The Dogvine Day Out With Fetch & Follow In Dog-Friendly Whitstable

When we heard that London dog lifestyle brand Fetch & Follow were taking their dog shop on tour to dog-friendly Whitstable, we were excited to receive an invite to go along and visit them. One of our favourite London dog brands and a dog’s day out by the sea, sounded like the pawfect day out and it was!

Fetch & Follow On Tour

London dog lifestyle brand Fetch & Follow are normally based in Hackney but from 2nd – 10th June, you can find Fetch & Follow On Tour in the dog-friendly seaside heritage town of Whitstable in Kent, less than 2 hours from London.

We’d never been to Whitstable before so it was a great opportunity to check out a dog-friendly beach town, which is easily accessible for London dogs and one that is dog-friendly year round given many UK beaches are restricted for dogs from May to September.

For visiting pups Fetch & Follow founders Genesta and Taneale have put together their 5 top dog-friendly Whitstable spots, tried and tested by the four-legged Fetch & Follow gang, George, Frank and Lacey. In fact, when we got to Whitstable we were really pleased to see that so many places welcome dogs and there seemed to be a lot of dogs in Whitstable!

Our first stop when we arrived was the pretty Harbour Street where the Fetch & Follow On Tour pop-up dog shop is being held. It was no surprise to find a beautiful shop-front exhibition space showcasing the Fetch & Follow products and the dogs of Whitstable eager to check out the new dog shop in town!

Fetch & Follow designs are both stylish and thoughtful, designed for the urban dog with fabrics that are both functional and gorgeous to look at. And somehow they looked even more gorgeous with a sprinkling of beach air on top. Genesta co-founder of Fetch & Follow explained to us that wherever possible, materials are sourced and made in the UK and always as eco-friendly as possible. In fact the spring / summer collection combines the Japanese philosophy ‘Mottaini’ which conveys a sense of regret concerning waste and the traditional Japanese patchwork mending technique of Boro.

And the collars and leads…I have always admired the Fetch & Follow collars and leads but completely fell in love with two recent additions to the collection, the two-tone gold embossed grey and natural, embossed with ‘Wild and Free’ and the grey and navy embossed with ‘Free Spirit’. There is something very special about these collars.

I decided to treat both Belinha and Moleque to one of these but in the end, by collective decision of everyone in the shop, it was decided that the green looked better on Belinha and made her look very distnguished…not a description often used for Belinha so sold! We did take home a navy and grey ‘Free Spirit’ for Moleque though. There are now two new distinguished rescue dogs on the block!

After shopping at the Fetch & Follow On Tour pop-up it was time to explore Whitstable which meant heading to the beach and trying out some of the dog-friendly Whitstable tips…

Dog-Friendly Whitstable

Let’s start with West Beach, which is dog-friendly all year round as it’s a privately owned beach. West Beach is a shingle beach dotted with pretty coloured boats alongside the traditional fishing boats you find in the harbour.  It was wonderful to be by the sea but I’m afraid Belinha doesn’t live up to her Brazilian beach babe roots, much preferring to keep all four paws on (very) dry land. So although there was no swimming for us, we did enjoy the beach and sea breeze in the air (and Belinha enjoyed the boats).

Then it was time to try out dog-friendly Whitstable itself. We headed down to The Pearson’s Arms, a rustic pub literally a few feet from the beach as recommended on the Fetch & Follow dog-friendly Whitstable list for a lovely lunch. Followed by a stroll back down Harbour Street where we discovered a few more dog-friendly places on our wanders to add to the dog-friendly Whitstable list…

• Cafe + Kitchen

• Tea & Times

• Elliots Coastal Kitchen

• Quayside Bar & Kitchen (67 Harbour St)

• Burgate Coffee House (21A Oxford St)

And that was just in the short time we were there so I suspect there are quite a few more.

We even discovered a very cool Chevy causally parked on Harbour Street. Apparently it’s for hire or in as demonstrated by Belinha, pretending we were in Havana rather than Whitstable.

By the end of the day we were well-sunned, well-fed and in Belinha’s case well-dressed so it was a definite paws up for our dogs day out with Fetch & Follow in dog-friendly Whitstable and time to head back to London.

Fetch & Follow On Tour In Dog-Friendly Whitstable | What You Need To Know

Want to feel the sand between your paws and fit in some stylish pup shopping at the same time? Here’s the essential info you need to know:

• Fetch and Follow will be at The Show Off Gallery Space, 13 Harbour St, Whitstable, CT5 1AQ  until Sunday 10th June.
• Getting there: you can either drive or take the train. It takes just under two hours to drive which is what we decided to do. If you prefer to take the train, trains to Whitstable Station leave from London via London Canon Street, London St Pancras International and London Victoria. The shortest journey is approximately 1hr 15mins, the longest is 2hrs 30mins, see Thetrainline.com for more info.
• If you’d like to make a weekend of it, then the Whitstable Fishermans Huts are right on the seafront and are dog-friendly.
• After 10th June you can find Fetch & Follow in their usual home at 40 Gossamer Gardens, Hackney, E2 9FN or online.

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR WHAT’S ON WOOFS LONDON DOG EVENTS CALENDAR  FOR MORE DOG-FRIENDLY THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR DOG.