So it was on a very wet and blustery Saturday that Murphy and I turned up to a car park in Portrush to attend one of the inaugural #dogfriendlytours organised by Jo-anne Crossley. I had booked our tickets online ( and early NB: tours now sell out quickly) and we were accompanied by our good buddy Judith, and her dog Bailey (Murphys best buddy). It’s fair to say we expected very little, a wet walk and a bit of chat with a few other dog folks, however I was pleasantly surprised !

Having lived in Northern Ireland all my life and visited the North Coast many times, I didn’t think there was much I didn’t know, I was wrong! Jo-anne knows the area so well, from folklore to fisheries, local characters and local sweet treats (for humans and dogs) the morning flew in.

I don’t want to give all the destinations and details away, but we were welcomed at Tilly’s dog-friendly coffee shop, we stopped for some Guinness at a local bar, learnt about the RNLI and we had a lovely lunch with some local beer-tasting too – we certainly didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits (or appetites).

We made some new friends in Jo-anne and her lovely pup Georgie , and the good news is there are now dog-friendly tours in Belfast that also book up quickly (that is on our to do list). Check it out http://www.dogfriendlytours.co.uk/  .

There were two very tired but very happy customers at the end of the day!