Introducing PAWS: The Panel Approving Welcoming Stays

There are plenty of awards in the holiday industry. We’ve got some of them!

Some involve lengthy application forms. Some require inspections. Some have judges, committees, clipboards and, we imagine, fairly serious meetings involving mineral water and Hobnobs, though we understand other biscuits are available though we understand other biscuits are available.

And then there’s PAWS.

PAWS stands for the Panel Approving Welcoming Stays, an entirely rigorous, highly respected and almost certainly world-leading body dedicated to recognising holiday accommodation that genuinely welcomes dogs.

You may reasonably ask who sits on the PAWS panel.

We do.

You may also ask who founded PAWS.

That would be us too.

And who decided what the standards should be?

Yes. Us again.

Here’s a photo of the very serious committee…

This might look suspiciously like marking our own homework, but we prefer the term industry-led self-regulation.

PAWS was born from a very serious issue. The words “dog-friendly” have become so widely used that they can mean almost anything.

At one end of the scale, a dog-friendly property has an enclosed garden, somewhere to wash muddy paws, dog towels, sensible flooring and an owner who understands that dogs occasionally behave like dogs.

At the other end, “dog-friendly” can apparently mean that a dog is technically permitted inside the building, provided it remains perfectly still for the duration of the holiday and leaves no evidence that it was ever there.

We felt standards were required.

Admittedly, nobody asked us to establish those standards, but history is full of pioneers who refused to wait for permission.

The PAWS panel therefore considers the things we believe actually matter to people taking their dogs away.

Is the garden properly enclosed?

Can the dog wander outside without its owner spending the entire evening wondering whether Fido has discovered a previously undocumented gap behind the shed?

Are dogs genuinely welcomed rather than merely tolerated?

Are there practical facilities that make travelling with them easier?

And, perhaps most importantly, does the accommodation pass the highly technical PAWS test of “Would we be happy telling a guest with a dog to book this?”

The assessment process is exhaustive.

We look at the garden.

We check the gates.

We consider the facilities.

We stroke our chins thoughtfully.

There may occasionally be a cup of tea.

Only when the panel is completely satisfied is a property awarded the coveted PAWS approval.

At present, this remarkably prestigious accreditation has been awarded to our own accommodation.

This is partly because our properties meet the required standards and partly because, so far, we haven’t actually assessed anybody else.

We feel transparency is important.

Behind the nonsense, though, there is a genuine point.

When we say our accommodation is dog-friendly, we want that phrase to mean something. We want guests to know that dogs have been considered properly, particularly when it comes to secure outdoor space and the practicalities of holidaying with them.

So yes, PAWS is slightly ridiculous.

The panel is us.

The award is ours.

And the organisation has a headquarters wherever we happen to be sitting.

But the standards behind it are completely serious.

PAWS approved: because apparently somebody had to set the standard.