighthouse, commissioned by none other than Washington himself, has had its lens recently restored and undergone a huge erosion relief program of its shore. The fine museum doesn't allow your pooch unfortunately, but you both can walk nearby Camp Hero, a vast former military site of overgrown ruins. Directly across Lake Montauk, the double decker Inlet Seafood Restaurant comes with stunning sunsets. The enormous and casual establishment started nearly two decades ago by six local fisherman takes no reservations, but is well worth the wait for fish as fresh as it comes. For in town breakfast or brunch, the Bird on the Roof café is another popular off-property option. And once back at the Montauk Yacht Club, Fido will be more than ready to conk out on their own bed that comes courtesy of their stay. The Montauk Yacht Club pet fee is $100 per day.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
A dog-friendly guide to Glasgow
City breaks shouldn't be the preserve of those on two legs, and Glasgow offers proof. This dynamic urban sprawl on the west side of Scotland has plenty to entertain a dog and its humans for a weekend away in the country's second city. Its very name alone is tempting: ' Glasghu ' in Gaelic means 'dear green place', and green it is – in parts. Dogs will love sniffing about Kelvingrove Park, where a rushing river flows through its centre – ideal for doggy paddles on those rare hot days – and bandstands and statues make excellent perching places for picnics. Those who need a good game of fetch will enjoy the wide open lawns of Glasgow Green, set right on the Clyde in the east side of the city, and if you're feeling adventurous, get out to Pollok Country Park for longer walks amid woodlands and manicured gardens. With diverse neighbourhoods from trendy Southside with its neat rows of tenement houses to buzzing Finnieston with its student population, and the city's thronging centre around Merchant City, here's how to spend a great weekend in Glasgow with your dog. Things to do Glasgow is famous for its arts and culture, with a healthy roster of free museums and art galleries to explore. Sadly, dogs with a nose for the arts can't enjoy the vast majority of these, as pets aren't allowed in these spaces. However, bringing the dog means you can go a little off piste and see a side to the city many don't. These are the best dog-friendly things to do in Glasgow. Take a walking tour Desperate to see some art but can't take the dog into Glasgow's galleries? Glasgow Walking Tours offer a fine solution to your problem: street art abounds in Glasgow, as does fabulous architecture by the lauded Charles Rennie Mackintosh. See plenty of both on a 90-minute exploration of the city, which takes in its history and geography for an all-round excellent orientation. Tours begin in George Square right by the regal City Hall, and they finish in Merchant City beside the Duke of Wellington statue, where you'll learn just why he wears traffic cone (or sometimes three) on his head at all times. Daily tours from £12 per person; private tours start at £95 Police Museum Forget the Met – Glasgow's police force was the very first in Britain to attempt to keep law and order on the mean streets of this city, and now there's a museum dedicated to its long, 225-year history. It's a tiny, low-key exhibit put together largely by volunteers and passionate collectors, but it's fascinating and has some deeply entertaining tales of grave robbers, tavern brawls and the UK's first ever police dog unit, whose first working dog was an Airedale-Collie-Retriever cross called The Executive. A fine hound, indeed. Free
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Monty Don's first ever Chelsea Flower Show garden designed to be dog-friendly is a hit with James Middleton's pooches - and will pay sweet tribute to the Queen's beloved pets
As any owner knows, watching your dog explore a new garden can be a delightful thing to behold. And Monty Don couldn't keep the smile off his face as his beloved golden retriever Ned was finally allowed into his dog-friendly garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. The horticulturalist and BBC Gardeners' World presenter has teamed up with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) for the first time to create a garden filled with features for dogs including a lawn, water to wallow in and trees to cast shade. The unique design was brought about Ned himself who was let loose with dogs owned by Butterworth and Clare Matterson, the RHS director-general, to sniff out routes and explore the garden. But along with tail wagging and ball chasing came the inevitable – muddy paws. Fellow horticulturalist Jamie Butterworth – who helped Don create the garden – ended up with mud all over his collar as an enthusiastic Ned jumped up at him. At one point Ned stood up on two legs and tried to lick Mr Butterworth's face – perhaps as a 'thank you' for his involvement in the design process. And it wasn't long until another jacket was ruined by man's best friend. James Middleton, the Princess of Wales' brother, paid a visit to the garden with his two retrievers – who happened to be Ned's mum, Mabel and his sister, Isla. Ned was overcome with excitement as he sniffed at his relatives, who he had not seen since he was a puppy. One of the dogs also jumped up at Mr Middleton, who was there with his wife Alizee, and his jacket ended up with two large muddy marks. As he officially opened his garden on the day before the Show opens to the public, Don said: 'Having said I would never under any circumstances do a show garden anywhere, let alone Chelsea, the RHS persuaded me by bringing dogs into the equation. 'From the outset, this was a garden intended to be for an owner of dogs, and I wanted it to be a very simple garden. 'I wanted the planting to be exuberant and full. There had to be water…so we brought a stream in and made a wallow. 'We've got the dog house where dogs can go and they're allowed on the sofa. There are balls and everything for them.' The paths within the garden were inspired by Ned himself, as he ran through a 'practice' garden during the design process. 'If you look closely at the border, there are paths where the dog weaved through plants,' Don said. 'That's all part of it.' The garden is so popular with four-legged creatures that a fox even came and slept in it on Sunday night, he revealed. Once the show is over the RHS and Radio 2 garden – which is not being judged - will be relocated to the nearby Battersea Dogs & Cats home. Don, who has presented at Chelsea since 1990 and covered the show for the BBC without a break for more than a decade, said creating a garden had been a 'humbling' process that made him 'hugely' respect designers and makers of gardens at RHS Chelsea. He said dog owners who are keen gardeners should not expect a perfect lawn because 'that's not compatible with dogs' and encouraged those who did not want their animals to be crashing through the flower beds to create low fences or hedging on borders to stop them. This weekend it emerged that some plants in the dog-friendly garden can be toxic to pets, such as alliums and foxgloves. 'There are plants in the garden that are technically poisonous to dogs,' Don said. 'However, there are no plants that I don't have in my own garden and I've always had dogs. 'In my experience dogs are sensible and owners are sensible.' Speaking last month about the process of designing his first ever garden for the Chelsea Flower Show, the beloved TV presenter revealed things hadn't gone quite to plan so far. Speaking to The Times, he said: 'We've been observing the way that they move around among the plants in order to plan out the paths. It didn't actually go according to our expectations, which is good, because it meant that we had to rethink.' The paths are in fact gaps between plants and the overall shape of the garden appears like a tree, with branches shooting off but remaining connected to a central point. The presenter added: 'You have this sort of branching, curving system, which neither Jamie or I would have really thought out. We would have made it much more sort of maze-y, like one's idea of a snake's passage.' And while Ned the dog took the reigns on the initial design, Monty was actually inspired by a garden he had seen more than two years ago. During filming for his Spanish Gardens series, the BBC show host came across a garden in Madrid and he admitted while he hadn't wanted to copy it, he had certainly been inspired by it. And it wasn't just Ned's influence that made it dog-inspired. At the top of Monty's priority list was making sure it was dog-friendly too, which meant focusing on a lawn which the gardener admitted was unusual for a Chelsea show garden. The garden features lots of trees and shrubs to create shady areas for dogs to cool down in in warm weather, a stream for them to splash about in and drink from and the lawn will be left long for them to roll around in. Monty has also included an old dog-friendly sofa, leads and balls and building on the ball theme further, has included lots of spherical topiary. The gardener added that he didn't want people to interpret it or understand it and that knowing the names of the plants or being able to marvel at the construction was not his aim.
