These days having a pet is no impediment to luxury vacationing. Sarah Tucker dips a paw in the water

It’s October and your little darling, now all grown up and clutching his or her A Levels, is about to leave home for university. If he or she is the last of your brood to take flight, it is entirely possible that you’re looking for some kind of substitute and quite fancy showering all your surplus attention on a pet of some kind, perhaps a dog?

If you’re concerned about being tied down by said pooch, with the opportunity of weekends away sliding below the travel horizon, worry not for there are plenty of options – either to have your mutt looked after – or, perhaps better still, to take him with you.

I do not own a dog but I am a member of Pals for Pets, an organisation launched by actress Jenny Seagrove in 1998. The pet care company provides a variety of services, including boarding in private homes, which gives me the opportunity to test out what it’s like having a pet over a few days or the weekend, and leaves the owners safe in the knowledge that their animal is well looked after. As a sitter you are checked out fully before you become a ‘member’; so thoroughly in fact that I suspect it’s probably easier to adopt a child in some third-world countries than it is to get on their books.

If you do want to take your pet with you, there are a surprising number of choices. Increasingly owners are keen to take their pets away, not only because boarding costs can be high, but also because nowadays it can be easier. There are tons of hotel owners (many of them dog owners themselves) who will happily accommodate you, providing of course you have all the relevant blood tests, pet insurance and vaccination against the dreaded kennel cough.

I recently visited The Old Swan and Minster Mill, a luxury inn in the Cotswolds, owned by Peter de Savary. There are 65 acres of private gardens and meadows to explore and your pooch will be well catered for. Why not splash out on the Canine Traveller Trip (from £245 per night), which includes dinner selected from the chef’s canine menu (plus three-course dinner for two humans), as well as overnight accommodation, breakfast, packed walkers lunch and full use of facilities. There are also dog-sitting and walking services available and an alternative package – Country Escape with Paws – that also includes 90 minutes of dog training and canine country etiquette.

If West Wales is more your style, you may want to try out the Ceridwen Centre in the Teifi Valley This tranquil haven offers accommodation for groups of two to 25, provides workshops, retreats and beauty and holistic treatments. Not only is it dog friendly, but at certain times Ceridwen also runs animal healing retreats so you and your pet can chill out together.