Isla and Jelli aren’t the only pupsters finding this heat no fun. No long walks in the day and especially none of our little trips into the city for coffee as the tarmac is too hot for little paws! The most fun they are having at the moment is walks in the fields in the evening which is a) boring , b) huge risk of grass seeds and c) no water to splash in. We’ve gone to the river on a few occasions in the evenings but the horseflies seem to divebomb and eat me or the tick army are out in their hundreds trying to eat the dogs (thank goodness for tick prevention treatments!)
This leaves me in a predicament wondering where I can take the dogs to really burn off some energy, stay cool and still have fun? So when Clair from Chapel Farm Rehabilitation Centre got in touch and invited us to go for a fun swim in their large indoor pool we jumped at the chance!
Chapel Farm lies just outside of Bristol in Pensford, with easy onsite parking, a shop, pool and qualified staff on site it’s the perfect destination for pets who want to have fun or those recovering from surgery or illness where hydrotherapy or physiotherapy has been advised. They also have a dog crèche on site which looks fabulous fun and is on our list of places to visit!
Each fun swim slot is 30 minutes long and costs £24 for the first dog and only £12 for subsequent dogs from the same family. There is also the option of being able to get into the pool with your dog if you want to join in the fun too!
Isla and Jelli were greeted by the lovely Amber and Jenny when we arrived who helped them into their life jackets and escorted them to the pool. Both dogs had a nice warm rinse before going into the water to make sure they were clean and then they were ready to go!
The pool is a whopping 10m by 6m which is great for a proper swim and is heated to a comfortable 29-30 degrees which is perfect for maintaining the dogs’ temperatures as they won’t lose energy trying to keep warm like they would swimming in the sea or streams. The pool is also super clean so no risk of any water borne bugs causing tummy upsets as there would be in the river and no ‘tide or flow’ which might make the dogs work harder or potentially cause panic to set in.
Amber and Jenny were fantastic with the girls and made sure they were 100% happy and not stressed at all times. Isla is a very strong swimmer so was immediately playing fetch with a tennis ball that Jenny threw for her and was clearly enjoying herself!
Jelli on the other hand was much more nervous, her experience of swimming starts and ends with the time she half fell half jumped into the river after Bracken who thinks all water is for swimming in! Needless to say she was VERY hesitant about going in.
Amber was brilliant with her and helped Jelli gain her water wings super quickly. A few supported laps around the pool with lots of encouragement she soon realised how much fun she could have and ended up launching herself off the ramp after her ball or Isla’s! She actually needed to be held back a few times so she didn’t over do it!
After their session time was up they had another warm shower to rinse them off and a quick towel dry. Usually I would take their drying coats with me for the journey home but as it is so hot I decided it may be nice to stay a bit cooler and dry naturally!
I highly recommend Chapel Farm, the facilities are excellent, the staff are experienced, welcoming and brilliant with the dogs. They also offer a loyalty scheme for clients which offers great savings and an excuse to return!
We are definitely returning and taking Bracken with us too, I may even get in the pool and join in the fun! Hopefully we can go and experience the onsite crèche too, that will be a whole new blog post as the facilities there look incredible!
To get in touch and book your swim click here to go to Chapel Farm’s website or here for their Facebook page. Please remember to tell them you saw them through our blog and feel free to leave us any comments if you’ve been already or if you book to go!
