Pirnie Lodge Holiday Lets

Pirnie Lodge Holiday Lets sits on an eight-acre plot at a quiet, non-working farm on the Slamannan Plateau, and the thing that makes it work for dogs is the ground rather than the buildings. Guests travelling with dogs single out a large, fully fenced area where a dog can be let off the lead without anyone worrying about roads or livestock, which is rarer at a self-catering let than it sounds.

The owners charge £25 per dog per stay, a one-off rather than a nightly rate, so a week costs the same as a long weekend. Dogs are welcome across all four lodges - Bluebells, Daisy's Den, Poppy's Place and Lily's Pad - which sleep between two and six people.

Guests describe the owners as friendly and quick to help, and several mention being given good local recommendations on arrival. The lodges themselves are compact and cabin-like: the smaller ones are effectively studios, with the bed, sitting area and kitchen in one room, which suits a couple and a dog for a few nights better than it suits a fortnight. The views over the surrounding countryside get consistent praise.

The setting is genuinely rural, and that cuts both ways. There is nothing within walking distance for an evening meal, so Falkirk is the nearest realistic option and the car is not optional. Guests have also noted that the main door has no curtain or blind, which matters in the studio lodges where that door opens onto the sleeping area. Feedback from the lodges' first season reports hot water and electrical faults that cut one stay short; later reviews do not repeat them.

This suits a couple with a dog who want somewhere quiet with space to run and are happy to drive for food and days out. The Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies are around twenty minutes away, so it works as a base as well as a retreat.