Two Lake View, Coniston

Two Lake View is a four-star cottage on the edge of Coniston, and it is a good dog-friendly base with one specific catch worth knowing before you book. The interior is the easy part: a spacious, well-fitted kitchen and lounge, a proper utility room, which is the single most useful room in the Lakes when you come back with a wet and muddy dog, and a pub within walking distance.

The catch is outside. What is described as a garden turns out to be an open gravel parking area running straight onto the road, with a patio alongside it to sit out on. The owners say much the same in their own house rules: the garden is not enclosed and dogs need to be kept on a lead outside. In practice every toilet break becomes a lead walk along a stretch of road that carries a fair amount of traffic before you reach a footpath. For a dog that needs the door at six in the morning, or for anyone travelling with a puppy or a bolter, that is the deciding detail.

Weigh it against what the location gives you. Coniston Water and the Old Man of Coniston are both close, the bridleways on this side of the valley are among the easier fell routes to walk with a dog, and once you are out of the village the walking is superb. One well-behaved dog is welcome, and the house is set up to cope with one: hard floors, utility space, and no shared areas to negotiate since you have the whole property.

Best for owners of a steady, lead-reliable dog who will be out walking most of the day and want a comfortable, well-equipped Coniston cottage to come back to. If a secure garden for off-lead pottering is what you need, look at a property that confirms one.