The competition in the Dog-Friendly Pub Awards is heating up. With thousands of you dog-loving-pub-punters up and down the UK casting your votes, we’re excited to do a announce the winners once the competition closes on 29th October. To make a final decision to name one pub the nation’s favourite dog-friendly establishment, we’ve enlisted the help of a panel of expert judges.
Joining the Dog-Friendly Pub Awards for the first time is Tom from Snuffle Dog Beer, who make pub trips tastier and more refreshing for our pooches! We cracked open a bottle of Snuffle and had a chat with Tom to discover where the Snuffle brand was born and why it’s good news for pub-visiting pooches.
DogBuddy: If you could match your personality to a dog breed, what would you pick?
Tom De Nert: Nice difficult question to start off with! A quick straw poll of my family and my son said Belgian Shepherd, my wife said Basset Hound. Maybe a Bouvier des Flandres is a good inbetween. Hardworking, easy to train, and a good companion.
DB: Why a beer for dogs? What’s wrong with water?
TDN: Imagine us humans only having water to drink – life would be boring!
DB: Human beer isn’t (usually) slated as being particularly nutritious! Is the same true of Snuffle Dog Beer?
TDN: Well, it’s a little-known fact that dogs often don’t drink enough. Add to that the fact that dogs can’t speak and so it’s a bit harder to know if they’re thirsty than with our human drinking companions. Luckily, Snuffle is very tasty. (Yes, we’ve done doggy and human taste tests!) So it’s a great way to help keep your best friend as hydrated as possible, as well as giving them a bit of a treat and letting them enjoy a tasty dog-friendly beverage.
DB: Knowing a thing or two about what makes a pub truly dog-friendly, (such as stocking doggy beer!) what are you looking for this year for a dog-friendly pub to really stand out as a potential national champion?
TDN: Being dog-friendly is proving to be a massive success not just for pubs, but for all sort of venues. So much so, there’s a risk for pubs to get inundated with canine companions. It’s all about getting and keeping a balance between all types of customers who enjoy visiting their local pub. I’ll be keeping an eye out for those pubs that strike a perfect balance.
DB: If you could design your perfect relaxing weekend pub visit, what would it look like?
TDN: As a parent, pubs with a playground or a secluded garden tend to take preference at the moment. Nice fresh food, couple of local beers, and a few dogs, of course. It doesn’t take a lot to keep this pub visitor happy.
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That’s all from Tom, for now. We’ll be catching up with him and the whole Dog-Friendly Pub Awards Judges in a few weeks when we ask them to choose the nation’s best dog-friendly pub from our shortlist of 12 regional winners.
Check the regional leaderboards to see if your favourite pub is in the top 10 – if not, why not give it a boost by casting your vote?