Churn House, Dewlish

Churn House is a big self-catering farmhouse in Dewlish, a quiet village in the Dorset countryside inland from Dorchester, and it is set up for group holidays where the dogs come too. You take the whole house, so there is nothing shared indoors, and fields open up behind the property for walks that start at the door.

The gated patio is the detail dog owners return to. It means dogs can wander in and out of the house on their own while everyone else sits outside, which takes a lot of the fuss out of a group stay. Beyond the gate the walking is rolling and low-traffic, with a stretch of the Jubilee Trail passing nearby, and the working farm around the house, donkeys and chickens included, is a gentle novelty for children and dogs alike.

The village pub, The Oak, is a two-minute walk along a quiet lane and welcomes dogs and children, which makes eating out easy rather than a logistical problem. Back at the house there is a heated pool that guests report using into October, a games room with a full-size snooker table, and hosts who turn up quickly when something needs fixing.

Two things are worth planning for. The grounds hold a second holiday property, and the outdoor areas are not fenced off from one another, so your dog and the neighbours' may well meet. That is fine for a sociable dog and less so for one that prefers its own company. The lanes into the village are also narrow with few passing places, so allow extra time and patience for trips out.

Churn House suits larger families and groups who want rural Dorset space, a securely gated outdoor area and a dog-friendly pub they can walk to.