Dorset

Sand and shingle at Mudeford with a beach shop, cafe and the lifeboat station, sheltered by the Head and popular with families. A Seaside Award beach, so dogs are excluded from 1 May to 30 September and welcome from 1 October to 30 April. Highcliffe Castle's own visitor information sets out the same dates.

Sand under the Boscombe cliff lift and pier, with the surf reef offshore and beach pods along the promenade. A Seaside Award beach, so BCP Council excludes dogs from 1 May to 30 September; they are welcome from 1 October to 30 April. East of Fisherman's Walk towards Southbourne is open all year if you need somewhere in August.

Seven miles of sand either side of the pier, the busiest beach in the south and a Seaside Award winner. BCP Council bans dogs from all its Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches from 1 May to 30 September, and Bournemouth beach is one of them; from 1 October to 30 April dogs are allowed. Middle Chine to Durley Chine, just west, is the nearest stretch open all year.

Sand at the foot of the pine-covered chines below Canford Cliffs village, reached by the zig zag from Canford Cliffs Road. A Blue Flag beach, which under BCP Council's rules means no dogs from 1 May to 30 September; from 1 October to 30 April they are welcome. Dogs must be on the lead on the zig zags and promenade even out of season.

The fossil beach at the mouth of the Char, split in two by the river: East Beach towards Golden Cap, West Beach towards Lyme. Dorset Council places no restrictions at all on East Beach, while West Beach is open to dogs from 1 October to 30 April only. Get the side right and you can walk a dog here in August.

The great shingle bar running east from Abbotsbury with the Fleet lagoon behind it, eighteen miles of pebbles graded by the sea. Dorset Council allows dogs all year from Abbotsbury to the Tank Teeth boundary; beyond that, towards Portland, dogs are allowed on leads on the seaward flank from 1 September to 30 April and there is no public access at all outside those dates. The Fleet shoreline itself is closed, so keep to the coast path.

The beach at the bottom of the Fisherman's Walk cliff lift, where the built-up seafront begins to give way to the Southbourne cliffs. Fisherman's Walk itself is a Blue Flag beach and closed to dogs from 1 May to 30 September, but BCP Council names everything east of it, towards Southbourne, as open all year. The lift saves the climb.

Sand and shingle below the cliffs at Highcliffe, reached by the zig zag from the castle grounds, with the Isle of Wight filling the horizon. BCP Council names Highcliffe Beach as open to dogs all year with one exception: no dogs between groynes H4 and H8 from 1 May to 30 September. Friars Cliff, between the wave wall and groyne H4, is open all year.

Steep golden shingle at the western end of Chesil, with the most dramatic cliffs on the west Dorset coast behind it. Dorset Council records no formal restriction here, but the National Trust, which owns it, asks that dogs are not exercised on the beach between 1 May and 30 September. Cogden Beach a mile east is open all year.

The sandy town beach below Marine Parade, the one families aim for and the one dogs are shut out of in season. Dorset Council's order allows dogs here from 1 October to 30 April only. Monmouth Beach to the west and Church Cliff Beach to the east are open all year, and both are a two-minute walk away.

The Blue Flag sand of the Sandbanks peninsula, the most expensive stretch of coast in Britain and the best swimming beach in Poole Bay. BCP Council closes all its Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches to dogs from 1 May to 30 September, and Sandbanks is one of them. The exception is the western end of Sandbanks promenade round to Haven Point by the chain ferry, which stays open to dogs all year.

Shingle beach at the end of the Chideock lane, with Golden Cap rising to the east and the coast path climbing straight off the beach. Dorset Council allows dogs here from 1 October to 30 April only, one of the six named summer exclusions in the county order. In season, walk the cap instead.

Four miles of pale sand from South Beach round to Shell Bay, National Trust owned, backed by dunes and heath and looking across to Old Harry Rocks. Dogs are never excluded, but leads are required on Shell Beach, South Beach, Middle Beach and the southern part of Knoll Beach between 1 May and 30 September. The Trust also asks that dogs are kept under control year round to protect the nature reserve.

A sheltered mile of sand curving north from the pier, the safest family swimming on the Purbeck coast. Dorset Council allows dogs on the Front Beach from 1 October to 30 April only, so in season head north towards Ulwell or south to the ledges at Peveril Point. Leads are required on the roads and walkways beside the beach.

Shingle either side of the harbour mouth under the layered East Cliff, one of the most photographed stretches on this coast. Dorset Council restricts the two beaches beside the harbour, East and West, to dogs from 1 October to 30 April; the third beach, cut off from West Beach by a large rock groyne, is not restricted at all. Dogs may also use the port on a lead in summer.

Three miles of graded golden sand curving round Weymouth Bay, the classic English seaside beach with donkeys and Punch and Judy. Dorset Council keeps two stretches open all year: the dog exercise area by the Pavilion, and everything from Greenhill Groyne north to Overcombe. The main sandy beach between Greenhill Groyne and the dog exercise area takes dogs from 1 October to 30 April only.