07/08/2026
With all the debates about the meaning of "dog-friendly", here's a description of Red Barn Cottage in terms of its facilities and guidelines for guests with dogs.
We welcome up to two dogs to the property; sometimes more by arrangement.
We provide dog bowls, treats, and towels. We can also provide a dog crate (either large or small), which fits quite nicely under the stairs.
The garden is laid to grass, and is fully enclosed by a four-foot (approximately) fence, with livestock wire up to about three feet (see picture).
There’s a picnic table in the garden, and an outside tap. A small hose reel is available, to allow you to wash your dogs down, if necessary. There is no door directly from the cottage to the garden; you have to walk from the front door and round the side of the building through the parking area to get to it. The parking area is also surrounded by 4-foot-high livestock fencing, and can be secured by closing the 5-bar gate to the property. (The gates have wire covering the gaps between the bars.)
The floors downstairs are tiled in the kitchen and utility areas, and non-slip LVT (with loose rugs) in the living and dining areas.
We ask that dogs do not go upstairs. There’s a door at the bottom of the stairs, so it’s easy to stop them going up there.
We also ask you to keep your dogs off the furniture. We recognize that this is a big ask for many dogs, and if you think it’s an impossible request, please bring dog-proof throws to protect the furniture, and clean up any fur and dirt before you leave. We provide a vacuum cleaner, dustpan and brush, and cleaning materials.
Please do not leave your dogs unattended in the cottage. Suffolk is a very dog-friendly county, and this requirement shouldn’t normally cause any problems. There are dog daycare facilities (https://happidayscentre.co.uk/) at Rendlesham (9 miles) and Martlesham (12 miles). They do require dogs to be fully vaccinated, wormed, and tick/flea treated.
There are plenty of footpaths in the area, affording some lovely walks, with or without dogs. To reach the nearest footpath, you need to walk about 200 metres along the road outside the cottage, and then another 200 metres or so down a quiet lane. The road outside the cottage is pretty quiet, although slightly busier during the rush hour; especially during school term time.
There are several secure dog-walking fields in the area, and new ones opening all the time. Our favourites are the Grundisburgh Dog Orchard (https://www.thedogorchard.co.uk/) and Suffolk Run Free (https://www.suffolkrunfree.co.uk/).
Red Barn Cottage is about half a mile outside the village of Kettleburgh, where there’s a village green with children’s play equipment, some small football goals, and a wild meadow area. The Chequers pub is at the other end of the village. The White Horse at Easton is about two miles away, and can be reached by a pleasant walk through fields. Both pubs serve food, and are dog-friendly.
The area is mostly peaceful, but as most of the farmland is arable, there are often bird scarers that fire during daylight hours. Also, at the far end of the village is a gun club, which meets on Monday evenings (Tuesdays, if the Monday is a bank holiday) from April to September, when you can hear the sound of gun fire from about 4:00 pm. Less predictable are the shoots that some local landowners run during the shooting season.
Red Barn Cottage is one end of Red Barn, where we live. There are only two of us, and we’re pretty quiet, though it can get a bit more lively when the grandchildren visit. We have three dogs, who tend to inhabit the areas furthest away from the cottage, but they do bark sometimes, as do the neighbours' dogs.
