How we check
Our labels describe the recorded source of a dog policy. They distinguish council sources, team reviews, venue reports and visitor responses. Missing sources and unconfirmed listings have their own labels.
Beaches are checked against the council order itself
We read the local authority’s own public spaces protection order or byelaw, not a summary of it and not another website. We link to the source and we show the date we read it. Restrictions can change, so check the council page before you travel.
A team review is recorded
This label records a team review of the dog policy. It does not specify how the review was done. We show a recorded review date where one is available. Check with the venue before you travel.
The venue supplied its policy
This policy was supplied by the venue. It is not an independent assessment. Check with them before you travel.
Visitor responses inform the policy
This label reflects visitor responses about the dog policy. A report summary date records when that summary was updated, not when someone visited. Check with the venue before you travel.
Some older checks have no recorded source
If the source of a policy check is missing, we say so. Ring ahead before you travel.
Most pubs and cafes start as a listing, and we say so
Our pub and cafe listings come from public sources, and those sources record only that a venue allows dogs. They do not tell you whether that means inside by the fire or tied up outside in the rain, and in November that is the only distinction that counts. So we label them as what they are, and we ask you to tell us what you found.
What we will not do
We will not print a penalty figure for a council that has not published one. Some authorities let their dog orders lapse and never renewed them, and at least one publishes a page of consultation text from 2018 with no order behind it. Where that is the case we say the order could not be found, rather than inventing a number that looks authoritative.
We also will not describe a lead requirement as a ban, or a ban as a lead requirement. Where a beach allows dogs but only on a lead between set hours, that is what the page says, with the hours.
If something here is wrong, tell us
Rules change, pubs change hands, and a beach that was open last summer may not be this one. There is a one-tap control on every venue page asking whether your dog was allowed inside. It takes two seconds and it is the single most useful thing you can tell us.
We would rather be corrected than trusted by accident.