Active With Alex

Owning a pet is a pretty special thing. They give you unwavering love, offer zero judgement (most of the time), and bring a level of companionship that’s hard to put into words. But as great as it is, it also comes with real responsibility. You want to give them the best life possible – and that often means your own freedom takes a bit of a hit.

As the saying goes, you have your pet for part of your life, but to them, you are their whole life.

Suddenly, long holidays, last-minute weekends away, or even spontaneous nights out start to feel like logistical puzzles. Leaving your pet for extended periods doesn’t just feel unfair on them – it weighs on you too. There’s always that lingering guilt, paired with the not-so-subtle fear of what you might come home to… chewed furniture, mystery smells, or worse.

When Daisy and I were living in the UAE, we were lucky. We had an incredible veterinary practice named Royal Vets, that we trusted completely. Zuko was always in safe hands, which meant we could still enjoy the occasional spontaneous trip without worrying about him.

Moving to Spain, though, reset everything.

We suddenly found ourselves without that trusted safety net. No familiar faces, no go-to place for Zuko, and the uncomfortable realisation that our travelling habits might need to change. So, I did what most people do – I started researching. Emails were sent, Instagram pages were stalked, options were explored… and honestly, it was pretty underwhelming. The few places we found were either too far away to be practical or fully booked with long-standing clients.

It felt like we were back to square one.

Enter: the trusty expat Facebook group.

With options running dry, Daisy posted a message in a local Alicante expat group – and within 24 hours, everything changed. Messages flooded in. Offers ranged from people willing to stay in our home to recommendations for local dog hotels.

But one name kept popping up: Amber Lodge.

A cattery and dog care centre just outside Alicante, it came highly recommended again and again. After a bit of digging, I reached out – and from the first message, it just felt right. Friendly, reassuring, and genuinely welcoming. After sharing Zuko’s details, we booked him in for what would become his first Spanish holiday.

Now, handing your pet over to someone else, whether it’s for a night or a week, is never completely easy. There’s always that flicker of doubt. But from the moment we arrived, that feeling disappeared.

Danielle and Sam, who run Amber Lodge, welcomed Zuko like he was one of their own. Calm, experienced, and clearly passionate about what they do, they introduced him gently to his new surroundings – and more importantly, to his new four-legged friends. You could see straight away that he was going to be just fine… probably better than fine.

And that peace of mind? Priceless.

One of the standout parts of the experience was the updates. Not long after dropping him off on Sunday morning, we started seeing Facebook posts of Zuko living his best life – running around, playing, and fully embracing the Spanish sun. It was equal parts reassuring and slightly humbling… turns out he wasn’t missing us that much.

To top it off, Danielle and Sam even offer a bathing service, so Zuko came back looking (and smelling) far fresher than when we dropped him off. And in a final touch that summed up the whole experience, Sam personally dropped Zuko back to us, gave us a full update on his stay, and made us feel completely at ease about using them again in the future.

This isn’t meant to be an advert – but if you’re based in the Alicante area and need someone to look after your pet, Amber Lodge is absolutely worth checking out.

The only problem now?

It’s pretty clear Zuko is missing his Spanish doggie friends.