Bring the dog. Both our homes mean it.

Two homes, both genuinely dog-friendly

Persimmon Farmstead at Badgran sits about 14 km south of Manali on the Kullu–Manali highway, a minute off the road opposite Span Resort. It's the flatter, easier option for a dog — the lawn is level, the walk to it is short, and the orchard is fenced enough that a well-behaved dog can potter off-leash in the early morning while the highway below is still quiet. Morning sun reaches the rooms here, which older dogs love as much as their humans do.

Persimmon Farmstead Shanag is about 4–5 km north of Manali, higher up, toward Old Manali and the Solang side. Wooden chalets and stone cottages sit on wide open lawns, and it's closer to the snow line — so if you're bringing a thick-coated dog who's miserable in Delhi's summer, Shanag in June is where they'll finally stop panting. It's a touch more sloped than Badgran, worth knowing if your dog is very old or very small.

Both have the same non-negotiables that actually matter for pet parents: dogs indoors with you, our own farm kitchen for special meals, 24x7 hot water for muddy-paw baths, free parking right by the room so you're not carrying a nervous dog through a lobby, and a bonfire in the cold months that dogs settle beside faster than anyone.

Driving up with a dog — what we've learned

Most of our guests drive from Delhi, Chandigarh, or Punjab, and the dog comes on the back seat. The Chandigarh–Manali stretch is roughly 8–9 hours, and the winding part after Mandi is where dogs get carsick. A few things that genuinely help:

• Feed light and early. A small breakfast 3–4 hours before you start beats a full stomach on the ghat roads.
• Stop every 90 minutes or so. There are dhabas along NH-21 with space to walk a dog — Sundernagar and the stretch before Mandi are easy pull-offs.
• Carry a collapsible bowl and more water than you think. Cars heat up in the plains before the hills cool things down.
• Keep a leash on for every stop. Highway traffic and a stiff, disoriented dog are a bad mix.
• Tell us your rough arrival time. We'll have water and a bit of lawn ready so the first thing your dog does in Manali is stretch, not wait.

One honest caution: skip Rohtang Pass and the very high snow points with dogs. The altitude, the crowds, and the cold hit animals harder than people, and the permit-and-traffic circus up there is no place for a leashed dog. Solang Valley, the orchard walks near both homes, and the riverside stretches are far kinder for a dog's day out.

We had a guest last winter whose spaniel wouldn't settle the first evening — new place, long drive, snow he'd never seen. We put a bowl of warm rice by the bonfire and left the room door open to the lawn. By morning he'd claimed the sunniest chair on the veranda and refused to give it back.

— your hosts at Persimmon Farmstead

Vets, emergencies, and the practical bits

For anything serious, Manali town has veterinary help within a 15–20 minute drive from Badgran and under 15 minutes from Shanag, and there are government veterinary facilities in the Kullu–Manali belt. We keep the current contact for the nearest working vet on hand and will call ahead for you if something comes up at night — that's the advantage of a family-run place over a front desk that clocks off. Carry your dog's vaccination card and any regular medication; pharmacies in town stock the basics but not everything, so bring what your dog specifically needs.

Tick season runs through the warmer months here as it does everywhere with tall grass and other animals around. A spot-on treatment before you travel is worth it. After orchard walks, a quick check behind the ears and between the toes takes thirty seconds and saves trouble.

A few small rules — for the next dog too

We keep this light because our guests are good about it, but it's worth saying plainly. We ask that dogs are house-trained and used to being around people; that you bring their own bedding or a sheet if they're going to be on the furniture; and that they're leashed in the common areas when other guests — some travelling with small kids or their own pets — are about. If your dog barks anxiously when left alone, please don't leave them shut in the room while you go to dinner; take them along to the kitchen veranda, or eat in shifts. And clean up on the lawns, which we know you would anyway.

That's genuinely it. No deposit, no forms, no separate pet block. Message us on WhatsApp before you book, tell us your dog's size and temperament and roughly when you'll arrive, and we'll tell you honestly which of the two homes suits your dog better and get a bowl of water waiting.