Glen Highland Farm's Canine Country Getaway: A Dog's Dream Vacation

Back in February I was perusing Glen Highland Farm's Border Collies that were available for adoption (as I often do) and came across a page I somehow had missed in all my times there: the page for their Canine Country Getaway.  Now, I admit I went over there and started looking at it with the thought of "someday we might be able to afford this."  Because every time I run across something like this sounds awesome, it's a week-long camp that costs $1000-1500 or more.  A bit pricey for folks like us.  And while I dream of being able to go to such a camp (Glen Highland Farm offers one as well), I discovered the Canine Country Getaway was something quite different.  People can book tents, cabins, cottages or RVs for as little as two days or as long as they want to. 

This was affordable!  This was something we could do!  I immediately booked us for three nights into a cabin.  The registration process was simple and very quickly we were all set up.  Each step of the way (upon receiving the registration and down payment, upon receiving our final payment, and upon receiving our dog's rabies vaccination information), a member of the Glen Highland staff was in contact with us.  They were courteous, answered all questions promptly, and kept in contact with us through the entire thing.  They even called us a short while before the trip to make sure we knew that the beds were only 6 feet long and to ask if any of our party was over 6 feet (David is!).  They were very concerned about this, but I was able to reassure them that David would find the accommodations comfortable for sleeping (and he did).

In fact, the place looked so great that two friends immediately decided to share a cabin together the same weekend and join us on our vacation!

We went to Glen Highland Farm on June 9.  We arrived and the staff were immediately there to sign us in and assist us with all our needs.  They helped bring our luggage down to our cabins and cottage (David and I had been upgraded due to construction on our cabin) and then the owner came on a golf cart and showed us around all of the trails.  He was a wonderful guide (though we admit to being a little nervous when he told us "oh here is where I tipped this thing over with 4 people in it before!") and we got to know the place quite well before we ever set off for any adventures the next day.

Everything that is described on the site was even better in person.  There were wonderful trails for the dogs through meadows and woods that often led to places for the dogs to have some water fun.  They even had agility equipment set up (a special treat for us since we do agility!).  Everywhere we went there were places for the humans to relax, water and cups so we always had something to drink and never got dehydrated, and plenty of places for the dogs to sun themselves or relax in the shade.  They also had radios in waterproof things attached at various parts of the trail in case there was an emergency (something hopefully no one needs to make use of).  They upgraded this year and the cottages and cabins now have electricity, mini-fridges and coffee makers and the dining pavilion has WiFi.  We also discovered that we were able to get the WiFi as far away as our cottage, so we didn't even have to haul the laptops to the dining pavilion to check our e-mail or share pictures of our adventures.  Our beds were incredibly comfortable and with the ceiling fan on and several windows, the air was circulated nicely and kept us comfortable both day and night.  The dining pavilion was incredibly well-stocked and we didn't feel like we were lacking for anything when making dinner.  We were also most impressed with the First Aid supplies and their keeping bug spray and sun screen on hand. There was literally nothing these folks did not think of.  Every need we and the dogs had was met.  All of the small touches (for instance, the leash holders at the bathrooms so you could tie your dog up while in the bathroom or shower) were amazingly well thought out.

So that's what we thought of the farm.  The really important question is: What did the dogs think of Glen Highland Farm?  Well, I'll let them answer.













(Photo by David)






In the end, they all looked a bit like this:



Needless to say, the dogs loved it.  It was a wonderful time and we were all sad to leave the Farm. We're already planning on going back next year, perhaps for a longer time.  Two days/three nights was just not enough for us!

Thank you Glen Highland Farm and especially to Lillie (who gave us a lovely tour of their awesome rescue facility, where we got to meet many of their wonderful dogs who are up for adoption), John (who showed us around the place on a tour of the camp that we've come to call "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride"), and Jocelyn (who came down to see us specifically to meet us and Dahlia as she's read our blog before -- I hope I spelled your name right!).  We can't wait for next year's vacation!