St Ives Holidays with a reactive dog

Hang on a minute! For those with reactive dogs, it can mean dodging other dogs, cars, cats, children or people in general. St Ives is a busy town in the peak weeks which is when you may only be able to visit due to school holidays. Let’s see how we can possibly make this easier for you.

Best time to walk a reactive dog in St Ives

The best time to walk the beaches in St Ives with a reactive dog is either very first thing – I mean dawn! Or, much later when the majority of people have gone home for their dinner or are eating out (so between 8pm and 10pm). The best beach to walk them on is Porthmeor Beach when the tide is out as it’s a large beach with plenty of space and room to spot a dog getting near yours.

You can also extend the walk by going along the coastal path to Clodgy Head (the headland jutting out to the west of Porthmeor Beach). Be warned though, it does narrow in places but there are passing places where you can get you and your dog to safety.

During the school holidays in St Ives, from around 9am to 7pm (whether it’s February half-term or summer holidays) you will see many dogs being walked through the town and on the beaches. I have passed so many dogs where the owners are more interested in a shop window than what their dog is doing. For a reactive dog parent, this can be frustrating and stressful.

Places we recommend for a stress-free walk

These are places that I have walked with reactive dogs. It has meant both me and the dog get to relax and the walk is a pleasure rather than a ‘cold sweat’ moment. If you are staying in St Ives, it will mean getting in the car for a short drive but believe me, it’s well worth it!

Porthkidney Beach, Lelant

Two reactive dogs on Porthkidney Beach

Porthkidney Beach is dog-friendly all year round. It doesn’t have a cafe on it. It doesn’t have public loos. This means quite a few families avoid it as it’s not wholly practical for them.

Let me present Hops and Shep in the photo. Hops is reactive to children, people and dogs. Shep could be reactive to other dogs. Look how much room they have playing together in our photo. That is just a small portion of what is actually available at Porthkidney Beach.

It’s a long and very wide beach when the tide is out. Even with the tide fully in, it’s around 1.5km long and the beach is wide enough to avoid other dogs. When the tide is out, boy oh boy, you have acres of space even with other dogs. Walk from Hayle Estuary to Carbis Bay and at either end of the beach (a couple of kilometres between the two points) there are fresh water outlets for quenching their thirst after all the fun they would have had.

Park at Dynamite Quay (paid parking) and walk a short distance along a fairly wide path (where there are areas to pass another dog) onto the beach and along the estuary. Follow the estuary around to the humongous expanse of sand around the headland. If you want to try and park for free, try near Lelant Church and walk through the golf course where a footpath leads you down to the beach. Be warned, this can narrow in places. Dogs should be on leads in this area. If you see a dog off the lead, you would have time to ask the owner to put theirs on the lead and be mindful of your reactive dog. Just because a dog is off the lead, we shouldn’t assume it’s friendly. As a reactive pet owner, I’m sure you already have experience of this (annoyingly).

Whatever time of year, you will find plenty of room to share the beach. We went recently (beginning of August) around 8.30pm in the evening, it was warm still and the sun was setting. We had the beach pretty much to ourselves.

Rosewall Hill, St Ives

Rosewall Hill is a mile from the beaches of St Ives. It is the hill you see to your left if you drive along the coastal road towards Zennor. Being in a Site of Special Scientific Interest you will see so much beautiful fauna and flora with paths carved through heather and bracken. Try to keep  your dog to the paths if you can as there are often ground nesting birds on the hill.

We loved walking on the hill with Hops and Shep as you can see for miles (when it’s not foggy!) which means being more prepared if you see another dog. There is so much space to enjoy being out with the dog and it gives them freedom to play, stop and sniff safely too.

Here is a really well written blog from a chap who loves walking on Rosewall Hill too, I really couldn’t say it any better and he has included a map to help guide you too.

Rosewall Hill

Mulfra Quoit

Penwith moors join up (only separated by B-roads leading to Penzance) between Land’s End and St Ives. You can walk in pretty much any area on the moors and not see a soul. The moors are tranquil, spacious and safe for reactive dogs. Unlike Bodmin moor, you don’t often see wild ponies, grazing sheep or cows walking freely on the moors. You may come across a hedge lined enclosure with grazing cows where the footpath crosses but quite often there is ample room to avoid them. The moors stretch for miles and miles and the vista is vast!

Our favourite walk which takes about an hour with some stops to admire the views is across Mulfra Hill to Bodrifty

It’s a circular walk and we park up in a lay-by on Gear Hill opposite the junction to Trewey Hill direction Zennor. Click on this link for the co-ordinates. It’s really close to our dog-friendly holiday cottage called Old Boswednack so perfect to stay for peace, quiet, solitude and brilliant walks very close by.

Once parked, follow the obvious path up onto the grassy moor and follow this while meandering through heather. You will eventually get to a crossroads where you will see a path snaking up the back of Mulfra Hill. Follow this path and you will eventually get to Mulfra Quoit. It’s an ancient burial site and from here the views are simply breathtaking across Mounts Bay over to St Michael’s Mount – the castle on an island just off Marazion Beach. We actually scattered our dog’s ashes at Mulfra Quoit as we find it a very spiritual and peaceful place for reflection. Our dog, Tops, absolutely adored the hill.

Next you take the path that goes off to the right of the Quoit (if facing towards to sea), and follow this down towards Bodrifty. There is a low lying wall on the left and you will eventually reach a stone stile in this wall that takes you left, down into Bodrifty. Here you will walk amongst the ruins of round houses dating back to the Neolithic Age. Walk down to the bottom and sweep round to the right and then walk up the hill following this path over another stone stile and straight on that will take you back to your car.

It’s a perfect walk for reactive dogs. There is so much space and the vista is so vast, you can spot another (rare) person a long way off. It’s really easy to make the walk shorter or much longer as the moors simply stretch for miles.

Doggie Play Paddock

Photo Credit: woodland-collection.co.uk

Book an entire field (1.5 acres) for you and your reactive dog. Just you, your dog and your car behind a high fence with a variety of beautifully crafted agility obstacles. You drive in, close the gates behind you and then spend your paid, allotted time completely at ease as it’s just you and your dog playing.

There are picnic benches for a spot of lunch or, if you wanted to eat at a dog-friendly cafe, there is The Big Green Shed just 200 metres away. This cafe has outdoor seating and some of the benches are set away from the others so great for reactive dogs.

The Doggie Play Paddock pride themselves on providing a safe environment for dogs to relax and play without the fear of any other dog interfering and upsetting them. At £10 for an hour, it is a perfect way to completely relax and exercise your dog (teaching it new tricks, maybe?) without the stress of any other dogs or people.

Steeple Woods

The Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve is in Carbis Bay and is a haven for those wishing quiet compared to St Ives’ bustle. It is a great place to head with reactive dogs as long as you keep them on the lead on the network of paths under Knill’s Monument. The paths are narrow and bendy so, if your dog is reactive to other dogs, it doesn’t give you much time to get your dog on the lead if you come across another. It’s not a busy place for dogs. You will come across other dogs but it’s not one in every five minutes! The woodland area across the lane from the reserve area is great for dogs as it’s more spacious and offers greater visibility to other people or dogs in the same area.

The woods offer a short circular walk through trees on a soft and spongy path of mulched leaves. There is a small stream and often there are rope swings in the trees too. As you can see in our photo, this is Jood, our Romanian rescue dog (who gladly wasn’t reactive), she loved climbing fallen trees! The woods are not busy and we have walked them in the morning, lunchtime and evening and they always offer a more tranquil pace of life compared to St Ives. If you do come across people or other dogs, there is ample space to get you and your dog to a safe space to avoid any unhappiness.

You can extend a walk from the Steeple Woodland around the quiet lanes behind the reserve by joining Laity Lane. Here footpaths branch off through really peaceful routes that bring you back round in a circular walk to the woods and Knills Monument. One of our favourites is through Withen Farm and is about a 1 hour walk starting from the woods. Parking at Steeple Woodlands is in lay-bys and the best ways to access these spaces is via Steeple Lane which is a continuation of Belyars Lane from St Ives.