THE Cotswold Journal this week makes several points criticising messy dogs and their owners. I hope the following comments will cheer all dog lovers.

We successfully let a holiday cottage here in Blockley and as dog owners ourselves we know how much a family pet enjoys a holiday and all the different scents they must experience.

Our Labrador has had a most luxurious life visiting good hotels and comfortable holiday cottages, for all the best hotels and cottages accept a dog. We therefore make a special feature of welcoming spoiled dogs and their owners to our own holiday premises and this has proved very popular.

We keep a visitors' book and encourage our guests to leave a photograph of their pet. The cottage is fully carpeted, well furnished and a comfortable home-from-home in every way. Dogs and owners have use of the garden and we warn them about the deep pond at the end of the garden into which some animals may wish to dive.

We have many year's experience letting holiday cottages and have found man's best friend and his family make the best guests. The premises are left beautifully clean and tidy and in fact it is necessary for me to stop some of our human guests from spending the last few hours of their stay vacuuming. We have two Dyson cleaners which clear any hair efficiently and the cottage is handed back to us in excellent order without any problems or mess to cope with.

We cannot say the same for people who holiday with children. The expression children should be seen but not heard is not fashionable any more - particularly for British children. We have found European and foreign kiddies better. British children are frequently out of control and pretty mucky individuals. Their grubby little fingers are plastered all over the mirrors and stained glass, as is the refrigerator/freezer which is generally left with the remains of the weeks food. Crockery gets broken and infants are found clambering over the rockery. Sticky, childish substances get into the carpet fibres, and brand new mattresses soiled. They also yell, scream and make a general nuisance of themselves. Such families also are guaranteed to leave badly washed dishes and pots on the draining board despite the presence of a dishwasher. As the human infant requires nappies for such a long period of time, their parents leave piles of soiled nappies in sacks for us to clear.

This is why at Broadclose Cottage, Blockley, we say man's best friend welcome - children by arrangement.

JOHN AND FRANCES HOSKINS, Broadclose, Blockley.

PS A teaspoon of tomato sauce in your dogs feed once a day helps prevent stains on the lawn.