Townend Cottage, Aikton

Townend Cottage is a whole-property let on a working farm at Aikton in north Cumberland, and it is set up for dogs more thoroughly than most self-catering places manage. Owners arriving with a dog find treats, bowls and covers already laid out for the sofas, alongside a welcome pack for the humans. The covers are the tell: dogs are meant to be up on the furniture here, not shut behind a kitchen door.

The cottage itself is warm and properly equipped, with a log burner and a kitchen guests say holds everything needed for a week of real cooking. The owner lives nearby, is easy to reach and relaxed about late arrivals and handing over the key.

Be clear about where this is before you book. Booking listings file the property under Watermillock on Ullswater, but it actually sits around thirty kilometres north of there, in lowland farmland between Wigton and Carlisle. The northern fells are a half-hour drive, not a walk from the door. What you get in exchange is genuine quiet, farm tracks and lanes on the doorstep for an early walk, and Carlisle and the Solway coast both close by.

Two things to weigh. It is a working farm, so there are days when the smell of manure carries across the yard. That is ordinary in the countryside but worth knowing if it would bother you. And while the cottage is clean overall, guests have found the finer detail slips: sticky remote controls and instruction cards, and a fridge that needed a second wipe.

Up to three dogs can come, and there is an enclosed garden for them. No charge is published, so settle that when you book. Best suited to owners who want a quiet, dog-relaxed rural base with the Lakes as a day trip rather than a doorstep. It earns a 4.4 out of 5 paw rating.