Seven pubs on this site take dogs, two of them in Leicestershire. What to look for in a pub that means it, and where the rest of them are.
Plenty of pubs say they take dogs. Fewer are set up for it, and the difference shows up within about a minute of walking in.
The things worth looking for are simple. A water bowl by the door, or behind the bar without having to ask twice. Outdoor space that is a proper beer garden rather than three tables by the bins, so there is somewhere to sit when the pub is full or the dog is wet. Floors you are not worried about. And staff who look at the dog before they look at you, which is the reliable one: a pub where the bar staff are pleased to see a dog is a pub where nobody is going to tut at you for the next hour.
Every pub below has been visited and written up on this site, and each one is recorded as taking dogs. Two are in the East Midlands, both in the same Leicestershire village. The other five are further afield and are listed after them, because if you are the sort of person who plans a journey around where the dog can come in, you may as well have the lot.
No. 1
Bull & Bush
Shepshed
A traditional village pub in Shepshed with a beer garden, outdoor seating and its own parking, which between them cover most of what you want when the dog is with you. It is family friendly too, and puts on quiz nights and live music through the week.
No. 2
The Railway Shepshed
Shepshed
A few minutes away in the middle of Shepshed, with a beer garden, outdoor seating, parking and step-free access, so it works whether you are arriving on foot or with a car and a lead. There is a big screen for sport, wifi, and pool and darts if you are settling in.
Further afield, if you are travelling
Five more pubs on the site take dogs. None of them is in the East Midlands, so they are here as a list rather than as part of the ranking above.
The Three Cranes, Rotherham is a South Yorkshire real ale pub with step-free access, and the longest write-up of any pub on this site. The Old Monkey, Manchester is a city centre local with a function room, live music and pool and darts. Bakers Vaults, Stockport sits by the old market and the viaduct in a set of brick vaulted cellars, and has a beer garden, wifi and step-free access.
Further out again, The New Inn, St Asaph in Denbighshire has a beer garden, parking, live music, a big screen and pool and darts, and The Bridge Tap, Salisbury in Wiltshire has a beer garden, wifi, live music and a big screen. Both are family friendly as well.
How this list is put together
There is no scoring system and no shortlist of pubs nobody here has set foot in. A pub appears on this site because somebody went, and it appears on this page because that visit recorded it as taking dogs.
That does mean the list is shaped by where we happen to have been rather than by where the best dog friendly pubs in the country are. Two Leicestershire pubs is not a survey of the East Midlands. It is what has honestly been checked, which is worth more than a list of forty pubs copied off somebody else's website.
Amenities can change, and a pub that took dogs last year may have a new landlord this year. If you are making a special trip, ring ahead. That is true of any list like this one, including the ones that do not admit it.
Every dog friendly pub on the site
This page is a write-up. If you just want the list, and anything added since this was published, the dog friendly pubs page is generated from the pubs themselves and stays current without anybody having to remember to update it.
The two Leicestershire entries both sit in Shepshed, and the rest of what the site has in that county is on the Leicestershire page.
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The Railway Shepshed
Pub in Shepshed, Leicestershire. Big screen sport, beer garden, dog friendly and five more.
Bull & Bush
Pub in Shepshed, Leicestershire. Family friendly, dog friendly, outdoor seating and four more.