Should You Welcome Dogs in Your Holiday Let?
Of all the decisions an owner can make about a holiday let, welcoming dogs is among the least expensive and most frequently underestimated. It requires no installation, no planning consent and very little capital. What it does require is a clear head about whether the property suits it, and the discipline to hold standards once you commit. For homes around Loch Lomond, where walking is the reason many people come in the first place, the case is stronger than in most parts of the country.
What the Numbers Suggest
The published figures vary between agencies, which is worth saying plainly rather than presenting one number as settled fact. Sykes and Coast and Country report that properties accepting pets take around eight more bookings and earn roughly 16% more revenue a year than those that do not. Others put the revenue uplift between 15% and 19%, and some report higher still for rural and coastal homes. The spread reflects different portfolios and different regions, but the direction of travel is consistent across all of them.
Behind those numbers sits a straightforward market reality. Around a third of UK households own a dog, dog ownership rose sharply after the pandemic, and pet friendly is consistently among the most searched for filters on holiday let platforms. Coast and Country reported that more than a quarter of their bookings in 2025 included a pet. A great many of those guests will simply not consider a property that does not accept dogs, so the choice is less about attracting a premium and more about whether you appear in the search at all.
The Quieter Advantage
The revenue figure is not the most interesting part of this. What matters more for a Scottish property is when those bookings fall. Guests travelling with dogs are markedly less tied to school holidays, and they book more readily in the shoulder and winter months when a walk in cold, clear weather is the point of the trip rather than an inconvenience. That makes dogs one of the more reliable levers for filling the weeks that decide whether a property has a good year or an average one.
They also tend to be less sensitive to price. A guest bringing a dog is comparing your property against the cost and inconvenience of kennels, not simply against the cottage down the road, and that changes how they weigh a rate. Combined with a modest pet supplement per stay, which most owners charge to cover additional cleaning, the economics hold up well.
Where It Does Not Work
We would be doing owners a disservice if we presented this as universally sensible. Some properties should not accept dogs, and it is better to decide that deliberately than to drift into it. A home with deep pile carpets, delicate upholstery or a great deal of pale fabric will suffer, and the cost of replacing those things will outrun the uplift quickly. A property without any outdoor space, or with an unenclosed garden beside a road, is a poor fit for guests who need somewhere to let a dog out first thing in the morning.
There is also the question of who else you are hosting. If a property is positioned squarely at couples seeking a quiet retreat, and its reviews reflect that, introducing dogs without adjusting the presentation can unsettle the proposition. The decision should follow from what the home is for, which is the same principle that governs good design.
Doing It Properly
Where a property does suit it, the difference between a pet friendly let that works and one that generates complaints comes down to preparation rather than tolerance. The homes that do this well tend to share a few things:
Hard flooring or robust, washable rugs in the areas dogs will actually use
An enclosed garden, or at minimum a secure area near the door
A practical entrance with somewhere to dry a wet, muddy dog before it reaches the sitting room
Dedicated dog towels, bowls and a mat, provided as standard rather than as a favour
Washable throws for any sofa you would rather protect
A clear written policy covering numbers, where dogs may sleep and whether they can be left unattended
The last of those matters more than owners expect. Most difficulties arise not from dogs but from unclear expectations, and a policy stated plainly at the point of booking prevents nearly all of them. It also gives you firm ground to stand on in the rare case where something is damaged.
The Cleaning Question
The honest position is that changeovers take longer. Hair finds its way into places you would not anticipate, and a property that accepts dogs needs a more thorough vacuum, closer attention to soft furnishings and periodic deep cleaning beyond the standard turnaround. Guests with allergies are a genuine consideration, and a home that is not cleaned properly between stays will eventually attract a review that says so.
This is where a pet supplement earns its keep. Charged sensibly, it covers the additional housekeeping rather than functioning as extra profit, and that framing keeps the standard where it needs to be. Attempting to accept dogs without adjusting the cleaning regime is the most common way owners turn a good decision into a bad one.
Our View
For the right property in this part of Scotland, welcoming dogs is one of the more dependable improvements an owner can make, and the shoulder season effect is worth more here than the headline revenue figure suggests. It works when the home is specified for it, the policy is clear and the housekeeping is genuinely adjusted rather than nominally so. If you are weighing it up for a property near the loch, we are happy to give you a straight view on whether it suits.